Curse Mantra

Sheung Wan is a neighborhood where deep-rooted history lingers in almost every street corner like a ghost. Immersed in the flow of time, this district still quietly exudes a nostalgic charm. One can easily feel it when walking on streets like Tai Ping Shan Street, Hollywood Road, or the Dried Seafood Street (Wing Lok Street).

This exhibition is located in an old, elevator-less tenement building in Sheung Wan. The tiny space is filled with silent curses, creating an unsettling atmosphere that seems to be urging for an immediate reflection of history. The curse was cast upon the authority in power which was ready to sacrifice other people’s lives only for the sake of its very own interests. The exhibition The genuine curse: How to kill an enterprise owner collects rare documentation of members from the legendary protest monks group JKS47, or Jusatsu Kitōkai Sōdan 47, which literally means Curse Death Prayer Meeting Monk Order 47. Accompanied by photo works made by photographer Mitsutoshi Hanaga, one can take a glimpse of the background of this anti-establishment monk group that was most active in Japan in the 70s.

In the 60s, numerous village communities were adversely affected by Itai-itai disease (bones and kidney failure caused by cadmium poisoning) and Yokkaichi asthma. Upon investigation, the widespread diseases were attributed to pollutants arbitrarily discharged by factories. However, politicians and corporate leaders had been covering it up to serve their own interests. That was the background of how the Buddhist monk group and its followers came together and founded JKS47. They gathered at factories and construction sites operated by the controversial corporates all over the country, using of rallies, percussions, reading of Buddhist sutras and prayers to protest to these corporate leaders, like casting a spell.

In this exhibition space of roughly 300 square feet, the photos by Mitsutoshi Hanaga are played in a loop. The monks have roamed across cities and mountains and recited sutras in front of the intimidating factory chimneys. If religions guide us in the path of faith and lead us away from evils, while we represent the weak and are caught up in a stand-off with a powerful evil, then how should we redefine a clear boundary between good and evil? The protest monks provide such a record:

“In the past, farmers could own weapons to protect themselves and their families. If their lives were threatened, they had the right to kill the opponent. […] Meiji government deprived everyone of swords and people were forbidden to kill others. Today, only the state and corporations have the right to kill. They are, indeed, our new masters.”

Without a sword in hand, perhaps we can still believe in karma. The “Curse action” by the protest monks group is a combination of art, religion, and politics. The ritual of their actions is centered around the Vajrayana form of Tantric Buddhism. Since the 9th century, Vajrayana Buddhism has been used as the official school of Buddhism to unite the country.  The protest monks used the same school of practice to resist power. The universe is one unity, everything has its own cause and effect, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Whether something is good or evil, the karma will tell.

Walking out from the old tenement building in Sheung Wan, I found myself in the old nostalgia of the neighborhood again. Amidst all the silent curses of the others in the grand history, I seem to hear karma whispering in my ears, saying, “Trust me, even you are deprived of swords.”