This exhibition “who you know? who knows you?” is an attempt to explore the theme of the difficulty of understanding others, and it takes the form of country-specific discussions based on the video exchange program of Joshibi University of Art and Design. However, it is not an attempt that seeks the type of “understanding” of others that is limited to our own convenient definitions and meanings. On the contrary, it is an attempt to get as far away as possible from such convenient definitions and points of view. As Edouard Glissant points out, allowing the opacity of the other will help to preserve the diversity of the world. Rather than a wanton globalization, it is living within diversity that enables us coexist, construct and take chances. At the risk of being misunderstood, we might say that it is not necessary to “know” the other. Does that mean we shouldn’t know? No. It doesn’t. It means we shouldn’t let ourselves believe that we know the other. And it means learning to breathe in that opacity deeply. That is the direction the video exchange program seeks. * The text provided by art & river bank.