O, Open the Door, I Pray

Through its works, ikkibawiKrrr expands the connection between life and art, inhabiting the boundary between the earth and the sky, like moss (pronounced “ikki” in Korean), and mingling with living beings, things, and the environment while researching the connections between them. Its projects at Aichi Triennale 2025 have focused on communities as “villages” that are changing due to the declining population and urbanization.

ikkibawiKrrr created the video O, Open the Door, I Pray with the Hashinoshita Center community that holds the Under the Bridge World Music Festival in Toyota City and engages in activities such as live performances, workshops, and farm work. The scenes in the video showing people in the community dancing to the song Tobira (door) created by the punk duo ALKDO bring to mind a village festival. Derived from the traditional Japanese Bon Festival dance, known as bon odori, and the Korean folk dances Ganggangsulrae and Gosari, the dance could be considered a community dance that all can enjoy, regardless of dance experience, age, or disabilities.

Also seeing Kissaten (the cafés) that have been in business for many years as “villages,” ikkibawiKrrr visited them, and recorded what they found there every day. When you open the door and enter these establishments, cherished items of the proprietors, such as ornaments of pyramids and turtles and pendulum clocks, invite you into worlds that are distinctive and mysterious. As people gather to enjoy talking with the owner and having a pleasant, quiet time, Kissaten turn into “villages,” and their doors become gateways to these villages.

The installation comprises two videos and important motifs from each community. In this work, one can begin to see “village” communities—coexisting through social bonds that connect the people, location, and environment together in a very natural way—rather than relationships constructed based on a vision of social inclusion.