Gallery showcases video artists from Japan

How do politics influence the ways we relate to our natural surroundings, and how do artists make landscapes that reflect who we are? What myths and memories do we project onto the land? 

Significant works from eight Japanese artists who explore these themes will be shown in Disruptive Landscapes: Contemporary art from Japan, which opens on Saturday 12 April.  

Curator Melanie Oliver selected the works during two research trips, made possible thanks to the Asia New Zealand Foundation and Ishibashi Foundation. 

“The artists featured in the exhibition disrupt the traditional viewpoint of landscape, suggesting more diverse social, cultural and political perspectives,” Ms Oliver says. 

“I was impressed with the quietly powerful works being made currently, and this selection includes some of the best contemporary Japanese artists working at the moment. The works address topics current to Japan, from biodiversity to sexuality and technology, but many also explore universal themes and issues that resonate with our local context in Aotearoa and Ōtautahi,” Ms Oliver says.  

“When I saw Jinushi Maiko’s A Distant Duet in Tokyo, it really drew me in, and I stayed for the full 40-minute duration of the work because it opened up so much for me about Japanese culture, offering a contemporary way of reflecting on difficult histories.” 

Another engaging work, Prometheus the Firebringer, is part three in a Virtual Reality (VR) series by Koizumi Meiro, who is travelling to Aotearoa for the exhibition. 

Koizumi uses the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, to explore the tension between humans, nature and technology. The VR projection envelopes the viewer in the work while investigating how humans could become entirely different beings through a small bio-technological operation. 

JINUSHI Maiko A Distant Duet (still) 2016. Single-channel HD video. In partnership with Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid. Courtesy of HAGIWARA Projects, Tokyo

“Like many of the works, there’s a poetic tone to it, and an immersive quality that is subtle and gentle – it’s exciting to work with an artist utilising this technology for unique and engaging storytelling,” Ms Oliver says. 

“A common method of Japanese moving image is non-linear narratives. This allows you to enter the work at any time, catching part or all of it from that point, and bringing your own reading to the story.”  

The exhibition will be the first show in Aotearoa of contemporary Japanese art in 20 years. 

“Whatever your experience of Japanese culture, it’s a great opportunity to learn more and see something new, current and potentially challenging.”  

Disruptive Landscapes: Contemporary art from Japan opens on Saturday 12 April with an artist talk featuring Koizumi Meiro. The exhibition closes on 24 August 2025. The exhibition and talk are free entry, as is a special event being held on Saturday 17 May, showing the documentary film A.K.A Serial Killer. 

Image credit: SHIGA Lieko When that Night Leads (still) 2023. Two-channel video. Courtesy of the artist.