Kazuji Mogi

Sumi Ink Painting × ABR Workshop

Kazuji Mogi – Atomi University, Niiza, Saitama, Japan; with: Satoshi Ikeda – Hiroshima University, Japan; Soko Takemaru – Arts Council Tokyo, Japan; Chihiro Tetsuka – Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract:

In this workshop, we will explore sumi ink as a material, traditionally used for ink painting in Asia since ancient times. Instead of creating traditional paintings, our focus will be on the “uncontrollability” and “ambiguity” that emerge when sumi ink and water interact. The workshop involves both individual and group activities. During group work, rather than relying on speech or writing, we will practice non-verbal, art-based communication. Through these exercises, participants will learn about an Eastern concept of the individual – not as an isolated entity but as one shaped through interactions, communication, and relationships with others. Art-based research is considered an intellectually creative process that involves understanding, interpreting and critiquing a subject, while engaging the physicality and sensitivity of the creator, with the aim of personal transformation as a form of living inquiry (Irwin, 2013). This workshop aims to foster a mindset that transcends the dichotomies between Eastern and Western, traditional and contemporary, and self and other, by rediscovering tradition.