Performance, digital video, HD 1920 × 1080 16:9

12:04 min

Filmed in Toge, Niigata, Japan

Camera and sound by Nina Pope, Barnaby Hosking

Translator / interpreter: Aiko Goodenough

Photography by Jamie Goodenough

Commissioned and produced by Grizedale Arts as part of the Grizedale Arts residency project ‘Seven Samurai’

Supported by Echigo Tsumari Triennale, Japan

Client: Residents of Toge village

Location: Village Hall, Toge, Niigata, Japan

Question: How can we successfully sell rice in the future?

The rural village of Toge invited Grizedale Arts to work with them. Seven artists from the UK lived in the village for a month, working with the villagers. The project culminated in attempting to generate a sense of self-determination in the ageing community. The people of Toge prepared a feast in the village hall and the leader of the village asked Coates a question on behalf of the community.