“BAKERU School” Tour for 2022 has been decided

WOW magazine 198 - Apr. 18th, 2022

WOW’s original work “BAKERU” started with “Hare to Ke Exhibition” which was held in 2017, and spread overseas with “WOW animates the world”, “BAKERU: Transforming Spirits” and “Encountering BAKERU around the World.” Since 2018, in response to the adoption of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ “Promoting the Development of Children through Cultural Arts Project - Tour Performance Project,” we have been touring elementary schools in Japan as “BAKERU School.” From June this year, we will be touring Tokyo, Saitama, Gunma, Ibaraki, Fukushima, Shizuoka, and Gifu.

Classes are held for two days. We will have a lecture by Tokyo Shishi-odori on Iwate’s deer dance and local entertainment, create masks that incorporate the wishes of each child, and experience the interactive digital-art “BAKERU” using the masks.

Through these series of workshops of “BAKERU School,” we aim to help children get a look at local traditions and culture, so they can gain a literacy in media arts. At an elementary school in Sakata City, Yamagata, we gave a new BAKERU which was based on a research of the local lion dances. And in a school with 12 students in Hida City, Gifu, we gave our first “BAKERU SCHOOL” that tackles the COVID-19 pandemic.

BAKERU School – Elementary School in Sakata, Yamagata, 2019 Autumn ▶ ArticlePlay Movie
BAKERU School – Elementary School in Hida, Gifu, 2020 Winter
ArticlePlay Movie

You can also see the past activities of “BAKERU School” from the BAKERU site. Please look forward to the future activities of “BAKERU.”

─ About “BAKERU School” ─
This project was adopted within the framework of media arts that was newly established by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in the “Promoting the Development of Children through Cultural Arts Project - Tour Performance Project.” By providing elementary and junior high school students nationwide with an opportunity to experience cultural arts, we aim to foster future artists and audiences and contribute to the production of great cultural arts. Please check this out for more details.

WOW magazine