Kojima Teppei: Smoke and Fog at Kashiwabara-juku, Second Installment of Art Spot in Kohoku Project

The Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art in Japan is continuing its ambitious contemporary art project "Art Spot in Kohoku (ASK)", launched in 2025 to connect contemporary art with the landscapes, history, and living culture of the Kohoku region, north of Lake Biwa. After a first edition in Takashima, the project moves to Kashiwabara-juku in Maibara city for an exhibition dedicated to artist Kojima Teppei, titled "Kojima Teppei: Smoke and Fog".

The exhibition runs from October 3 to December 13, with opening days limited to weekends and public holidays. This second edition of the ASK program aims to create a dialogue between Kojima Teppei's works and the unique setting of Kashiwabara-juku, a former post town on the Nakasendo road that flourished during the Edo period and still retains its historic atmosphere today. The artist, born in 1978 in Kyoto and a graduate of the Kyoto City University of Arts, is known for his sculptural collages and installations that blend everyday objects, reality, and fiction.

The theme "Smoke and Fog" is recurrent in Kojima Teppei's work. As he explains, smoke that rises and fog that descends are both particles suspended in the air, but their origins and natures differ. This duality evokes for him the transformations and possibilities that emerge at boundaries. The exhibition will present a reinterpretation of his existing works in dialogue with the local space, as well as new installations created on site, inspired by the history, landscape, and human activities of Kashiwabara.

Participatory workshops are also planned, allowing visitors to engage in the creative process. Kojima Teppei stated: "Kashiwabara has an atmosphere unique to old post towns of the Nakasendo, evoking distant places and times." The exhibition continues the artist's research on connections and disconnections between time, context, and places, and promises an immersive experience in a living heritage. The ASK project will continue with further stages in the region over the coming years.

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Written by the ADM desk based on 美術手帖. Read the original article for the full story.