Profile
Kibism
- kibi
noun -
- strange beauty.
- subtleties: delicate inner workings or subtle meanings which might not appear on the surface.
Kibism [kibizm] is a performance lab/unit formed by Naoko Maeshiba in 2002 in order to pursue her inquiry about the depth of the body, examine various forms of perception in search for absolute essence, and further interaction between different disciplines and cultures.
KIBISM works start with the body. Examining the body's potentials as a place where the external and the internal stimuli encounter, as a vessel through which images germinate, as a landscape for memories and histories, we investigate the relationship between body and the environments. Drawing from both Western and Eastern disciplines, our work roots in the primal and refined physicality. In the exquisite darkness combined with vibrant festivity, the potent state of the body emerges.
KIBISM works synthesize kinetic, visual, auditory, aural, and sculptural elements, illuminating the rich layers of abstracted narrative. Walking on the line between reality and illusion, Kibism works delve into the hidden and the obscured aspects of the society, unearth the ephemeral moments in life, and seek out the strange beauty (KIBI) of our existence on the universe. Past productions have dealt with the crucial issues in our era: aging, youth violence, departure and arrival, traces in our bodies, home, and family.
Our collaborative process engages artists from various cultural and disciplinary backgrounds together. Previous collaborators include: Steve Bradley (transmedia artist), Audrey Chen (cellist./vocalist), Laure Drogoul (installation artist), Alberto Gaitan (sound artist), Mara Neimanis (aerial artist), Kinior and Makaruk (Polish electro-acoustic duo), Mykroknytes (electro-acoustic experimentalist), Sharon Mansur (dancer/choreographer), Jason Sloan (sound artist), Monika Lilleike (voicalist), and Lori Ohtani (dancer/choreographer).
Performance venues include: John. F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts (DC), Hirshhorn Museum at Smithsonian Institute (DC), Theatre of Yugen Noh space (SF), Ko Festival of Amherst (MA), Baltimore Theatre Project (MD), Questfest (MD), Dialog of Four Cultures Festival (Lodz, Poland), International New Media Festival (Warsaw, Poland), International House of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan), Dance Place (DC), Warehouse Gallery (DC) and Capital Fringe Festival (DC).