Memento Forest — katami, a multimedia dance performance

“Memento Forest — katami”, a new multimedia dance performance directed by Marina Fukushima to be presented at NOHSpace on June 5-6, 2026. The work nurtures the connections with loved ones after they have passed away through the objects, memories, people, and places that were left behind. The project invests in Japanese and Asian American communities, a sense of family, and intergenerational relationships. As grieving processes in Japan are often both personal and communal through various rituals and practices, the creative outlet of collaboration and performance serves as a grieving process, enriching communal acts of sharing, and collective healing.

The project will reflect on Marina Fukushima’s personal process of grieving after her father, Hiroki Fukushima, passed away in August, 2024. As memento “katami (形見)” in Japanese, constructed by two words “shape” and “to see”, the work seeks to perceive traces that conjure who he was as a father, grandfather, husband, Japanese immigrant, metal sculptor, and transnational artist.

The multi-media creation also incorporates video, photography, and audio from a series of workshops titled “Memento Archive - First Rainbows” at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) and Kokoro Assisted Living.

Reflecting on a continuity and ephemerality of life and family, “Memento Forest — katami” cultivates a sense of lightness through the journey, opening layers of release and renewed communal relations.

Collaborating Artist Bios:

MARINA FUKUSHIMA (artistic direction, choreography, video, performance) is a multidisciplinary dance artist based in San Francisco. Born in Tokyo, Japan, she immigrated to the US in 1992. From a cross-cultural perspective, her creative focus is on the themes of silence, family, and intergenerational relationships. Since 2015, she has been developing a Family Project series in primary collaboration with her parents (both visual artists). Also, in collaboration with Isak Immanuel, numerous somatic-based workshops inclusive to seniors, youth, and non-dancers have been created. In San Francisco and internationally, she has performed with numerous dance companies including KUNST-STOFF, Epiphany Productions, ODC, Lenora Lee Dance, and Tableau Stations. Various collaborative works have been supported by California Arts Council, Zellerbach Family Foundation, NOHSpace, San Francisco Arts Commission, and Little Tokyo Service Centerʼs +LAB AIR.

ISAK IMMANUEL (scenography, video, archive process) is an interdisciplinary artist engaging questions of precarity, presence, and a sense of place. Numerous multimedia dance performances, videos, and installations have been created in museums, theaters, and urban and rural environments. He is the artistic director of the intercultural arts platform Tableau Stations, active in the SF Bay Area and nomadically. Supported in part by the the Japan-US Friendship Commission, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Attakkalari India Biennial, and Headlands Center for the Arts.

MICHIKO FUKUSHIMA (performance for video, drawing) is a visual artist and Marina Fukushima’s mother. She immigrated to the U.S. in 2012 to expand her artistic exploration in drawing, porcelain, and ceramic works. Her recent works incorporate different mediums and explore China Painting on porcelain objects and sculptures. She works and teaches China Painting at the Crucible in Oakland.

+ Community participants from a series of workshops entitled “Memento Archive - First Rainbows” at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) and Kokoro Assisted Living.

Memento Forest - katami is produced and presented by the U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network, Inc. (CTN), in association with Theatre of Yugen, Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, and Asian Improv aRts.

Community workshops and dialogues hosted and organized by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California and Kokoro Assisted Living.

Both the creative process and recordings of the stage production will become part of “First Rainbows” (虹始見/にじはじめてあらわる/Niji hajimete arawaru), the 15th micro-season of the 72 Seasons on CTN’s website: https://www.usjapanctn.net/72seasons.html

This activity is supported in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Photo credit for all images: Isak Immanuel

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network (CTN)