Abstract
This paper examines the works and projects of artist Mayunkiki from 2020 to 2024 within the contexts of music, performing arts, and contemporary art. Initially recognized as a musician and specialist in the Ainu language, Mayunkiki’s career as a contemporary artist gained significant momentum following her participation in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020). This study explores her major contributions to contemporary art exhibitions during this period, including the Reborn-Art Festival in Ishinomaki (2021–22), her solo exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, UK (2022), and “Where My Words Belong” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2024). In addition to these exhibitions, the paper analyzes her interventions in ethnographic displays at institutions such as the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne, Germany, the Hokkaido Museum, and the William Morris Gallery, UK. Furthermore, it examines her recent experimental works in music and performing arts, as well as Galang, a museum decolonization project and publication initiated by the Powerhouse Museum, Australia. Ultimately, this paper reconfirmed that Mayunkiki’s artistic methodology is a process of decolonization and indigenization of expression, while also critically questioning the problematic implications of the concept of “Ainu Art” led by non-indigenous/Wajin scholars.
