in Kamiyama

At first I underestimated the willingness of the KAIR team, and of local people, to do anything within their power to help me with my work, and to make my visit a pleasurable one. Here are several examples: the photographer Mr. Kurara gave me free access to his darkroom, and generously supplied technical assistance, for the duration of my residency; no less than 14 people turned up to help me with the installation of my exhibition, and the way in which they worked as a team, fulfilling my wishes, was simply astonishing; despite the language barrier, Mr Nakahara, the Head teacher of Jinryo School, understood very well what I was trying to do, and gave me a great deal of support; Mr Ominami was also exemplary in his consistent support of my work, despite the fact that my photographs showed the prevalence of concrete – material which his company was responsible for producing – in a less than favourable light; when I went to the local post office with a parcel to send home, the entire staff of three attended to my request for help, and I was invited to come to the post office at any time, day or night, if I needed help with something.
Robin Dance

When in doubt, ask Mr. Mori.
Don¹t assume people understand your requests/needs, don¹t be surprised if things work out differently than you planned.
Vaughn Bell

The separation between male and female. It was strange to see how you never got to meet the men’s wives. They were always somewhere in the background or sitting and eating separately. But once you realize this is the way they do things it is fine, it’s just that in most Western cultures women play a very strong role.
Strijdom van der Merwe

I guess the unpreparedness is not per se a cultural thing, but stepping from a large urban society into a small rural one. I am not used to country life, and the level of involvement was something I had to get used to, being an individualist. But once I got the hang of it I felt like opening up.
Jasper de Beijer

The most confusing thing was recycling at the house, and I must say, I never figured it out.
Liz Roth

In the beginning I did not know what to buy at the grocery store. I was confused by what I saw and could not figure out what to buy, what to eat. Little by little I got used to the Japanese kitchen with the help of my colleagues Naoko and Sophie.
As well as I am from Norway, I was not used to snakes in my natural environment. In Kamiyama I saw six snakes during my stay there. Also, I did not know what sort of animal there could be around, and I was very scared walking home from my studio after dark. The road from the village up to my cottage was in total darkness. I prayed while walking home the first evenings, later it got better when I got a bicycle and a torch. I never stepped off the bike before I reached the light of the cottages, out of breath.
And Sophie fell off the road on her way home with her bicycle in the dark.
Hilde Aagaard

At first, it was overwhelming that everything happens in a group. I wasn’t accustomed to that, but once I did, I enjoyed myself greatly.
Birgit Rathsmann