Tongues of Fire (2020-ongoing)
HD-Video, color, sound
HD-Video, color, sound
This work was created based on testimonies collected through fieldwork and interviews at several Christian churches and gospel choir groups in Aichi, Japan, a large black gospel workshop in Washington, D.C., USA, and Pentecostal Christian Churches in Berlin and Potzdam, Germany.
Most of the Japanese Christians whom the artist interviewed were born and raised in non-Christian families, and encountered Christianity at a certain point in their life. They then came to believe in Jesus through religious experiences (spiritual experiences) and converted to Christianity. Their spiritual experiences are numerous and diverse. One person saw a hand reaching out to them, or felt a force pulsing from their back to their head. One Japanese woman felt as though the water was boiling in her stomach while a Black pastor prayed for her. Another had visions of metal chains entangled around her legs.
According to religious scholar Susumu Shimazono, during Japan's modernization process, religion took on characteristics of spiritualism or magic. Modernization did not drive out a spiritual worldview but rather strengthened it. 1 This may sound unusual, but it is because the belief in spirits can provide a strong "sense of certainty" as people grasp an understanding of the real world, which seems to be becoming more complex and uncertain for them under modernization and urbanization.
Interestingly, this phenomenon has a lot in common with Christian spiritual revival in sub-Saharan Africa during decolonization, modernization, and disorder caused by the civil war. 2 Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity is the most dynamic and fastest growing movement of Protestant Christianity worldwide. It acts as a portable identity for the African diaspora, as well as an alternative strategy to help tackle modernity and globalization. 3 4 5
Throughout her long-term fieldwork in Japan, the artist (a Buddhist with almost no religious faith) met Japanese converts who testified to developing an affinity and faith in Christianity through their experiences with the Holy Spirit during their interaction with Black gospel choirs and missionaries.
Throughout her long-term fieldwork in Japan, the artist (a Buddhist with almost no religious faith) met Japanese converts who testified to developing an affinity and faith in Christianity through their experiences with the Holy Spirit during their interaction with Black gospel choirs and missionaries.
Fascinated by their testimonies, the artist recreated their spiritual experiences in 3D animation, focusing on the trans-geographical, spiritual connections between East Asia and African countries that have arisen due to modern globalization.
1. Shimazono, Susumu (2012) Salvation Religion in Contemporary Society. Tokyo: Seikyusha
2. Kalu, Ogbu (2008) African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. Casanova, José (2001) Religion, the New Millennium, and Globalization. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 415–441. Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. Martin, David (2002) Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Oxford: Blackwell
5. Burchardt, Marian (2013) 'We are saving the township': Pentecostalism, faith-based organisations, and development in South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 627–651. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. Kalu, Ogbu (2008) African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. Casanova, José (2001) Religion, the New Millennium, and Globalization. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 415–441. Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. Martin, David (2002) Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Oxford: Blackwell
5. Burchardt, Marian (2013) 'We are saving the township': Pentecostalism, faith-based organisations, and development in South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 627–651. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
炎の舌（2020〜）
HDビデオ、カラー、サウンド
HDビデオ、カラー、サウンド
この映像作品は、愛知県のキリスト教会とゴスペルクワイア、アメリカ・ワシントンDCの大規模ブラックゴスペルワークショップ、ドイツ・ベルリンとポツダムのペンテコステ系キリスト教会でのフィールドワークやインタビューを通して収集した「聖霊体験」についての証言をもとに制作された。
彼らの霊的体験は多様である。ある人は、手が自分に向かって差し出されるのを見たり、背中から頭にかけて何か抜ける感覚を覚えた。ある日本人女性は、黒人牧師が祈る中、お腹の中でお湯が沸騰するような感覚を覚え、別の女性は、足に金属の鎖が絡みついているようなイメージが浮かんだ。
宗教学者の島薗進によれば、日本の近代化の過程で、宗教はスピリチュアリズムや魔術的な性格を帯びるようになった。近代化は精神世界観を駆逐するのではなく、むしろ強化したのである。1 このことは奇妙に聞こえるかもしれないが、霊への信仰は、 近代化・都市化の下で人々にとってより複雑で不確実になっている現実世界を生きる上で、強い「確信」を与えることができるからであろう。
興味深いことに、この現象は、脱植民地化、近代化、内戦による混乱期のサハラ以南のアフリカにおけるキリスト教の霊的復興と共通するところが多い。2 カリスマとペンテコステのキリスト教は、世界中のプロテスタント・キリスト教の中で最もダイナミックで、最も急速に成長している運動である。アフリカのディアスポラの携帯用アイデンティティとして、また近代化とグローバリゼーションに取り組むための代替戦略として機能している。345
日本での長期にわたるフィールドワークを通じて、作家は、黒人ゴスペル合唱団や宣教師との交流の中で聖霊に触れ、キリスト教に親しみ、信仰を持つようになったと証言する日本人改宗者と出会う。彼らの証言に魅了され、精神的体験を3Dアニメーションで再現し、現代のグローバリゼーションによって生まれた東アジアとアフリカ諸国の地理的・精神的つながりに注目した。
1. 島薗, 進 (2012) 現代救済宗教論 東京: 青弓社
2. Kalu, Ogbu (2008) African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. Casanova, José (2001) Religion, the New Millennium, and Globalization. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 415–441. Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. Martin, David (2002) Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Oxford: Blackwell
5. Burchardt, Marian (2013) 'We are saving the township': Pentecostalism, faith-based organisations, and development in South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 627–651. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. Kalu, Ogbu (2008) African Pentecostalism: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. Casanova, José (2001) Religion, the New Millennium, and Globalization. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 415–441. Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. Martin, David (2002) Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish. Oxford: Blackwell
5. Burchardt, Marian (2013) 'We are saving the township': Pentecostalism, faith-based organisations, and development in South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 627–651. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press