An exhibition of the artist residency of the Goethe-Institut in Kyoto.
Villa Kamogawa opened ten years ago as an artist residency on the premises of the Goethe-Institut in Kyoto on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of German-Japanese relations. Since then, around 130 artists from Germany have come to Japan. On the occasion of the opening anniversary and in view of the pandemic, they were all invited by Villa Kamogawa and curator Michael Hirschbichler to send a “connecting piece” by mail to Japan. The objects establish an associative and at the same time very concrete connection between the time of the residency with its artistic processes and encounters and our general insecurity today: traveling is impossible, subjects have to stay at home, but objects can still be sent.
The exhibition thus opens up a multifaceted associative space whose strands lead to the artistic works of the participants as well as to insights into the architecture and atmosphere of the villa and, not least, to questions about global interconnections and cultural-political exchange programs after the pandemic. A series of talks, workshops, and performances invites visitors to engage in personal exchange with the Villa’s artists.