Parallel Perspectives: Masakazu Horiuti and the uses of geometry in Japanese art
Raphaël Zarka intends to use his residency to familiarise himself with the work of Japanese modernist artist Masakazu Horiuti and conduct research into the use of geometry in Japanese art, prior to a joint exhibition with Horiuti which the KYOCERA Museum of Art in Kyoto is planning for 2027. Through Horiuti, Zarka wishes to examine Japanese uses of parallel perspective (axonometry), in which there is no vanishing point, unlike western representations of geometric spaces used since the Renaissance, that have been governed by the rules of a central perspective. The use of parallel perspective raises compositional challenges which Japanese artists have experimented with for hundreds of years.
GOZE/GAZE (瞽女／ゲイズ) : performance and self-expression by disabled itinerant musicians
Daphné Biiga Nwanak and Baudouin Woehl set out in search of the Goze – visually impaired women who worked as itinerant musicians, and whose story is embedded in the history of rural Japan. Part music, part theatre, their project considers how, over centuries, the Goze surpassed representations of disability by developing their own form of self-expression. During their residency, Daphné Biiga Nwanak and Baudouin Woehl will consult archives and meet artists with disabilities, education specialists and in order to understand the sensory context in which the Goze perform.
Knotted to Be Unknotted: the Bonds that Unite us
The project originated when Aurélie Lanoiselée met Yoshika Yajima, a doctoral candidate in Osaka whose thesis is on the tradition of hanamusubi (flower knots) during the Edo period from a gender perspective. Hanamusubi, shufuku and shutara function as a codex, passed on only by hand. Aurélie Lanoiselée’s project questions the practice of a knot that is made to be untied and retied. Underlying themes will be how to make the invisible visible, ties within the social fabric, the encounter of cord and hand, a thought and a form-creating gesture, all explored through exclusively Japanese materials.
The Paper Organ
A painter, sculptor, and printmaker, François-Xavier Richard is the founder of Atelier d’Offard, which specializes in creating hand-block-printed wallpaper. He follows the artisanal techniques of the great manufactories of the 18th and 19th centuries, while bringing a personal perspective to these traditional methods. During his residency at Villa Kujoyama in 2017, he created the Paper Organ, an instrument that resonates with sounds produced by different types of paper, notably washi. This work is activated through performances in collaboration with musicians, offering audiences a unique sonic experience.
Following his residency at Villa Kujoyama in 2023, Gérald Vatrin has returned to Japan as part of the Institut français’ MIRA program, to pursue a transcultural project that brings together contemporary glassmaking and the ancestral art of Japanese bamboo craftsmanship. Fascinated by the precision and depth of this traditional expertise, he is collaborating with master bamboo artisan Hideaki Hosokawa and a glass workshop in Kameoka to explore new connections between the two disciplines. Through glass prototypes and drawings, Vatrin initiates a creative dialogue with bamboo, giving rise to hybrid and unprecedented works. More than a collaborative process, this encounter serves as a bridge between cultures, fostering a rich exchange of artistic practices and perspectives.
Five years after his first residency at Villa Kujoyama, Krikor Kouchian returns to Japan as part of the Krikor Kouchian x Froid Dub — Asia 2026 tour, organized in collaboration with the Paris-based label Delodio, continuing the artistic dialogue initiated during his stay in Kyoto in 2021. Bringing together French and Japanese artists through electronic music, sonic experimentation, and live performance, the tour extends Kouchian’s ongoing research at the intersection of technology, improvisation, and sound perception, while fostering exchanges between artistic practices and cultural contexts.
The duo Hippolyte Hentgen continues the lines of research initiated during their residency at Villa Kujoyama in 2018. The study of basketry complements the body of objects already present in their work.
Sébastien Desplat will present Pépites, the latest publication by painter Idir Davaine. Printed entirely in risograph, the book is the result of two years of close collaboration with the artist.
