Akiya

Forum Expanded 2020

In Akiya a reel-to-reel tape recorder plays a song that tells the story of the increasing number of abandoned houses and buildings in Japan. This contemporary story is told in the ancient style of Noh, a traditional Japanese theatrical form. The work does not show images of uninhabited buildings, instead they serve as a conceptual starting point. The lyrics of the poem are recited in archaic Muromachi period (1333–1573) Japanese. They are based on current newspaper articles and poetic fragments, metaphysics and peculiar humor, giving character and personality to the voice we hear.
The song is associated with the machine rather than the human. The performer becomes a machine and the machine becomes a performer. The work creates a future mythology or a dialogue between past and present by juxtaposing the traditional storytelling form with a contemporary interpretation of the current phenomenon of desolate houses.

by Jonna Kina Finland / Japan / USA 2020 Japanese 5’ Colour World premiere

Crew

Written and Directed by	Jonna Kina
Cinematography	Ville Piippo
Editing	Jonna Kina
Sound Design	Jonathan Fuhrer
Voice-Over	Ryoko Aoki
Producer	Jonna Kina
Executive Producer	Jonna Kina

World Sales

AV-arkki – The Centre for Finnish Media Art

Produced by

Jonna Kina

Photos

Jonna Kina

Jonna Kina, born in 1984 in Finland, is an artist who works with a variety of different media. By unveiling and deconstructing forms and methods, her works suggest complex questions dealing with a diverse range of topics: the trans-sensory power of sound, the relations and exchanges between artifice and reality, the mechanisms of translation, the relationship between the viewer and the artwork. Kina’s works have been awarded and have been shown in museums and film festivals internationally. In 2020 the Forum Expanded presented her short film Akiya.

Filmography

2012 Reconstructions; 21 min. 2016 Secret Words and Related Stories; 21 min. 2017 Arr. For a Scene; 6 min. 2018 Somnivm; 13 min. 2020 Akiya; 5 min., Forum Expanded 2020 2021 After Life Followed by Red Impasto Jar

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021