My residency explored the relationship between urbanisation, popular culture, and national identity in the context of Fukuoka. Inspired by the city's myriad of slogans such 'Fukuoka Next', 'Art Next' or 'Waterfront Next', the works consider how the notion of progress is visually and materially represented by the built environment and popular cultural forms.

 

Work statement:

 

The official tourist website for Fukuoka states that the city is ‘a crossroads between cultures’ where ‘tradition coexists with the contemporary.’ Walking around Fukuoka, I was captivated by the eclectic mix of architecture and the myriad of lifestyle options on offer. This blend of the local and the global might be epitomised by Marizon, a Riviera-style resort offering white weddings under stained-glass windows transported from a 19th century church in Liverpool, served with 'Itoshima French' cuisine.

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I was also drawn to the many iterations of the word ‘夢’ (dream) across the city – from shop signs to billboards, and even adverts on buses. A dream is always already forward looking, a desire lodged in the future. But there seems to be two emergent temporalities in the branding of Fukuoka. Between the historic Hakata Old Town and the ongoing redevelopment of the Tenjin area, this push and pull draws on a duality embodied in the popular discourse of ‘ふるさと’ (hometown) and ‘国際化’ (internationalisation). The many construction sites bring to the fore what used to be and what will soon to be, accompanied by rendered illustrations of the finished project. In other words, the present is transformed into a liminal space, and functions as a threshold between the past and the future. Like desire, dreams transpire at the moment of realisation. What will happen once these images become reality?

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https://faam.city.fukuoka.lg.jp/en/exhibition/20085/​​