Shot in Japan, Dunedin flavour
IN a bamboo forest, on an ancient monolith, drifting in front of stone buildings followed by phantoms of light, Japanese dancer Meri Otoshi performs on a continuous video loop at the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.
Emaki is the work of arts laureate Daniel Belton and producer Donnine Harrison.
It bathes a dark room at Toitu in bluegreen light, infusing the space with an ethereal soundtrack as shimmering shifting shapes and animal silhouettes drift with the dancer across the screen.
Belton said the genesis of Emaki was meeting Otoshi at a festival in India. He applied to Creative New Zealand for research funding set aside for New Zealand artists to collaborate with Asian artists and in 2016 travelled to Japan to work with Otoshi.
That collaboration worked, and a second grant and support from Japanese partners resulted in the Emaki project late last year.
The video was shot in Japan, with graphics and music from motion graphics artist Jac Grenfell, of Dunedin.
‘‘It’s just great to bring it home,’’ Belton said.
‘‘We don’t get the opportunity to do this very often; it’s nice to bring it back here and share it.’’
Belton’s company Good Company Arts is Dunedinbased, and creates dance theatre works and films featuring human movement with fine arts.
While he travelled internationally for projects, they still had a Dunedin flavour.
‘‘Dunedin is very much in the background of all these works.’’
Emaki was a portrait of Otoshi, ‘‘and a journey with a single female figure.’’
‘‘It’s a reflection, it’s about going inwards and finding that sanctuary in our busy lives.
‘‘It has an ancient quality to it and a mystical quality, but it’s created with state of the art film tech.
‘‘It’s a real fusion of the old and the new.’’