The contemporary art exhibition "CELEBRATION-Japanese-Polish Contemporary Art Exhibition 2019 in Japan," commemorating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Poland, opened in Kyoto on May 18th.

Mitsuhiro Okamoto "Tralope" @ ROHM Theatre Kyoto

The exhibition will run for approximately one month until June 23rd at four venues in Kyoto City: Kyoto Art Center, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, The Terminal Kyoto, and Nijo Castle's Southeast Corner Tower (Nijo Castle will be open for two days only, on May 18th and 19th), and features 21 young contemporary artists from Japan and Poland. Performances, videos, installations and other works will be open to the public free of charge at all venues. Additionally, revised versions of the same exhibition will be held in the Polish cities of Poznan and Szczuczyn.

The exhibition is organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a Polish national cultural institution established in 2000, and Kyoto Art Center (Kyoto Arts and Culture Association, a public interest incorporated foundation), and was curated by Akiko Kasuya, a professor at Kyoto City University of Arts who specializes in contemporary Central European art, and Pawel Pałczarek, a doctoral student at Osaka University and member of the Polish Ministry of Culture, who has researched Japanese contemporary art such as Yayoi Kusama.

@The Terminal Kyoto


The exhibiting artist is contact Gonzo, who recently made waves when they were chosen to appear in the music video for the collaborative sneakers between Nike and Undercover, and will be participating with a video work. Agnieszka Brzezanska, who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Tokyo University of the Arts and uses a variety of techniques including photography, video, music and painting, exhibited mixed media using plants in the alcove of a Kyoto machiya (The Terminal Kyoto); Tomohiro Higashikage, who used the entrance and underground air raid shelter of the same machiya and the Kyoto Art Center, the former site of Meirin Elementary School, to exhibit resin objects; and Piotr Buyak, who lives in both Tokyo and Krakow, Poland, and creates punk-themed works. The exhibition features works by young and mid-career artists from Nihonbashi that are characterized by their cutting-edge and critical styles, including works by Yuriko Sasaoka, who creates all of her own videos and installations in which she also appears as a model, Mitsuhiro Okamoto, who created a tiger head out of construction rope for the entrance to the ROHM Theatre Kyoto, and Yusuke Yanaka, who presents performances that activate sculptures by incorporating the body into them.

Yuriko Sasaoka, Gryo @ Kyoto Art Center

Piotr Bujak, "THIS_IS NOT AMERICA" @ Kyoto Art Center


Takashi Nishihara and Pawel Romanczuk @ Kyoto Art Center


Text by Tatsuya Noda