Project Outline
TPAM is the longest-established international platform for contemporary performing arts in Asia.
Started in 1995 as Tokyo Performing Arts Market, TPAM celebrates its 20th holding this year. Since 2011, TPAM has organized diverse showing programs and international meetings on performing arts at cultural facilities in Yokohama that represent the city’s concept of “Creative City.” Artists, festival directors, producers of venues, facilitators, company managers, presenters and all kinds of professionals engaging in creation of contemporary performing arts get together at TPAM to exchange information, discuss issues and build network.
In 2011, TPAM changed what its “M” stood for from “Market” to “Meeting” and defined itself more clearly as a platform for contemporary works and activities. Since then, TPAM has been internationally developing its network and projects as one of the most influential performing arts platforms in Asia. 639 professionals participated in TPAM 2015: 183 from 41 countries and 456 from Japan.
Asian Focus
In Asia, there have not been many, more or less organized, opportunities for gaining access to talented Asian artists, interesting contemporary works and their possibilities and for building Asian performing arts network, i.e., places where a certain number of specialists and practitioners would get to know each other and exchange thoughts. In 2011, TPAM redefined itself more clearly as a platform for contemporary performing arts, and it started to focus on Asia last year making various attempts to disseminate more Asian contemporary performing arts and to make them more familiar to audience in Asia and the world.
Venues: Kanagawa Arts Theatre (KAAT), BankART Studio NYK, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, YCC Yokohama Creativecity Center, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall Small Hall, Amazon Club and others
Organized by: Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama 2017 Executive Committee (The Japan Foundation Asia Center / Kanagawa Arts Foundation / Yokohama Arts Foundation / PARC – Japan Center, Pacific Basin Arts Communication)
Cooperated by: BankART1929, Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau, Non-Profit Organization YCC
Nominal Support: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan, Kanagawa Prefectural Government, City of Yokohama
Programs
In the field of co-production, as in other domains of our work, professionals don’t only need to present final productions but also involve themselves in various activities for approaching contemporary Asian works, such as study meetings, local researches and reports. TPAM, taking advantage of the fact that it is a place for international meeting of people who “create” performing arts, started TPAM Co-Production where Asian presenters and artists develop and circulate works.
When the times are drastically changing, how do artists and producers renew established ideas in their own minds and respond to the change? In TPAM Contemporary Classics, we introduce works by experienced artists that dynamically, bravely and flexibly tackle the current historical and social situations.
We appoint active arts managers who have unique points of view to curate the programs, and they introduce works freely developing concepts with fresh eyes. Participants are invited to these directions where thoughts and issues of our times are shared and explore the possibility of performing arts together.
A fringe program that introduces performances shown in Yokohama and Tokyo during the period of TPAM. 35 groups registered for the program in 2015. One of the international doorways in TPAM, many international presenters have found artists and productions that they’d want to introduce to their audiences in this program.
A program that is offered to performing arts professionals as an opportunity for introducing their activities, productions and projects to each other and for broadening their network. Group Meetings are for small groups of participants to discuss a theme suggested by the host, and Speed Networking is for one-on-one meetings with Japanese and international presenters. Participants are invited to this program for gaining knowledge, having new encounters and finding clues for future projects and cooperations.
We have four serial discussions on the theme of “co-production in Asia” in the 2016 meeting program. In addition to these serial discussions, a special talk by Kang Sang-jung, Oriza Hirata and Toshiki Okada, TPAM Direction directors’ talks, and presentations by artists who have been on the Asian Performing Arts Artist-in-Residence program are held.