KAWAKYU ART Exhibition 2026 Winter　Shinya Ishida exhibition [Otherworld]

Kawakyu Museum will host the exhibition “Otherworld” by artist Shinya Ishida, based in Wakayama Prefecture, from Friday, January 16 to Sunday, March 1, 2026.

This exhibition is directed and curated by Kinan Art Week.

In preparation for this exhibition, Ishida visited the Kawakyu Museum and its surrounding areas multiple times, collecting discarded furniture, fixtures, and even playground equipment from the park. He used these items to create his works.

Ishida’s creations possess a certain regularity, feeling futuristic while also evoking the exhilaration of childhood superhero shows and the sensation of encountering aliens.

Simultaneously, upon closer inspection of each individual piece, one notices traces of the people who were there, their activities, and their culture woven into the fabric.

By Ishida touching these objects once touched by others, he gives them new life.

What were once individual items transform into a collective entity radiating a powerful, distinctive aura, becoming intriguing presences that reveal the blurred boundary between discarded items and artworks.

We invite you to enjoy this viewing experience, akin to a small journey into a world born from the intersection of two otherworldly realms: the overwhelming presence of the Kawakyu Museum itself, and the power of Ishida’s work to rewrite the everyday objects it encounters.

[ Exhibition Overview ]

Exhibition Period: January 16 (Fri) – March 1 (Sun), 2026
Admission: Free
* Separate admission fee of ¥1,000 for Kawakyu Museum is required.
* Free admission to Kawakyu Museum for Shirahama Town residents and holders of disability certificates.
For details, please check the Kawakyu Museum official website.
Organizer: Kawakyu Museum
Direction / Curation: Kinan Art Week Executive Committee
Cooperation: Artport Inc.

[ Artist ]

Ishida Enmeijo (Shinya Ishida)

Born 1984 in Wakayama Prefecture
Graduated 2008 from Osaka Seikei University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Textiles.

Using discarded materials (things no longer needed) as his primary medium, he creates works centered on the theme of “invisible forces.”
By intervening in the cycle from an object’s birth to its demise, he introduces a slight shift.
Could this disrupted cycle hold some potential?
Using discarded items, flotsam, and objects discarded by people collected from places visited both domestically and internationally as primary materials, he creates three-dimensional works.

Recent solo exhibitions include:
2023 “Time Conversation” (YUGEN Gallery, Tokyo)
2024 “KNEADING THE TIME” (RIM, Aichi)
2025 “A LITTLE PRAYER” (European Cuisine VIVI, Aichi)

As an artist-in-residence:
2016 “Lujiazui Green Bank Public Art Festival” (Lujiazui Green Park, China)
2025 “Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival” (USA), among others.2020 NHK E-TV “Tensai Terebi-kun” (Genius TV Kid) – Props Manager.
2021 Permanent installation “Archive of Fiction” (Wakayama, Tomogashima Islands)
2024 “Dreams Along the Line,” “Abandoned Line” (Wakayama, Nankai Electric Railway Medetai Train)
2024-2025 “Shark Consciousness” (Wakayama, Festa Luce)

>Past Exhibition Scenes