Speaker
Description
This visually-rich presentation describes how an urban walking event led to the coming together of communities both local and global. Born out of my evolving art practice and as a means to critically explore my enjoyment of walking in the city, in 2016 I invited three friends to join me in walking a circuit of central Osaka. What was intended as a one-off event with those three friends has become an annual event open to the public with more than 20 people joining 2023’s walk. The walks are semi-scripted, semi-improvised communal performances. As we navigate the streets we play games, tell stories, and read poetry. This presentation first introduces the origins and cultural contexts of the walks before addressing the ways in which the project promotes individual, social and environmental well-beings. Particular attention is paid to the 2020 event which was held in February as the pandemic was emerging. Mid-way through that walk we paused for a smart-phone link up with friends in China and Italy already suffering severe lockdowns. Together with those friends, we on the streets of Osaka voiced a simultaneous reading (prepared in four languages ) from Bocaccio’s Decameron. For all involved, it was a surprisingly moving experience. For this brief moment the local embraced the global; a true coming together.
Speaker 1 Bio
Gareth Jones is a British artist, researcher and educator with a PhD in Philosophy and Creative Practice from the University of Dundee, Scotland. A long-term resident of Osaka, he is about to take-up the position of Senior Teaching Fellow in Visual Culture at the Institute of Creativity and Innovation, Xiamen University, China.
