(O)Kamemochi
Sorry, this is (not) for you.
Sorry, this is (not) for you is an imaginary ‘pawnshop’ where belongings deemed valuable are exchanged at a usurious rate for the essentials. Posing a question: what things/attachments/stories are you willing to give up in exchange for something more urgent and necessary?
Colonialism and capitalism impose power as pawnbrokers on the marginalised, making individuals an ‘unfaithful’ presence working in a contemptible space. This exhibition illuminates the women’s stories contaminated by the objectification of society, economy, and history in this imaginary pawnshop, which pretends to fulfil your dreams yet forces your value to protrude and fall from the weight of this contemptible history.
(O)Kamemochi is an intercultural and interdisciplinary arts collective. They challenge and deconstruct existing Western and male dominated social and artistic contexts to weave together the invisible values found amongst those deconstructed fragments to create a pathway for new and possible narratives. Co-founded in 2023 by director & curator Sun Kim(김선| キム・ソン) and arts manager Alissa Osada-Phornsiri(長田ポンシリ・アリサ)to showcase interdisciplinary exhibition “Touch My Mumblings, Hug My Words, Kiss My Singing” (Hirakushi Denchu House and Atelier, 2023), the performative curatorial project spoke about intergenerational memory hidden by society. Today, internationally active artists, curators, researchers, and producers have gathered together to build up (O)Kamemochi’s shared values. Representative projects are “Fragment and Whole – Co-learning session vol. 1: Orie Endo Talk Event + Workshop”(Tokyo University of Arts, 2024), “is my heart worthy of contempt..?” (Datsuijo, 2024) and “Swallow Them, Scatter It, Then Pray for Me.” (The 5th Floor, 2024).
