the discussion before the realization

"It was one of the first projects I started after the COVID lockdown.
Do you remember those days?
We were still wearing masks and had to keep our distance and remain silent. At least in Japan, it was like that.
The COVID had literally shut us up, on multiple levels. I mean this phenomenon was affecting me and probably a lot of you physically. I was also feeling that it was creating and reinforcing a certain metaphysical condition that actually has been there for a very long time
but I became ...more… aware of…our...VOICELESS-NESS
So I thought this is the moment to realise one of my long time wishes as an attempt to raise A VOICE. it was more of a survival instinct rather than a resistance, there was not much politics that pushed me to do this project or a prayer or a wish or an encouragement or a message, to simply put, to this world that I felt becoming more distanced from..."

an excerpt from NEVER BE NO VOICE - a reflection on a collective voice, 2023"

NEVER BE NO VOICE is a practice based research project, on collectivity and voice. The idea is to gather a group people, preferably with various backgrounds, with open mind and ears. The group would be working together during the given period; sharing thoughts, reflecting together about “collectivity”, “voice” and “collective voice”, making exercises to realize a collective voice that would possibly last very long.
The result of the sessions are fully open. Even what the “voice” is can be redefined, something other than the sound produced from our vocal cords, our inner thoughts or sign language for example. Depending on the size and type of group, the numbers of the sessions and what comes up during the sessions, it can vary itself conceptually, physically, politically, artistically, musically and in other directions. It is a thinking through listening and voicing, or a non-conventional approach or an improvisation of a search for a unique depth of sonic materiality of voices. Therefore, the focus of the project is not on the quality of the composition nor the level of musicality of the outcome in the straight forward sense the most; however, the project aims to experiment on what could possibly be sonically understood when being vibrated with-in the result of all that would be shared among the group by listening and raising a collective voice.

This session was consisted of workshop, self study materials for listening, tutorial video for breathing, discussion, rehearsal, performance/recording session.

voices of session 01: mamoru, Ryota Hirayama, Kirara Takeda, Miu Hatanaka, Haru Hosoe, Naoko Matsuda, Ayaka Kudoh, Syu Fukuta, Yoshiki Wada, Nao Miyamukai, Ryunosuke Hayakawa, Kira Nakamura, Ryota Otake, Dotto Marco, Ryoga Seko, Shogo Yamamoto
curator: Maki Nishida
production: Nagoya University of Arts Art and Design Center (Takeshi Ichikawa, Moe Ichihara, Mayaka Yamamoto, Junko Isobe)
organization: Nagoya University of Arts Art Division
filmed: Ryohei Tomita, Kohki Ohno
recorded: Ryohei Tomita, Kohki Ohno, mamoru
edited:Ryohei Tomita, mamoru

ACT1: NEVER BE NO VOICE, 13.09.2021
(performance/filming session)
documentation, 15'13": https://youtu.be/7yv0vsl29QA

The instruction for the ACT1.
[bring your voices]
do your breathing and tuning and find your voice of the day.
concentrate strongly on your voice
bring your voice to the venue
keep concentrating on your voice
do not talk to anyone until you reach the venue and the performance starts

[raise your voice but very gently]
after the sign, all of you would start humming your own voices
loud enough for yourself to listen to
then gradually raise the volume a little by little

note: the voices will meet, probably make conflicts, be merged, or a voice may dominate and gather other voices etc observe the movement carefully and keep raising your voice

[listen to each other and make a voice/can a song be born?]
after the sign, all of you would start listening to each other intensely
change your intention from "my voice" to "our voice"
follow the movement if you hear it
keep raising your voice

note:maybe some of you may get inspired and start dancing their voices
one may join afterwards as well
make movements if you hear them
several groups of voices may also be formed

[give your voices back to the silence]
after the sign, make your voice as loud as you would feel ok to
then with the next sign, cut the voice
listen to the resonance as it would disappear
listen very carefully to how your voices go back to their own silence

ACT2:TO THE EAST, CARRY YOUR VOICE, 13.09.2021
(performance/filming session)
documentation, 18'52": https://youtu.be/ecgUIM84z9g

The instruction for the ACT2.
discuss how to carry the voice to the east
decide the route
carry it out

note: raise your voice inside the gallery in the west-campus
walk to the gallery in the east-campus
when the signal is given after everyone arriving the gallery in the east-campus
each one would hold their voices as long as possible
all the breath would run out, and then it is finished.

installation view

"The Practice of Everyday Practice"
25.10.2021-16.11.2021 Nagoya University of the Arts, Art & Design Center East / West
curator: Maki Nishida
artist: Takaaki Izumi, Emi Otaguro, Saroi Miyake, mamoru

NEVER BE NO VOICE - a reflection on a collective voice

(stereo, 14'55", 2023) listen to the work／Youtube

an audio work/monologue of the artist created for the occasion of LISTENING BIENNIAL 2023 (Language: En)

FIELDNOTES／"Voice" can be a material to construct an realm of ritual

(text, Japanese, 2025) /click the title to open the text(Language: Japanese)

reflection on "what is voice?" from the experience participating the Tjuwabar Maljeve, a Paiwan's ritual that happens every 5 years, in Taiwan, 2023.10.25.

YouTube that introduce the ritual(as a reference)：YouTube

gathering

SESSION: collaboration workshop with Hong-Kai Wang, "wind is a voice and voice is the wind", duration 3 days, several sessions of listening-breathing-imagining-voicing.


voices: Orestes Karkut, Julia Lupa, Zofia Kuligowska, Wojtek Bernatowicz, Marta Gendera, Mateusz Sobków, Beata Zuzanna Borawska, Laura Palazzo, Anastasiya, Anna, Hong-Kai Wang, Zongyuan Tien, Karolina Breguła, Tatsiana Zhytkevich, Aleksandra Kubiak, Peichun Lai and more
curator: Tien Zong-Yuan, Nicole Lai, Karolina Breguła, Marta Gendera
production: Peichun Lai
organise: Amongst the Silence, Lokatorne
partly supported by Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation

group work

workshop view

SESSION: Collaboration with Hong-Kong based Contemporary Classical Music group dedicated to percussion, Toolbox Percussion. 3 months of online sessions on how to work with voice and percussion with the Toolbox musicians prior to 4 onsite workshops with other participants and a final session open to public.


curator: Louis Siu
voice and percussions: Abby Chan, Ivan Yeung, Hon Yi, Betty Fung, Louis Siu, Howard & Rita, Siu Yi, Cyrus Yim, Kian Hsu, King Lam, Colin Chow, Alvin Chan, Cherry Cheng, Hoi Lei, Kartis Chen
production: Toolbox Percussion
recordings: Krystle Leong, Ash Yeung, sound techs, JPL documentation team
organise: Oi! art space, Toolbox Percussion
partly supported by Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation

final session

FIELDNOTES／ "VOICE" can be an uplifting energy force that vibrates and grows those within the resonance of it.

(text, originaly in Japanese, 2025) / Please click the title to open the text

A reflection from my experience of joining the annual ear-shooting-festival of Bunun people and especially the "Pasibutbut", a ceremony/prayer using collective voice, on the 23rd May 2025, in Bulbul, Haituag, Taitung, Taiwan.

view from the workshop

A series of workshops related to the exhibition at Tottori Prefectural Museum of Art.
DAY0. Prior to the main sessions, listening-investigation took place and a prepatory session was organised with 10-15 people to get some idea about the accoustics of the place.
As DAY1-2 of the workshop, total of 9 workshops in 8 locations are organised. It was consited of 3 hours on the DAY1, 3 weeks of self practice, and 2 hours on the DAY2. Each sessions consist of listening-breathing-imagining-voicing exercises, special forcus on creating a collective voice using simple instructions. Over 100 participants had joined.
The DAY3 workshops were the extension of the first two but 2 of the 4 sessions were held outdoor to explore the way environment and voices/people reacts through deep listening and voicing.
As the DAY4, the open session was held at the Tottori Museum of Art. (However, due to the heavy snow the museum got temporarily closed on the 8th Feb, 2026 and the open session got cancelled though a small unofficial session was held in Tottori.)

voices: Noriko Kodani, Minami Noma, Rinko Tsumura, Kaoru Akai, You Namikawa, Rinko Oomae, Nana Morioka, Jyunko, Chiaki Miyata, Hanae Nakakura, Hatsune Wakisaka, Saori Arii, Taisuke Iga, Syuki Yamada, Tomoyuki Taketa, Fuga Yamamoto, Tomoka Takamori, Sachie Matsushita, Iseko Sasaki, Kiyoshi Takeuchi, Tomomi Takahashi, Kumiko Fukuma, Toru Urata, Naoki Kuruma, Miyo Mizuta, Yoshio Moriwaki, Kana Kimura, Kayo Hashizawa, Sakura(Yuriko Nakamura), Kenta Gokuda, Haruko Sone, Arisa Hasegawa, Kayoko Maruyama, Kaho Matsushita,Takahiro Nishida, Satoko Morito, Kana Yabuta, Shiho Oshita, Lyra Yoshikawa, Junko Mizo, Megumi Matsumoto, Kimiko Kodani, Shinji Kojima, Eri Kinoshita, masayo sakai, Fukunosuke Ozaki, Bunpei Matsumura, Shotaro Miyahara, Natsue Manzai, Chiaki Yagi, Hideaki Yagi, Noriyuki Abe, Kaori Abe, Mariko Yamaguchi, Mitsuko Akiyama, Sachie Okawa, Maho Tomooka, Ayane Okui, Yoko Osaka, Michiko Morimoto, Rika Kobayashi, Kei Yonei, Chiho Shibata, Sachiko Mori, Sachiko Wada, Yoko Takahashi, Ayane Imazeki, Yumi Kurata, Mizuki Aburatani, Haruna Ozaki, Yuko Miyake, fuca, Rie Jatani, Takashi Yamashita, Umi Sotomura, Misato Fujiki, Yuichiro Shimono, Mikiko Fujita, Junko Sakamoto, Keiko Miyamoto, Manako Shinoda, Masato Ikegame, Kumiko Haruna, Mitsuko Sugiura, Tsuzumi Miyamae, Mayuko Kadowaki, Mari Tsujii, Reiko Matsushima, Hiroshi Kawabe, Yuriko Furumoto, Ryoko Kagata, Tomoe Hamai, Yuko Hirami, Tomoko Ueda, Chiharu Aburatani, Ryoko Tanaka, Tetsuya Tanaka, Takanobu Yoneda, Mayu Taniguchi, Misato Masuhara, Azumi Akai, Kohei Sasaki, Mana Shoji, Mami Yamasaki, Ritsuko Yamashita, Joyce Lam, Atsuo Miyakita, Marina Yamamoto, Honami Miyoshi, Chizuko Ayani, Mari Satomura, Mizuho Fujita, Norie Nakajima, Keiko Hazama, Ryoji Nakagawa, Koki Ito, Keiko Taniguchi, Yuki Hayashi, Miharu Seta, Nami Okada, Masataka Maruyama, Shino Maruyama, Wataru Yamakami, Ayane Eguchi, Kentaro Yokouchi
curator: Azumi Akai (Tottori Prefectural Museum of Art)
venues: Mukibanda Historical Park, Ex-Yoshii dental clinic, HOSPITALE PROJECT, Chiisai-ouchi, Tottori University Art Center, Miracle, Hidamari Hall, jig theater, ex-Nagata School
filming: Tatsuya Naoe/noet photo visual
recording:mamoru, Tatsuya Naoe/noet photo visual
organaized: planning committee of CONNEXIONS

views from the workshops, DAY1-2

some of the recordings from the DAY1-2
2025.05.27. Hamamura, Kissa Miracle
2025.05.29. Chizu, Honobono
2025.06.16. Daisen, Gagaga School
2025.06.22 Tottori, HOSPITALE

FIELDNOTES／Not getting tired, but actually getting energized/vibration as a communication/the "discovery" of consonants sparked an interest in phonetics/number of people matters

(text, Jp, 2025)

reflection of the DAY1-2 of the SESSION 4 and partly SESSION 5

views from the workshops, DAY3

views from the workshops, DAY4, photo: Ryoko Tanaka

text/review of the DAY4, recording, photos (Jp)
FIELDNOTES/the movement of the voices as I listened to/observed 2026.3.1. 13:00-」

view from the workshop

SESSION: the presentation of the project "NEVER BE NO VOICE", the exercises of breathing-listening-imaginin-voicing as a part of the curriculam "existential practice" at the department of sculpture of Tama Art University. The session was open to all the students. About 50 participants.


organized and produced: Tama Art University, Department of Sculpture (Tadasu Takamine, Kan Miyake)

FIELDNOTES／And we meet again

(text, original in Japanese, 2025) /please open the text by clicking the title

a reflection from the experience participatin the "Laulupidu XXVIII", which is called a Song Cereblation that has been organized every 5 years since 19the century. 5-6 July 2025 in Talin, Estonia.
research cooperation: Kai Kiiv (Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre)

view of the session

SESSION: An improvised session with just a simple instructions prior to the execusion, at the celebration of 10th Anniversary of Artist Support Project, founded by a Japanese painter Kentaro Yokouchi in 2015. About 40 participants.
recording of the SESSION【YouTube】
*Artist Supprot Project is an artist run space, almost by a personal funding, which runs and organises a residency program, an annual award, exhibitions, and other oppotunities for young local artists, also hosts visiting artists/researchers/curators.

voices: Aki Iwaya, Awi Nasution, Asaka Yamaguchi, Asuka Miyata, Bayu Widodo, Fitriani Dewi kurniasih, Gilang Fathoni, Haburi, Haruka Kashiwagi, Haruko Kumakura, I Gede Maha Ardhika, Jin Jiachen, Kanoko Takaya, Mami Kato, Masato Takemura, Naho Yokoya, Natsuki Uchiyama, Putri Siswanto, Raafi Artha, Rangga Purnama Aji, Rara Kuastra, Saki Kirizuki, Sotaro Kikuchi, Sunyoung Park, Takao Iguchi, Tamura Kurumi, Vina Puspita, Vendy Methodos, Yo Yasuda, Yudha Kusuma Putera, Yuki Shibata, and more
organised: Kentaro Yokouchi, ASP

FIELDNOTES／a reflection on "a voice" and just a part of its "echoes"

(text, originally in Japanese, 2025) /please open the text by clicking the title

view from the session

As a part of "아카이브 소리(Archive Sound)" organised by Culture Space Yang, several workshops were held. Especially, the 26.10 session were planned as a collaboration between the listening arichival project, an attempt of remembering "4.3 Jeju massacar". The collaboration listening research and a voicing session took place in one of the "lost village", a ruin from the devastating militaly operation, Gonul-dong.


voices: 안혜경(An Hye-kyoung), 김범진(Kim Bumjin), 이승수(Lee Seung Soo), 유현희(Yu Hyunhee), 양철수(Yang Cheol-soo), 신미리 (Shin Miri), 고경은(Ko Kyeung-eun), 김양희(Kim Yang-hee), 고경화 (Koh Gyeong-hwa) , 林佑樹(Yuki Hayashi), 홍진숙(Hong Jinsook), 장혜령(Jang Hye Ryeong), 윤혜정(Yun Hyejeong), 김시민(Kim Simin), Wen Di, M. Maria Walhout, 김누리(Kim Noori), 이현태(Lee Hyuntae), 김연주(Kim Younjoo), and more
curator: 김연주(Kim Younjoo)
organised: 문화공간 양(Culture Space Yang)

humming(can be a form of resistance or a strategy)?

(text, Jp, 2025)

reflection on what is humming

installation view (photo: Ryoko Tanaka)

"CONNEXIONS"
7.2 - 22.03 2026, Tottori Museum of Arts
curator: Azumi Akai
sound system: Tokyo Onkyo Kougei
participating artists: Marianna Christofides, Kaori Endo, Museo Aero Solar, mamoru, SIDE CORE, SURE INN, Tadasu Takamine

Two video works were projected at the exhibition. A video work "NEVER BE NO VOICE — wind blows, mist rises, and a hum of a bee passes by"(11'45", 2026), which is edited from the footages and recordings from SESSION 4 was projected on a larger wall with an omni directional sound system creating a natural surrounding accoustic environment. Another video work "NEVER BE NO VOICE — A Reflection on Voice(s), 2021–2025"(63'01", 2026), which is a video essay reflecting through 5 years of the research and sessions related to this project was projected on a smaller wall with headphones. Both of the video hire high resolution sound quality(24bit, 96khz) to best play the rawness/livelyness of the voices and recorded environment at multiple sessions.

(c) 2026 a few notes production