■Topics 2019
2019-01-08 NichibunkenNews
Evening Seminar (December 6, 2018) “Japanese Folk Performing Arts as Intangible Heritage”
“Japanese Folk Performing Arts as Intangible Heritage,” Mauricio Martinez Rodriguez (lecturer at Colombia Engineering College and visiting research scholar at Nichibunken)In his presentation, Martinez first talked about the geography of Bogota, the capital of his home country Colombia as well as the cultural soil that nurtured compatriot artists like Gabriel García Márquez (novelist and Nobel laureate) and Fernando Botero Angulo (painter and sculptor). He then introduced an Internet radio program he himself produces as part of his efforts to promote Japanese and Asian performing arts—his specialty—in Spanish-speaking countries. He also referred to his website “Artes Escénicas de Japón” (https://www.japonartesescenicas.org/), a Spanish encyclopedia of Japanese performing arts, his research topic.
A major reason Professor Martinez cited for his founding of the Spanish-language website is that in the Spanish-speaking world, where there are few researchers on Asian performing arts, demand for specialized works cannot be expected to be high and available information is very limited. His research on the laws and categories of Japanese folk performing arts was based on the official List of Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties. He found, however, that some living folk traditions, such as Iwami Kagura from Shimane prefecture, are not included on this list, in part because they have been modified over the centuries and this goes against the rules established by law for the protection of Cultural Properties. As to traditional puppetry, too, Martinez pointed out that besides bunraku and ningyō jōruri, there are many others with long traditions but are little known today, such as kuruma ningyō (“cart puppetry”) and otome bunraku (bunraku puppet handled by a single woman).
Martinez’s presentation demonstrated the enormous range of Japanese folk performing arts, which he has organized by genre (e.g., “kagura,” “fūryū,” “katarimono,” “ennen,” and “torai-gei/butai-gei”) and by region/ethnicity (Okinawa, Ainu, etc.). He shared with participants clips from numerous videos recorded during his fieldwork.
(Reported by Shiraishi Eri, assistant professor, Office of Digital Resources, Publications, and Public Information)
