Program /

Overseas Projects

We also develop TURN’s activities beyond Japan, carrying out programs in collaboration with arts and culture-related organizations from Japan and overseas. Participating artists interact with welfare facilities and communities using traditional techniques and practices in each country, creating exhibitions, workshops and performances based on their experiences.

Overseas Projects To Date

  • TURN in Poland

    TURN was carried out in Wroclaw in southwest Poland in collaboration with the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design and a support group for elderly citizens. In developing the project, artists from Japan and Poland touched upon Wroclaw’s historical background and everyday lives of its residents.

  • TURN in TUCUMAN, BIENALSUR (Argentina)

    Following an invitation from the International Contemporary Art Biennial of South America (BIENALSUR) in 2017, TURN in TUCUMAN, BIENALSUR was developed for the festival’s second edition the following year. Participants engaged in exchanges with elementary school students and artisans in Quilmes, a region far from central Tucuman province in northern Argentina, also a historical home of the indigenous Quilmes people.

  • TURN in Havana (Cuba)

    TURN in HAVANA was held at the invitation of Cuba’s international art festival, Havana Biennal, which has been going for more than thirty years. The slogan for Havana Biennal 2019 was “The Construction of the Possible.” Against the backdrop of the Havana Biennal’s exploration of possibility for renewing a range of areas including the environment, politics, culture and welfare, artists from Japan and Cuba carried out TURN in Old Havana through interactions at elderly care facilities and elementary schools.

  • TURN – LA TOLA (Ecuador)

    The TURN – LA TOLA project was carried out in partnership with the national Central University of Ecuador, an institution which dates back to the colonial era. Japanese artists stayed in Ecuador’s capital Quito, where they conducted a series of encounters and interactions with local artists, students and residents, resulting in a collective performance.

  • TURN in BIENALSUR (Argentina)

    TURN project overseas began as TURN in BIENALSUR when the project was invited to the first International Contemporary Art Biennial of South America (BIENALSUR), which was rolled out in 32 cities in 16 countries, centering around Buenos Aires in Argentina.
    Taking part were seven artists based in Japan, Argentina and Peru. Using traditional techniques and practices, the artists visited welfare facilities and local communities in South America and presented the results as exhibitions and workshops based on the process of exchange and interaction.

  • TURN in BRAZIL

    In 2016 TURN was held not only in Japan but in Rio de Janeiro during the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games During their stay in Sao Paulo, artists based in Japan and Brazil utilised traditional hand craft in the implementation of the Interactive Program, which involved getting to know and understand the daily lives of people with disabilities and local people using partner facilities. The results were later presented in Rio de Janeiro.

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