Aya Rodriguez = Izumi
To voice（Koe ni Surukoto）
“Okinawa's Tragedy: Echoes from the Last Battle” is based on “Tragedy of Okinawa: Sketches of the Last Battle of World War II,” written by William T. Randall in English in 1987.
The book is about the Battle of Okinawa and written for an English-speaking audience. It is illustrated by Jose Rodriguez, father of Aya Izumi Rodriguez= Izumi. From this collection of short stories, she learned about many of the events that took place during the Battle of Okinawa. Rodriguez has a vision to make an audio book of the stories, in which voices intervene. So far, she has attempted to read the story in English with several people, sharing the same issues. The reading in Uchinaguchi(Okinawan language) is an act of passing on the history as well as incorporating the disappearing language into one's own and delivering it once again to someone else.
Exhibition hall
Ogimi Village Former Shioya Elementary School 538 Shioya, Ogimi Village, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa
ARTIST
Aya Rodriguez = Izumi
Born in Okinawa, Japan in 1986 and currently resides in NYC.
Graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2017, and a fellow of the 2019 U.S.-Japan Artist Exchange Program. With roots in Okinawa, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, she produces works in a variety of media including installation, performance, sculpture, and video, with themes of vanishing historical inheritance, ritual, and cultural identity.
Her major solo exhibitions include “Tidal” (miyagiya, Okinawa, 2021) and a solo show at A.I.R. Gallery in New York scheduled for February.
www.iamaya.com
【Guest Curator】Megumi Machida
Born in Naha City and resides there. Based in Okinawa, she is active in planning exhibitions in and out of the prefecture, and in writing.
Planned “A Scene / A Place” (Hentona Shopping Street) at Yambaru Art Festival 2021-2022, and “A Place” (Hentona Shopping Street venue) and “A Person” (Ogimi Village Former Shioya Elementary School) at Yanbaru Art Festival 2022-2023.