Kyabajo
By Jija Sohn
Kyabajo (2018) is a solo piece in which the identity of the typical Japanese hostess is embodied and deconstructed in a surreal way.
She sits close to you, lights your cigarette, fills your glass. You feel welcome, she says: ''Welcome to the kyabakura bar''. With you, she strikes up an intelligent conversation and you let all the stress of the past day slip away from you. She caresses your arm, your ego, your manhood. You are ready to be seduced.
But what you don't know yet is what this kyabajō hides under its outer facade.
Kyabajō is a visual performance that celebrates the raw side of man and embraces the seedy. Surrender to a game of oppression, power and liberation.
Between 2005 and 2008, Jija Sohn worked in Tokyo as a kyabajō, which translates as barmaid, in a kyabakura (cabaret) bar. Although the kyabajō is not a prostitute, her work is looked down upon as a career. The kyabajō is a common phenomenon in Japan, but this type of career is quite unknown and even taboo in Western societies.
After a few years working as a performance artist, Jija decided to bring kyabajō into a theatrical setting, explore the role of the hostess, the woman who hides behind the mask of the flirtatious barmaid, and play with typical power roles and agency.
Sometimes flirtatious and humorous, at other times dead serious and alienating, Jija Sohn's disarming and sensual performance plays with the spectator's (dis)comfort.