In their work, Willimann/Arai (Zurich/Tokyo) question hegemonic and dichotomic Western conceptions and narratives like West / East, Self / Other, Nature / Culture. In their context-specific and process-based projects Nina Willimann and Mayumi Arai create hybrid arrangements of the "in-between" in collaborations with visitors, local communities and experts. By embodying the roles of guests and hosts, they investigate the power relations inscribed in them and reflect on their own roles as artists and actors in a globalized, capitalist present – and as inheritors of colonial pasts.
Since 2015 Willimann/Arai have been developing four main research-based "umbrella"-projects, which are interconnected: How to disappear (completely), Swiss Gymnastics, The gift exercise and Avatar tours. The format Reflections is a series of Lecture-Performances in which Willimann/Arai focus on certain recurring topics in their projects by summarizing, analyzing and applying them with artistic means.
Self-portrait, 2017, (Photo by willimannarai)