Even solitary creatures gather under the palms

In this performance, Emi invites guests to settle around a kotatsu, a heated Japanese table that people sit around on cushions. Many Japanese households have one in their living room during the winter.

A small group will gather comfortably, including Emi herself, and she’ll tell you a story that takes the act of sitting and different types of seating in our homes as a starting point to look at how we inhabit our living space. The use of space is informed by work and leisure, social time and alone time, and considerations of function intersect with culture. Emi reflects on the ways in which our surroundings shape our personalities and vice versa.

The story meanders through Emi's grandmother’s house in Japan, her homes in Canada and Belgium, and invites you to imagine the sights and sounds of each place. Along the way, she encourages you to evoke places in your memory and linger. In this way, experiences meld and the story world is created together.

The audio piece Somewhere to put your bum down is the basis for this performance. The text was written in the spring of 2020 and published as a podcast in the frame of workspacebrussels' audio-visual summer program a room with a view.