Monuments for Dead Men

Monuments for Dead Men is a site-specific performance reflecting on Eurocentric narratives of modernisation, Western inventions of cultural heritage, and the legacy of Whitfield’s ancestor Hisanari Machida. Machida, whose name is inscribed on the monument, broke centuries of Japanese isolation policy to study at UCL in 1865, and founded the first national museum in Japan.

The performance was developed for “Kissaten / Tea Room,” the first art exhibition at the University College London Japanese Garden, curated by Wen Xiao.

Soundscape by Nanzhen Yang, costume by Yudai Ono.