“BONE MUSIC Exhibition” — We Just Wanted to Listen to Records
During the Soviet / Cold War era from the 1940s to the 60s, in order to listen to American jazz and rock ‘n’ roll banned by the state, records were cut onto discarded X-ray films — discs on which ribs, rib cages, and skulls could be seen. These are the “bone records.”
This exhibition, which has toured mainly around Europe for roughly three years, will now open for the very first time in Japan and Asia, running for a strictly limited period of only 16 days.
First Curated Show in Japan and Asia
The “BONE MUSIC Exhibition” is curated by the show’s curators Stephen Coates and Paul Heartfield. After its first outing in London in 2014, it toured for about three years through Italy and then through the former Soviet Union — now Russia — the birthplace of this story. Following last year’s run in Israel, it now lands in Asia for the first time as a curated exhibition in Japan.
Stephen, who is also a composer and music producer, discovered an X-ray of a pelvis with a music track cut into it at a flea market in Saint Petersburg while traveling in Russia in the course of his musical career, and was struck by its appearance.
He then began researching the historical background from which the bone-record story emerged and launched the “X-Ray Audio Project,” expanding the scope of its expression through not only exhibitions but also a documentary, an online archive, catalogues, and live events.
The exhibition centers on vintage bone records from the personal collections of Stephen and Paul, and also displays a rare cutting machine used to record them.
Visitors can also hear the actual sounds cut onto bone records at the time as the venue’s background music.
Past Overseas Exhibitions
A fascinating exhibition — I’m already looking forward to it.
Details
BONE MUSIC Exhibition — We Just Wanted to Listen to Records
Venue: BA-TSU ART GALLERY
Dates: April 27 (Sat) – May 12 (Sun), 2019
Venue: BA-TSU ART GALLERY
[Official website] http://www.bonemusic.jp
[Ticket information]
Advance ticket: 1,200 yen (tax incl.) *On sale until the day before opening, April 26 (Fri).
Same-day ticket: 1,400 yen (tax incl.)
Premium ticket (with BONE MUSIC Exhibition merchandise): 2,400 yen (tax incl.)
Note: The “Premium Ticket” is only available via “Ticket Pia.”
Premium tickets here: http://w.pia.jp/t/bonemusic/
