Kinan Art Residence vol.5

Following on from Kinan Art Residence Vol.1 in 2023, Kinan Art Residence Vol.2 in 2024 and Kinan Art Residence Vol.3 in 2025, Kinan Art Week held Kinan Art Residence Vol.4 in 2025.

This programme invites artists from Japan and abroad to stay in the Kinan region and conduct research on various aspects of the region’s culture and history, and develop artworks and art projects inspired by this research. Every year, one to two artists are invited to apply.

This year’s residency was led by oil painting artist Yuhei Makiyama from termites studio on Shodoshima and Yuta Doi, the head of Iroha Farm, a farm on Shodoshima.

The termites studio on Shodoshima is an organisation, led by artists James Jack and Masashi Echigo, that explores the possibilities for creative community on Shodoshima. This time, the organisation took an interest in the Kinan Art Week initiative and conducted four days of research in Tanabe City, Shirahama Town and Kushimoto Town in Wakayama Prefecture.

This time, while in Kinan, we came into contact with the charm of Shodoshima through our dialogue with them. The island’s unique tensions and strong bonds with its neighbours, and the temperatures they contain _ these may question the relationships with neighbours that are being lost in today’s world of nuclear families. When we look at Japan from the perspective that it is an island nation, surrounded by the sea and with a culture of helping and cooperating with each other in order to survive as a community, we feel that we can strike a blow to the relationship between neighbours by doing something ingenious. I would start by visiting Shodoshima, where they speak with glowing expressions, and experiencing the island community.

It seems that they came to us in their research, and by sharing and sharing their lives and activities with us, they reconfirmed the beauty and value of Kinan. I had been trying so hard to tell them something, to teach them something, to make them know something, but they taught me that it’s okay to do something as simple as ‘sharing and accepting what you like’.

Mr and Mrs Tanami Theatre Hayashi and Wakayama farmer Endo also spoke about the unique characteristics of the Kinan region and the providence of nature. The valuable experiences they shared with us made this stay even more profound. We would like to take this opportunity to thank him from the bottom of our hearts.

When you visit Shodoshima, please visit termites studio.

You will feel the charm of the island even more.

＜Outline of residency＞

Period: 7 – 10 March 2025

Residence: Towa-so (Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture)

＜Scenes of stay＞