Image: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, will present 'Koto Ba wo Taberu' on August 29, 2026, as a live improvisational performance in Theater 21. Scheduled from 18:00 to 19:30, the event brings together literature, reading, and electronic music in a format the museum describes as a free-form listening experience that reworks words and sounds into new expressions.
According to the museum’s event page, the performance is organized by the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, together with ESSCH. Admission is priced at ¥2,000 for advance general tickets, ¥1,000 for advance U23 tickets, and ¥2,500 on the day. High school students and younger may attend free of charge. The museum says advance sales will end once capacity is reached, and that no same-day tickets will be available if advance tickets sell out.
The project centers on the idea of taking in language as something more than meaning alone. The museum’s description says the title 'Koto Ba wo Taberu' suggests receiving words not only as information, but also through their sound, temperature, and weight. In the performance, words and voices are treated as material to be heard, tasted, and reassembled through improvisation.
The listed performers are KOM_I, 葉花, and foodman, identified on the page as 食品まつり a.k.a foodman. The museum says KOM_I and 葉花 will contribute poetry, texts, and memories, while foodman will receive those words and sounds in real time and transform them through electronic music. The description emphasizes a process of cutting, mixing, and cooking sonic material into forms that return to the audience as altered language.
KOM_I is described on the museum page as an artist working primarily with voice and body, with influences that include Japanese folk performance and North Indian classical music. The page also notes prior music work including 'YAKUSHIMA TREASURE' with Oorutaichi and 'FANI MANI' with foodman, along with visual and performance projects and work with the activism collective HYPE FREE WATER. 葉花, born in 2002, is presented as an artist who has continued drawing, poetry, and reading aloud since childhood, and who is exploring the idea that words may carry musical force.
foodman, the event’s electronic musician, is identified as an artist from Nagoya whose releases include 'Shokuhin', 'Yasuragi land', and the EP 'Uchigawa Tankentai'. The museum notes his releases on labels including Orange Milk, Mad Decent, Palto Flats, and Hyperdub, as well as appearances at Unsound, Boiler Room, and Low End Theory. The page also mentions his work with NTS Radio and several collaborative projects.
The museum’s description frames the evening as a performance that moves between literature, recital, electronic music, and improvisation, with the audience invited to choose how to listen and even how to sit or lie down. 'Koto Ba wo Taberu' will take place at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Theater 21, on August 29, 2026, from 18:00 to 19:30.
