Soundtrack | Kioto Aoki
April 26, 20226:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Kioto Aoki. Courtesy of the artist.
About the Event
Kioto Aoki performs a solo taiko set that unfolds across multiple locations throughout the museum. Aoki’s taiko practice is informed by the Japanese concept of ma, loosely translated as a generative pause, gap, or interval—an emptiness that contains energy, feeling, and meaning. During this Soundtrack, the artist foregrounds elements of performance that often go overlooked: the silences between beats, the spaces between sites, and the physical fatigue resulting from intensive artistic labor.
Soundtracks offer contemporary sound-based artists the opportunity to transform your MCA experience on select Tuesdays with custom soundscapes responding to works on view in the museum. This Soundtrack is organized by Nolan Jimbo, Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow and the Performance and Public Practice team.
About the Artist
Kioto Aoki is a Chicago-based artist, educator, and musician descending from the Toyoakimoto performing arts family, whose roots date back to the Edo period. Studying under her Tokyo-born father, she carries on this musical lineage in Chicago, where she plays taiko, shamisen, and tsuzumi. Her practice retains the artistic and aesthetic integrity of traditional Japanese music while allowing for more flexible contemporary interpretation. Her performances challenge the common misinterpretation of percussion as rhythm, often using stoic gestures, sonic textures, abstracted soundscapes, and embodied phrasing that incorporates choreography as part of the melody. Musical projects include Tatsu Aoki’s The MIYUMI Project, Yoko Ono’s SKY LANDING, and Experimental Sound Studio’s Sonic Pavilion Festival, among others.