Following the success of Hatis Noit's highly praised debut album, Aura, released in June, the Japanese voice artist has collaborated with UK video artists The Light Surgeons to create a mesmerising music video for her single of the same name, using archival BFI footage and AI technology — as premiered by NOWNESS.

The film-makers used the BFI’s collection of newly restored films from early 20th Century Japan, juxtaposed with footage they recorded of the country in the 90s, 00s and in the present day — focusing mainly on humanity’s relationship with nature and the built environment; surveying the contrast between Japan’s still-prevalent ancient traditions and extreme modernity.

"Although the video focuses its lens on Japan, we hope it provokes its audience to contemplate how all archives, past, present and future, form a collective social memory," say The Light Surgeons. "We want people to consider how our understanding of our cultural histories will be affected by the rise of these new AI and machine learning tools. Uniting this material with Hatis Noit’s song ‘Aura’ deepened these ideas and themes for us, creating a unique meditation on time, memory and the nature of the archive itself."

"Us human beings have shared beautiful vibrant moments as a part of nature throughout our history. In Japan, which is my home country, the collective memory of us with nature is ever-changing and is captured beautifully with these collaged images," Hatis Noit adds.

After standing ovations at WOMAD 2022 and other summer festivals across Europe, Hatis Noit will return to London for a home-coming release concert on 25 August at St John on Bethnal Green. She will also perform at Printworks on 5 November as part of the Erased Tapes 15th Anniversary Festival, followed by other European shows and festival appearances including Le Guess Who? in Utrecht.

· watch the video