アーカイブ
Archive for 2025
Spirit of North 2025 – vol.15 Kitakata & vol.16 Tokyo
This year’s Spirit of North takes place in two cities—Kitakata and Tokyo—with three exhibition venues in total.
Five artists from Japan, Finland, and Ireland will take part in this international exchange. We hope to connect deeply—with each other, the local places, and the people we meet
Two Unique Venues in Kitakata
- Gallery Kaneta
A restored red-brick warehouse, the oldest in Kitakata, brought back to life by local citizens to preserve the city’s heritage. - Rashikuan, Yamatogawa Museum Yomo
A pair of traditional tatami rooms located inside the Yamatogawa Sake Brewery.
In this historic town of kura (storehouses), surrounded by mountains and rural calm, contemporary art seeks to resonate with its spirit.
Artist Talk: Resonances of the Inner North
With the five artists and Yasunao Kawanobe (Advisor, Aizu Cultural Forum / Director, NPO Harunaka)
Mr. Kawanobe helped launch this project after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. What insights will emerge from the dialogue between Mr. Kawanobe—who has supported and witnessed this project from the beginning—and the artists?
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Tokyo Exhibition
Held at Gallery Iriya, with its open first floor and small upstairs rooms. The five artists will show their unique works.
What new connections will appear after their shared time in Kitakata?
Artist Talk: Resonances of the Inner North
With the five artists and Toshiaki Ishikura (Anthropologist, Mythologist/ Associate Professor, Akita University of Art)
Mr. Ishikura joined Spirit of North vol.10 at the Rovaniemi Art Museum in Finland.
As the artists reflect on what they truly felt and discovered through this year’s exchange, what insights will emerge from an anthropologist’s view?
Resonances of the Inner North
2025.09.08
Spirit of North 2025 – vol.15 Kitakata & vol.16 Tokyo
This year’s Spirit of North takes place in two cities—Kitakata and Tokyo—with three exhibition venues in total.
Five artists from Japan, Finland, and Ireland will take part in this international exchange. We hope to connect deeply—with each other, the local places, and the people we meet
Two Unique Venues in Kitakata
- Gallery Kaneta
A restored red-brick warehouse, the oldest in Kitakata, brought back to life by local citizens to preserve the city’s heritage. - Rashikuan, Yamatogawa Museum Yomo
A pair of traditional tatami rooms located inside the Yamatogawa Sake Brewery.
In this historic town of kura (storehouses), surrounded by mountains and rural calm, contemporary art seeks to resonate with its spirit.
Artist Talk: Resonances of the Inner North
With the five artists and Yasunao Kawanobe (Advisor, Aizu Cultural Forum / Director, NPO Harunaka)
Mr. Kawanobe helped launch this project after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. What insights will emerge from the dialogue between Mr. Kawanobe—who has supported and witnessed this project from the beginning—and the artists?
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Tokyo Exhibition
Held at Gallery Iriya, with its open first floor and small upstairs rooms. The five artists will show their unique works.
What new connections will appear after their shared time in Kitakata?
Artist Talk: Resonances of the Inner North
With the five artists and Toshiaki Ishikura (Anthropologist, Mythologist/ Associate Professor, Akita University of Art)
Mr. Ishikura joined Spirit of North vol.10 at the Rovaniemi Art Museum in Finland.
As the artists reflect on what they truly felt and discovered through this year’s exchange, what insights will emerge from an anthropologist’s view?
Spirit of North 2025 plan
2025.01.13
Spirit of North 2025 : What does the word “north” evoke in people?
Do those who are drawn to the North share a common spirituality?
The “Spirit of North” project is motivated by this spirit of inquiry, and brings together north-oriented people, northerners from around the world, and people from diverse professional fields to explore what it means to be “north within, north of a spiritual dimension,” which is not the direction of north. It is what can be described as a global collaborative quest to unravel the mysteries of humanity’s ecological orientation
●Artist/
Maruyama Yoshiko: Japan
Maruyama Tokio: Japa
Helena Junttila: Finland
Jukka Tarkiainen: Finland
Suzanne Mooney: Ireland
●Exchange activities, exhibitions, forum discussions/
The participating artists will stay in Kitakata City, surrounded by towering mountain ranges in the Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture. They will research the culture and industry that has developed in close cooperation with the natural environment of the mountains and forests, and interact with local people and experts.
What are the similarities and differences between the spiritual culture and lifestyle culture inherited in this region and the hometowns of the each artists? Through repeated dialogue, and including works born from these experiences, exhibitions will be held in Kitakata City and Tokyo, and the results of the exchange will be shared with the audience in a forum discussion.
vol.15 Exhibition in Kitakata: Gallery Kaneda, Rashikuan in Yamatogawa Museum
vol.16 Exhibition inTokyo: Gallery Iriya
