September 3rd & 4th, 2008
at Woonzorgcentrum Zuylenstede (Eldery home Zuilenstede)
concept & direction Sjaak Langenberg and Rosé de Beer
choreography & performance Sato Endo
costume Emiko Shimizu
hairstyling & make-up Fuji Hair
decor Manntech gevelinstallaties
About the work
In the performance Hoog bezoek (High-level visitor) a Japanese geisha appears in front of the windows of an elderly home. The geisha descends in the façade cleaning
system from the upper tenth floor to
the ground level. She makes contact with the elderly and performs a
dance from behind the windows.
Hoog bezoek was developed by Dutch artist Sjaak Langenberg and designer Rosé de Beer during their stay as artist in residence in Utrecht Overvecht, the Netherlands
in January 2008, as part of the project In Overvecht. The call for volunteers to visit the elderly which
they saw on a bulletin board in an elderly home drew their attention.
They found a 'volunteer' in Japan. Japan’s population is rapidly aging.
In graying Japan sometimes robots are used to relieve the loneliness
of the elderly.
Japanese dancer and performer Sato Endo who is currently living in Rotterdam (Holland) fulfills the role of a geisha in the performance Hoog bezoek. With only a few thousand geisha left in all of Japan, as opposed to the flourishing numbers of the past, the profession of these companionship ladies is slowly dying out.
Japanese dancer and performer Sato Endo who is currently living in Rotterdam (Holland) fulfills the role of a geisha in the performance Hoog bezoek. With only a few thousand geisha left in all of Japan, as opposed to the flourishing numbers of the past, the profession of these companionship ladies is slowly dying out.
The performance Hoog bezoek was performed 10 times on Wednesday 3 September
2008 and Thursday 4 September 2008, each time on a different floor of
the elderly home, exclusively for the 300 occupants of Woonzorgcentrum Zuylenstede
in Utrecht.
Slideshow
photos by Joep Lennarts
Video documentation
Project website
Artists
Sjaak Langenberg
(Den Bosch, Holland) is a visual artist and publicist. He works mainly
in public space with different art forms, depending on the vision he
develops on the spot. His work was exhibited at the Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven)
and De Appel (Amsterdam). He won the basic price Prix de Rome
Art and Public Space in 1997.
Rosé de Beer (Oosterhout, Holland) is a (multimedia) designer who developed
websites for Shell and KLM among others. She works together with Sjaak
Langenberg for many years, visualizing plans among others.
English summary for the umbrella project In Overvecht
