As part of the 2025 Biennale, we will host a hands-on workshop to create contact with "soil".

BIWAKO Biennale 2025 Workshop – Creating Memorable and Sustainable Immersive Programs

A workshop to create contact with “soil”.

“Soil” is everywhere around us. When was the last time you got your hands dirty and played in it?

This time, we will gather soil from the hillside behind Okishima Elementary School (the workshop venue), turn that soil into paint, and then join forces to create a giant artwork together.

Hidden within the giant artwork is a secret about our home—Shiga Prefecture—and once the painting is complete, that secret will be revealed!
During this workshop, you’ll play with soil, connect with the environment, and imagine the future of Shiga together with everyone.

Date and Time

2025/8/2 (Sat)

9:00〜16:15
※9:00（Meeting at Horikiri Port）

 

Meeting Point

Horikiri Port (Okishima Ferry Boarding Area)

＊If you are coming by car, please use the “Okishima Visitor Parking Lot” (about a 5-minute walk away)

＊General vehicles are not allowed to enter Horikiri Port

Venue

Okishima Elementary School Gymnasium

Target Participants

Up to 6th Grade

＊The workshop is designed mainly for 5th and 6th graders,
but younger children are welcome to join as well.
Parents and guardians can also participate!

Capacity

30

Cost

Free

＊Please note that the round-trip ferry fare (￥1000) and transportation costs to the site are to be paid individually.

What to bring

● Lunch
● Water bottle or other drinks
● Clothes you don’t mind getting dirty from soil
● Hat or other sun protection (we will walk a bit along the seaside)
● About 2 cleaning cloths/rags (disposable at the site)

Workshop Members

Instructor & Planner: Ijima Yoshitoki (Representative, KUMO Spatial Design Studio)
Participating Artist: Ikehara Yuta
In Cooperation With: Executive Committee of the International Art Festival BIWAKO Biennale

Performers & Artist Information

Iijima Yoshitoki

Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. Studied under Arata Isozaki, the recipient of the Pritzker Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. For nearly 20 years, has participated in international projects across Europe, China, the Middle East, and Central Asia, collaborating with artists and specialists in cutting-edge fields to present “avant-garde” architectural expressions. In 2021, founded KUMO Spatial Design Studio and serves as its director. Focuses on creations themed around “memory,” extending beyond the framework of architecture to propose and implement environmentally, educationally, and socially sustainable designs and concepts across all scales involving human interaction.

Ikehara Yuta

Born in 1987 in Kyoto, Japan.
Graduated from Seian University of Art and Design, Faculty of Art, in 2010

He creates works themed around Eastern philosophies such as regeneration and reincarnation. His art depicts a world where plants, animals, man-made objects, and noise blend together as metaphors for nature and human society. Using collage techniques with painting, photography, images, and textures, he expresses how all things flow and cycle as one within a larger current. He believes that everything exists within processes of decay and rebirth and finds value in these transitions.

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2024: Flux / Huacui Contemporary Art Museum, Shanghai
2022: On Repeating Days / C.A.P., Hyogo Prefecture

Selected Group Exhibitions:
2023: Kudoyama Arts Festival 2023 / Kudoyama, Wakayama Prefecture
2022: Nuit Blanche Kyoto 2022 / Nijo Castle, Kyoto Prefecture
BIWAKO Biennale 2022 “Origin” / Hikone Castle, Shiga Prefecture
2021: Rokko Meets Art 2021 (with C.A.P.)

How to Apply

How to Apply

① Click the “Contact Us” button below.

② Choose “Event participation (Workshop)”.

③ In the subject, write “Workshop Application.”

④ In the message, please include:
● Your name
● Number of people joining
● Ages of participants
● A phone number we can reach you at on the day

Application deadline: Wednesday, July 30

Event Flyer

Please check the flyer below for more details.