Okunaka Akihito [Japan]

Artist. Born in Kyoto in 1981. Okunaka graduated from the Faculty of Education of Shizuoka University, and is now the co-president of the AO Institute of Arts. He also directs the Experience Art course at Yamashiro Cultural Center in Kizugawa City (Kyoto Prefecture). Before becoming an artist, Okunaka was an art-play instructor at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, and at social welfare facilities for people with intellectual disabilities. These experiences allowed him to explore both modern and contemporary thinking. He then took a long-term training course at AIR program in France, South Korea, and China with the support of several art foundations. He has studied at various regional art centers, and has presented his work both in Japan and abroad as an artist who develops large, experiential artworks and workshops. Besides, he is also a curator of international art exhibitions, and an art therapist. Through his comprehensive artistic activities, Okunaka offers new perspectives to emerging artists. His main activities and grants include:
2021 : Kitakyushu Future Art Festival ART for SDGs ;
2019 : LUXELAKES A4 Art Museum ARIE International Residence Program, Nomura Foundation Grant for Arts and Culture;
2017 : Rokko Meets Art Organizer's Special Prize, Moscow International Biennale - Parallel Program « Yearning for The Sky », Kawaguchi Municipal Art Gallery ATLIA, ""Art for the Clarification! The Identity of Air"" ;
2016 : Kizugawa Art Grand Prix + Citizen's Prize
etc.

《message》
I make art with the thought, "What would be the form of that interaction?". Our bodies have been kept alive by air, water, and light for tens of thousands years, and I believe that so have our minds, which inhabit our bodies. The things we interact with begin to feel humanity and relationship from the moment we touch them. It is a story of "people and things" like the familiarity we feel with our favorite coffee cup, it is a story of events with family and friends, it is a story of the universe and quantum, and today my worldview and your worldview are just beginning to interact. This is also a story.