Artist talkTuesday 9 February – Tuesday 19 January 2016
The Missing Post Office UK by Saya Kubota
13/14 Cornwall Terrace, Outer Circle (entrance facing Regent's Park), London NW1 4QP
Organised by The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Is there someone to whom you wish you could tell your thoughts, even if you may never receive an answer? Missing Post Office (MPO) is a participatory project by the artist Saya Kubota; MPO receives and looks after letters that you want to write but don’t know where to send. A letter to and from anyone, anything, anywhere and at any time. This talk introduces its temporal UK branch that opened as part of the artist’s solo exhibition Material Witness at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. The evening includes a film screening and conversation between MPO UK Postmaster, Mr. Bryan Payne, and the artist. We also would like to encourage you to write a letter to be a part of this art project.
The Missing Post Office originally opened at the 2013 Art Setouchi Triennale; it is still in operation today on the small island of Awashima, where over 14,000 letters are under the care of the postmaster Mr. Nakata. The UK branch operates as a passing point in a sea of time, where collected letters can be read by anyone during the exhibition in London; afterwards, they will eventually be washed ashore on Awashima, to be looked after by MPO.
We can receive your letters from now until 22 February 2016.* For those who wish to contribute, please read the instructions and FAQs on http://missing-post-office.com/missing-post-office-uk/ and send your messages on postcards to the address below:
The Missing Post Office UK c/o The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, 13/14 Cornwall Terrace (Outer Circle) London NW1 4QP
*Please note that: 1. Posted letters cannot be returned to the sender. 2. By addressing your letter to the Missing Post Office, you agree to the terms and conditions of participation, and transfer copyright to ‘Missing Post Office UK’ (copyright holder: Saya Kubota) 3. The name or address of the sender are not required.
The Asahi Shimbun on the Missing Post Office UK, 18 January 2016 Japanese (日本語) Japanese island to become home for messages to absent friends from Britain, Japan Today 12 February 2016 Listen to Saya Kubota and Bryan Payne discuss the Missing Post Office UK on the BBC World Service (First broadcast 24 February 2016)You can watch a recording of the event here:
About the contributors
Saya Kubota
Saya Kubota was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1987, and is a PhD candidate at Tokyo University of the Arts. She was the artist-in-residence at City & Guilds of London Art School in 2015. Kubota’s practice revolves around memory and physical traces of the past, which although they have seemingly altered in form or even to have disappeared, are still sustained in the present time and space. She is the winner of 2014 Terada Art Award.
Bryan Payne
Bryan Payne is the Postmaster of the Missing Post Office UK. He took up this role of after a serendipitous encounter with the MPO worker and artist Saya Kubota at a British postal artefacts storehouse in London. He previously worked for GPO (the General Post Office UK).