Watch butoh-inspired performances and more at this experimental art festival held online and across Tokyo. Butoh, an avant-garde performing art that originated in Japan in 1959, is usually known for artists’ slow and controlled movements, white makeup and often grotesque imagery. However, Tokyo Real Underground, part of the Tokyo Tokyo Festival Special 13, moves beyond butoh’s typical features and gives contemporary artists a chance to showcase unusual works inspired by this unique dance.
You can watch a large variety of festival performances online for free, which have been filmed inside the Former Hakubutsukan Dobutsuen Station in Ueno. To watch, you’ll have to register your email address on the official website and click the link to the online portal page that’s sent to you via email.
There’s also an augmented reality (AR) experience at seven different spots around the city, where you can explore the beginning of butoh by seeing photographs from 1961 superimposed over the modern-day cityscape via augmented reality until August 15. A few large-scale versions of these photographs are also on display in the underpass connecting Ginza and Higashi-Ginza stations, available to view until July 13.
Between August 3 and 15, you can also enjoy the free in-person Butoh: New Archive Exhibition (reservations required), which features a video installation by contemporary photographer Ryudai Takano.