Joshua Sofaer has been selected as 2021 artist in (remote) residence, at Tenjinyama Art Studio, Sapporo, Japan. Working with curator Mizuki Endo and the Tenjinyama team during the two month residency programme, he will be exploring ways in which restrictions on movement, as a result of the global pandemic, have resulted in digital socialising. Using this as an opportunity to establish connections with residents in Sapporo who are (also) facing the milestone of a 50th birthday in 2022, Sofaer hopes to shortcut geography and cultural barriers.

Born in 1972?
We want to hear from you!

We are looking for people based in Sapporo who will turn 50 years old in 2022, and who would like to cook and share a meal with someone on the other side of the world.

British artist Joshua Sofaer will turn 50 in 2022. He wants to meet with people who are also facing this key milestone, to share stories.

You are invited to teach Joshua to cook one of your favourite meals. You supply the recipe in advance and both you and he separately prepare the ingredients. You meet via video conferencing software and you both cook in your own kitchens. Then you sit down, eat together and share stories. The conference call will be recorded for a gallery exhibition.

It’s ideal if you can speak some English but if you can’t we will provide translation. We will also pay for all your ingredients.

*****

This project proposal literally puts the artist and participants in (each other’s) residence, taking the necessary distance enforced by global pandemic travel restrictions as an opportunity for unexpected personal interaction. We spend so much more time at home now than we ever did before. This is a possibility to build cultural exchange and make connections.

‘50 years old’ is a milestone but also just the midway point in a life, certainly in an adult life. The life expectancy of someone born in the UK in 1972 is 85 for men and 88 for women, giving an average life expectancy of 86.5 years [Office for National Statistics]. A person who turns 50 in 2022 will therefore have an average of 36.5 more years to live. If one considers that a person forms their sense of self during adolescence, say at 13.5 years old, then 50 marks exactly the halfway point between the establishment of that sense of self, and death. Becoming 50 is a turning point, a point of reflection, of looking back and looking forward, simultaneously.

The Tenjinyama residency will take place from 31st August-29th October 2021.