Venue: Across the Japan Pavilion and Korean Pavilion (circulatory performance) at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
Performers: Yasushi Hirano (Bass-baritone) and Arielle Yuhyun Jeon (Soprano)
Participation Method: No separate ticket from the Biennale Arte 2026 required
Organizer: 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia - Japan Pavilion Event Execution Committee (Ei Arakawa-Nash, Mizuki Takahashi, Lisa Horikawa, Takayuki Ishii, and Takayuki Mashiyama)
Co-organizers: MORE THAN MUSICAL, Taka Ishii Gallery, and the Japan Foundation
Overview: The project explores the concept of “the process of how humans learn to sing as a form of social formation.” The performance originates at the Japan Pavilion (the "origin of voice"), where audience members listen to the primal sounds and breath of a baby, responding with their own raw vocalizations. Moving toward the Korean Pavilion (the space of "socialization"), the audience echoes and mimics one another's voices. Finally, professional opera singers gather these sounds, transforming them into a beautiful tapestry of music that represents a social structure, created entirely a cappella (without instruments). The highlights of this performance are its "circulatory" staging that seamlessly dissolves the national silos of the historic Biennale, and the deeply immersive experience crafted by MORE THAN MUSICAL, which transforms passive viewers into active “co-creators.” Directed by Tetsu Taoshita, the performance uses sound and bodies to explore the act of listening and responding to another’s voice as a form of care, questioning what kind of future world we will shape together.
The performance lasts 20 minutes, and the doll-holding experience and "diaper poems" offered at the Japan Pavilion will be available only to those participating in the performances.
