HOT SANDWICH MAKERS CLUB / ホットサンドメーカーズクラブ

Even ingredients from different cultures usually taste better when sandwiched together to make a hot sandwich. The Hot Sandwich Makers Club project aims to share stories and build a network of people from different backgrounds, at a time when the world is becoming increasingly divided. The artists, who travel with his hot sandwich makers, eat together with the people he meet, sandwiching ingredients they have a special attachment to on bread. The conversations that emerge during the meal are recorded through video and drawings, and eventually, the artist selects the words they want to share with others.

For example, I met a young Uzbek immigrant in Berlin in 2022. Even if we cannot understand the history of the Russian occupation and the pain the migrants have suffered, can we accept and try to understand it by eating it between pieces of bread = taking the words spoken directly into our bodies? I have created a hot sandwich maker that can be imprinted with the memorable line “I’M FROM HUMAN” that he said, and have held performances and workshops serving hot sandwiches all over Japan and abroad. I have presented these performances as video installations in exhibitions.

異文化の食材も挟んでホットサンドにすれば大抵美味しくなる。「ホットサンドメーカーズクラブ」プロジェクトは、世界の分断が深刻化する中、ホットサンドを通じて異なる文化や背景を持つ人々の物語を共有し、ネットワークを築くことを目指している。ホットサンドメーカーを携帯して旅する作家は、出会った人々と一緒に彼らの思い入れのある食材をパンに挟み、共に食事をする。食事の場面で生まれる会話は映像やドローイングによって記録され、最終的に、他者と共有したい言葉を選定していく。

例えば、2022年にベルリンでウズベキスタン人の移民の青年と出会った。ロシアに占領されてきた歴史や、移民当事者が受けた痛みを理解することはできなくても、パンに挟んで食べる=語られた言葉を身体に直接取り込むことで、 受け止めたり、分かろうとすることはできないか 。 彼が語った「I’M FROM HUMAN」という印象的なセリフを刻印できるホットサンドメーカーを制作し、これまで日本全国・海外でホットサンドを振る舞うパフォーマンスやワークショップを行ってきた。その様子を映像インスタレーション作品として展覧会で発表している。

-Appearance-

Dec 11, 2023 – Dec 17, 2023
Contemporary Art Foundation Award 2023
Daikanyama Hillside Forum, Tokyo, Japan
*Performances on all day.

Nov 4, 2022 – Nov 25, 2022
A-TOM ART AWARD 2022 Vernacular and Dawn
CourtyardHIROO, Tokyo, Japan
*Performances on Nov 17.

Oct 11, 2022 – Oct 16, 2022
ATLAS 2022
Tokyo University of the Arts, Ibaraki, Japan
*Performances on all day.

-Performance/Workshop-
Traditional Uzbek “Palov” performance, served on hot sandwiches ATLAS 2022 / Tokyo University of the Arts (Ibaraki, Japan), 2022

HOT SANDWICH MAKERS CLUB – I’M FROM HUMAN – WORKSHOP Liverty-house (Nishi Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan), 2022

HOT SANDWICH MAKERS CLUB – I’M FROM HUMAN – WORKSHOP BAR Eden (Yokohama, Japan), 2022

HOT SANDWICH MAKERS CLUB – I’M FROM HUMAN – WORKSHOP A-TOM ART AWARD 2022 Vernacular and Dawn / CourtyardHIROO (Tokyo, Japan), 2022

HOT SANDWICH MAKERS CLUB – WE ARE FROM HUMAN – WORKSHOP Shizuoka, Yoshiwara, Japan Supported by Arts Council Shizuoka, Yoshiwara Central Culture Center, 2022

HOT SANDWICH MAKERS CLUB – WE ARE FROM HUMAN – WORKSHOP Shizuoka, Yoshiwara, Japan Supported by Arts Council Shizuoka, Yoshiwara Central Culture Center, 2022