Afternote: In the Shade of Cinema

Afternote: In the Shade of Cinema is an exhibition focusing on the history of movie theatres in the provincial city of Yamaguchi, Japan. Curated by Yu Iseki (curator of the Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito), the display includes records and materials related to the city’s cinemas, along with the latest work by Nobuhiro Shimura, a contemporary Japanese artist who produces video installations exploring themes of memory and placeness.

In recent years, Shimura has been undertaking projects focusing on social issues and histories that are difficult to visualise from a local perspective, based on his fieldwork in the area. He also produces films from a folkloristic point of view, adopting documentary techniques to explore themes including our everchanging ecological history and the livestock industry, which concerns our everyday lives.

This exhibition presents Shimura’s most recent work also titled Afternote, which narrates the background of movie theatres in a regional area of Japan. Commissioned by YCAM, the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media, this 79-minute documentary directed by Shimura himself traces back the history of the movie “theatre” itself, which have since vanished from the city of Yamaguchi.

By unearthing the memories of local residents and what the cinema meant to them, Afternote reminisces on the days when movie theatres were considered the cultural centre, a part of daily life and the cityscape.