Berlin Fellowship 2021 — Visual Arts
Vita
Fumiko Kikuchi studied fine arts at Nihon University in Tokyo and Braunschweig University of Art. Observing and listening, personal conversations and on-site research are fundamental to her video works. She pursues questions about which political, economic and cultural conditions shape a city and how these directly or indirectly affect the place and the people. Her work addresses the use of language, various forms of storytelling and the identity-forming moment of memories.
Residency
The film project Me I See in You focuses on guest workers who came to Germany as caregivers. It addresses views on identity and nationality, attitudes towards foreign cultures and religions, parallel societies and racism. What does it mean when care becomes an industry? What are its political and economic backgrounds? How do the individuals working with Germans in need of care handle this? My goal is an animated film based on interviews with several former and current caregivers who came to Germany in the 1960s and the 2010s.