Published: 15 July 2025
B5 Size, Soft cover, 64 pages
Price: TBA

Ko Murobushi (1947–2015) began dancing after he met Tatsumi Hijikata (the founder of butoh dance) in 1968, and remained active as a dancer from that point on, both in Japan and abroad. Through photographs, posters, videos and his own writings, the exhibition traces the trajectory of his explorations of dance.

Murobushi’s reflections on dance and on the body cannot be contained within the under- standing of “butoh” as a genre: they go far beyond dance theory and practice to ask fundamen- tal questions about the nature of the body and of society. The goal of the exhibition is to offer a reexamination of the field of dance itself, using the traces of dance and thought Murobushi left behind.

The exhibition covers multiple periods of his career: the early 1970s, and his time with butoh company Dairakudakan, as well as the period after he left that collective to form his own company, Sebi (exhibited in sections respectively titled “La Communauté Inavouable” and “La Saison Violente”); the early 1980s, when he moved to Europe, and gave numerous perfor- mances while being constantly on the move (in a section of the exhibition titled “The Wandering Body”); and finally, the 2000s, when he returned to Japan and further deepened his under- standing of dance (exhibited in a section titled “Faux Pas”).

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Contents

Part I  Works
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Chapter 1 | La Communauté Inavouable/La Saison Violente | 1972−1980
Chapter 2 | The Wandering Body | 1981−1999
Chapter 3 | Faux Pas | 2000−2015
Chapter 4 | Others

Part II  Essays
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Rebellion of the Body | Ko Murobushi
That Which Is to Come / Dancing Traces | Takashi Nibuya
The Challenge of Filming Ko Murobushi’s Dance. A 10-year-long Companionship with Ko Murobushi | Basile Doganis

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Booklet

Text:
Ko Murobushi Archive (p.3–51)*
Ko Murobushi
Takashi Nibuya
Basile Doganis
[Note: The texts are based on the contents and English translations from the Ko Murobushi Archive website, with contributions by several translators, including Ikuya Odamaki (translator of the quote on p.26 and the full text on p.34).]

Translation:
Foreword, Works Introductions, etc.: Frances Caroe
Works Description: Julie Dind, Eric Selland (p.20–21, p.39) Essays: Julie Dind/Hanako Takayama (p.54, Draft translation), Eric Selland (p.55)

Editing: Mei Satsuki
Design: Tomohiro Koketsu
Printer: Graphic Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Kimiko Watanabe
Published by Ko&Edge
https://ko-murobushi.com/

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Exhibition

Title: A New Encounter with Ko Murobushi “Faux Pas”
Dates: 15 July–10 August 2025
Venue: Odeon Theater Foyer / Eier Boerse / Spitzer
Taborstraße 10, 1020 Wien, Austria
https://www.odeon-theater.at/

Organizer: Ko&Edge
Co-organizer:
ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival 2025
Karl Regensburger

Curator: Kimiko Watanabe
Construction Management:
Kimiko Watanabe, Stephan Schaja & Hamid Ahmadi
Construction Management Assistant:
Susumu Kihara, Umenoki Art & Cultural Design
Exhibit Installation:
ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival
Odeon Theater - Erwin Piplits & Max Kaufmann
Video Editing: Shu Nakagawa
Website/Exhibition Signage Design: Yasuyuki Nakamura

Supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
With the Assistance of The Saison Foundation