Located in Japan, but yet not like any place in Japan at all–that’s “NEIGHBOR’S LAND”, the exhibit created by artist Jun Kitazawa in collaboration with residents from different countries and cultures.
Kitazawa has worked in Japan and internationally on unique art projects with a consistent theme: “Community Specific”. This led to his selection by Forbes magazine for inclusion in its “30 Under 30 Asia: The Arts” list in 2016. For this exhibit he invited various foreign nationals who live in Yokohama to join as project members, dubbing them “neighbors”. The team met frequently to discuss the development of the exhibit’s concept.
On the third floor of the YCC Yokohama CreativeCity Center, as part of the exhibit, you will find a room resembling a typical Chinese housing complex. There is also a Malaysian restaurant called Mamak, a courtyard of a Pakistani house, an Italian kiosk, an American “man cave” and a few more booths created by the artist and his colleagues. They are based on the neighbors’ memories of their home countries and also on foreign cultures that can be found in Yokohama. The team members will be selling food, drinks and other various items, giving language and cooking lessons, and holding craft workshops during this exhibition.
“I hope people who experience this exhibition will see the city of Yokohama as a sort of ‘NEIGHBOR’S LAND’. It will be interesting,” Kitazawa says. Visiting ‘NEIGHBOR’S LAND’ will give you a great opportunity to get to know the true neighbors you encounter everyday in our city. Celebrating cultural diversity makes for a fine starting point.