Reel to Reel 

-to Jonas Mekas-

by Chihiro ITO

At the end of last year, I was honored to receive the inaugural Jonas Mekas Fellow Residency Award from the Jonas Mekas Studio (JMS) in the United States, the archive of the father of experimental film, the Jonas Mekas (1922-2019). During the residency period from 2023 to 2024, I worked on my art series "Reel to Reel" project, which consists of various media including film, Zines, art books, photographs, collages, and 2 dimensional visual works.

Jonas passed away in 2019. Though our time together was brief, he was both my mentor and friend. Encouraged by him, I continued to create poetry and film alongside my previous artwork.

In 2023, I was awarded the first Jonas Mekas Fellow Residency. The competition was highly competitive with applications from around the world.

This residency was unlike the typical ones solely focused on creating artwork. Over the six-month period, with the support of Sebastian Mekas, Jonas's son and archivist, I had access to the archive materials at the Jonas Mekas Studio. Utilizing these materials, I was able to create freely. I was astonished by the depth of connection between his journey as an immigrant from Lithuania to America and my homeland, Japan.

The "Reel to Reel" series is an official collaboration between JMS and the Monira Foundation. I researched the relationship between Jonas and Japan, his homeland Lithuania, poetry, haiku, his friends, and archival activities. The concept of this project is to bring the archive materials to life in the present through my reinterpretation. Jonas's spirit continues even after his passing, much like how a film moves from one reel to another.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Zines, collage, 2 dimension works at the venue will support the archival work at JMS.

*Reel to Reel name from Jonas’s one of archival file title.