Monthly Report: Clara Trevisan (August 2026)
We started the last month of the residency by attending the opening ceremony of the Hiroshima Festival 2026, with orchestral presentations, dance, singing, and an unusual interview with the participation of Taroman. It was very interesting to see the variety of performances that night, uniting pop, classical and funny. 
During these first days of August, since I planned to go travelling on the 9th, I wrapped up my animation compositions for the exhibition, getting the exports and the soundtrack ready, and checking how to organize the frames. I also made some handwritten greeting cards to have for the festival.
By the end of the first week, on an anxious day, I visited the Shukkeien Garden, by the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. It was very calming to walk through the many tiny bridges, watch the carps, the tiny turtles and the nice tidy landscape by the river. I regretted not going there sooner, when it was less hot. There was a Ginko tree, estimated to be over 200 years old, that survived the bomb.
On the 6th, we attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony and Memorial Ceremony for the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Victims very early in the morning. It felt very VIP to be there as a guest. The children's speech about peace and the bombing was very expressive and graphic, which surprised me at first, but made more sense when we watched the students' short animations in the afternoon. I felt both discourses - the speech and the films - had the same type of approach, with a strong dramatic and straightforward tone. It was very cool to see the students' animations and how they chose to use different techniques for their stories, but I didn't feel I had much intel to offer besides congratulating them for the nice work. Before that moment, we got to watch part of a Hibakusha testimony, told by an official reporter. It was very interesting to know that this reporter gets specific training to do this job. She was very expressive in telling the story, also having her own drawings adding up to the narrative. That night we went to see the lanterns released in the river, which was amazing. The many different colors of the floating lights was completely whimsical. The way that lights and lanterns are used in Japan kept impressing me again and again, in the minimal and delicate ways and in the overwhelming and excessive ones too. Later that night, we went to dinner and drinks with the team.
On the 9th I went to Tokyo to meet my partner, from where we headed to Kyoto and Osaka, and ended in Hiroshima again. It was very nice to visit Tokyo, where I haven't been before, and have some more time in Kyoto too. We did a very regular tourist course, visiting main spots and eating good food, and even managed to take a quick look at Mount Fuji on the Shinkansen. Of the shrines and temples we visited, I'd highlight Gotoku-ji, in Tokyo, the temple of cats, and the Hokoku Shrine, by Osaka Castle, which was full of beautiful wind chimes.
Coming back to Hiroshima, we went to the Pokémon exhibition(POKÉMON × KOGEI Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft), in the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, and to Miyajima, where I could see some spots I hadn't seen the first time we went with the residency. On the 16th we all started setting up the exhibition, which was easier with the help of the production team and my fellow residents.
The festival experience was great. Even though I was very tired, I got to see interesting films that I was looking forward to seeing, rewatch some I already knew and find out some new ones - I love discovering new favorites through the programs. One issue I had though was with the lack of South American representation in the programs. There was only one short, besides my own, in the Queer Animation Screening + Program . I understand that different festivals have different focuses, but that issue stuck with me a bit.
During the guest parties I got to meet lots of new artists, including some I was already a fan before. Getting to talk in person with these people, that only existed online so far, is always a great feeling for me. And from these meetings, getting to understand a bit more about the animation scene around part of the world. Our last party, with the team, was quite fun and emotional - I learned two unforgettable words: Donburako and Notarinotari. On the plane from Hiroshima to Tokyo, I even got to see Mount Fuji from above. I feel very lucky to have been part of this residency with amazing co-residents and welcomed by such kind and helpful people. I thank again all the team that worked hard to receive us in Hiroshima and make this experience so fruitful and rich. Arigato gosaimasu!
