MAKI UMEHARA

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HAYY: A Self-Taught Musical

2012-2014

Project by nüans (Anna Heidenhain, Elmar Hermann, Maki Umehara) / film: 16:9 / digital / 66’11” / language: USB-Stick: English, German, Italian, Japanese, animal voice / publication: English & German / 72 p / ills colour & bw / 14,5 x 21 cm / Revolver Publishing

Film by: Alexander Basile, Hugo Schneider, nüans / Choreography: Rita McBride / Music: sub-tle. / With: David-Marlo Conrads, Elke Kania, Karolina Thorwarth, Micheal Maurissens, Bambi, Andy Slemenda, Antje Feger & Benjamin Stumpf, David Bernstein, Carlotta Werner, Christian Wieser, Claudia Barth, Glen Rubsamen, Hiroyuki Masuyama, Hishiko Yamane, Hüseyin Karakaya, Janosch Pugnahi, Joni Waka, Maiko Sugano, Matthis Bacht, Miki Hoei, Naoki Matsushita, Olof Jönsson, Yoshimi Kanbayashi　

The “HAYY —A Self-Taught Musical” is based on Ibn-Tufail’s novel “Hayy ibn Yaqdhan / The Self-Taught Philosopher” a classic of me- dieval Islamic philosophy. It's the story of Hayy, a boy raised by a doe on an uninhabited tropical island. When the doe passes away, Hayy’s life develops from one of dependency to one of exploration and discovery. He starts by dissecting his mother in order to find out where life comes from. Over the years he grows up to discover the truth about the world and his own place in it, unaided but also unimpeded by society, language, or tradition.