It has been announced that the art event "PARASOPHIA: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015" will be held from early March to early May 2015 at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, the Museum of Kyoto, and other related facilities in Kyoto Prefecture.

The exhibition, led by Shinji Kawamoto, former curator of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, will showcase cutting-edge works and artistic expressions by approximately 40 artists from Japan and abroad. The aim is to create an art festival that is light-hearted and fun for families, while also engaging the intellectual empathy of experts from Japan and abroad with its multilayered content. The event brings together the power of Kyoto, a city with a rich cultural heritage and a liberal academic environment, and is organized by the Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture Organizing Committee, the Kyoto Association of Corporate Executives, Kyoto Prefecture, and Kyoto City.

The title "Parasophia" is a coined word of Greek origin. Kawamoto commented, "I wanted to express my belief that Kyoto is not a city of consumption, but a place and a device for the creation of knowledge and culture."

The research and information gathering that Kawamoto and his curatorial team will be conducting in preparation for the event will be made available to the public under the title of "Open Research Program." The first event will be a lecture by University of Southern California professor of film history, film theory, and experimental film, Mizuta Takashi Lippit, starting at 6:00 PM on June 21st. The lecture will be held in the Annex Hall of the Museum of Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture.