Arigatou gozaimasu
Technical data sheet:
Direction : Rosa Brugat
Genre: video art
Camera : Jimmy Gimferre / Rosa Brugat
Editing: Joan Riba
Performers: Gabriela Gardosi, Adriana Cañada, Patrik Domken and friends from Cadaqués
Location: Kyoto (Japan) and Cadaqués
Duration: 10 minutes
Language : Japanese, subtitled in English
Year : 2015
Description:
The respectful formalities ingrained in Japanese culture well deserve this title: Arigatou gozaimasu (thank you very much).
My curiosity and fascination with Japan—especially everything surrounding the mysterious geishas, maiko, and oiran—led me to travel there with my daughter, Adriana, whom I thank for her patience and for being my partner in crime on this project. During our stay, often after long waits, we would watch for a mysterious figure to emerge from a teahouse or hurry down one of Gion's narrow alleyways in Kyoto, vanishing around the next corner. It was in that city where I decided I had to convey what I was seeing. The faces of these young maiko, always chaperoned by an older woman, left a deep impression on me; behind their masks—their makeup—I sensed a profound melancholy.
Arigatou gozaimasu not only reminds us that beauty is ephemeral, but also prompts us to reflect on the role maiko and geishas play in Japan today. Are they merely female companions? It is a land of contradictions: elegant, exceptionally refined, yet cruel and patriarchal.
The exquisite erotic shunga prints date back to the Edo period and were not published until 1907, before eventually being banned under the Japanese penal code. Bringing this gaze to the present day, we encounter polarizing artists such as Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki—branded a misogynist by some, a genius by others. It is a society where the medieval coexists with cutting-edge technology, and where the collective good takes precedence over individuality.
I apologize if my Western gaze may have caused any offense.
Rosa Brugat
Press:
"Rosa Brugat Presents Her Work Aligatou Gozaimasu" – MAV, 2016 (Spanish)
"Rosa Brugat Reflects on Beauty Through the World of Geishas" – El Punt Avui, 2016 (Catalan)
"Rosa Brugat Presents "Arigatou Gozaimisu" at Museu del Cinema" – Diari de Girona, 2016 (Catalan)
Screenings & Presentations:
Presentation at the Cinema Museum (Museu del Cinema, Girona)