KIAC

Step through the doorway.
The world awaits you.

KIAC is like a door to an unknown world or a window to observe the familiar everyday.
It is a place where, through interactions with resident artists and viewing their works, visitors themselves encounter new aspects of the world and rediscover the everyday life they took for granted.

Throughout the year, KIAC welcomes artists from all over the world to engage in a variety of artistic activities, including dance, theater, performance, and art projects. These artists stay at KIAC for a set period of time, conducting creative activities such as research and creation, and interacting with the local residents.
Artists come to Toyooka with diverse themes and interests.

—What is really going on with global warming these days?
—What traditional events and customs can be found in Toyooka?
—What kind of people will I meet?
—I'm worried about the conflicts and wars happening around the world...
—What are children interested in these days?
—What can art do for society right now?

By experiencing the activities of artists who have unique ideas and perspectives, and viewing the world and everyday life through their eyes, your perception may begin to shift.
Please open the door and step inside.

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#ReflectingOnNatureEnvironmentAndPlace

Land, landscape, and environment. What emerges when we take a fresh look at the world around us?

Zai Tang
SYN
Residency Period: April 3 – May 13, 2026
Based in Singapore
What happens when we listen closely to the voices of the animal kingdom?
In an age of ecological crisis, an audiovisual performance that births new connections between humans and nature facilitated by the act of listening.

Takasegawa Monitoring Club
Takasegawa Monitoring Club Major Fieldwork - Otani River Edition
Residency Period: June 26 – August 8, 2026
Based in Japan
Searching for lifeforms in Kinosaki's Otani River…
What will the river monitoring club members discover through observation?

Toolbox Percussion
Shizuku（雫）
Residency Period: March 1 – March 22, 2027
Based in Hong Kong
A Hong Kong–based percussion art collective that has collaborated with diverse communities around the world comes to Kinosaki!
Listening closely to ways of coexisting with nature through water, in a hot spring town shaped by the spirit of coexistence and co-prosperity.

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#DiscoveringNewFormsOf MusicAndPerformance

Individual, group, and society. What kind of performance emerges from the intersection of body and music?

Mountain/Full Edition
Ways of Mountainmaking
Residency Period: June 7 – June 22, 2026
Based in Japan
Find your way through the maze, and join the live performance!
A swirling mix of music, bodies, laser lights, art, and resistance. If you get carried away by the monkey's humor and start dancing, you'll get hit hard by its sharp claws, and the next thing you see will be towering mountains.

Ayako Kato + Natsuki Iwata
Scale System
Residency Period: July 20 – August 2, 2026
Based in Japan
Together with a dance artist, a violinist who graduated at the top of her class from conservatory takes a fresh look at the existence of Japanese classical music performers.
In her cycle of works exploring the "transparent bodies" of musicians, the theme of “bones” succeeds “flesh” and “skin”.

Busstrio
Musical drama “One Plus One”
Residency Period: October 14 – October 25, 2026
Based in Japan
Sound, light, body, language, props, and video… Numerous fragmented scenes emerge from a variety of media. A musical drama that depicts life in the present and creates a unique groove!

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#ConnectingToTheWorldThrough PersonalMemory

What is our relationship with the world, as seen through the memories and experiences of artists from diverse backgrounds?

Nastaran Razawi Khorasani
Archive
Residency Period: July 1 – July 14, 2026
Based in Netherlands
Having left her homeland, becoming an “orphan”, and later, a mother in the Netherlands, Razawi Khorasani sees another “self” in Iranian films and actresses who remained in her homeland.
Iran draws us all closer.

Lisa Mariko Gelley
Oceans (working tittle)
Residency Period: August 12 – August 31, 2026
Based in Canada
Memories, inherited from her grandmother, of ancestors who crossed the ocean—
A Canadian choreographer with roots in Japan presents a research project on Obon rituals. See you at Bon dance festivals across Toyooka City!

Mei Liu
MY BODY IS A RESONANCE CHAMBER
Residency Period: January 6 – February 20, 2027
Based in Netherlands
An emerging performance maker born in Shanghai and based in Amsterdam reclaims sensitivities for surviving times of turmoil.
Re-imagining and employing the body as a chamber of resonance for solidarity, resistance, and care.

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#EncounteringCreativeExpressi onOfChildrens

What image of the world emerges when we listen closely to the voices of children living in the present?

Michael Maurissens + Tocotoco Dancers
Fragment of us
Residency Period: May 14 – June 4, 2026
Based in Germany and Japan
A children's dance company based in Kinosaki Onsen (now in its eighth year) will collaborate with a Germany-based filmmaker to create a dance in relationship with the camera in the streets of Kinosaki.

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#ExperiencingTheLivingBody

Individual and collective. When living bodies meet, what arises temporally and spatially?

Daniel Kok + Luke George
Line of Thought
Residency Period: November 8 – December 6, 2026
Based in Singapore and Australia
Weaving systems of trust and support!
A new creation by Daniel Kok and Luke George following rope-based performances and installations that have garnered praise and sparked controversy.

Land Before Time
Yaltari
Residency Period: February 8 – February 26, 2027
Based in Sweden
A Swedish duo selected as one of Aerowaves’ Twenty25 artists.
The performance heightens physical sensations through street dance and improvisation.
Featuring indoor and outdoor performances!

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The process of deciding on the program

【Open Call Program】
■About the Open Call
The call for applications was open from May 10 to June 27, 2025, and 91 applications were received from 26 countries. A selection committee was held in August, and after interviews with each artist and schedule adjustments, we decided to adopt 11 projects.

■Selection Committee
Satoko Ichihara (Artistic Director of KIAC, Playwright, Director, Novelist, Leader of Theater Company Q)
Reiko Shiga (Director of KIAC)
Yuichiro Yoshida (Program Director of KIAC)
Maki Hashimoto (Community Coordinator of KIAC)

■Selection Criteria
≪Response to Society≫＝Is the artist or project responding in some way to the current society and environment in which we live through their artistic activities?
≪Critical Creativity≫＝Does the project have the potential to critically examine existing values and common sense, and to update them in terms of art?
≪Creation of Exchanges≫＝Does the project demonstrate the will and potential to create new exchanges before-during-after the residency?


【Programs other than the Open Call Program】
In addition to the Open Call Program, the following programs are scheduled to be implemented.
■Partnership Program
As part of a collaborative program between Aerowaves, Yokohama Dance Collection, and Kinosaki International Arts Center, Sweden-based dance duo Land Before Time works on the creation of a performance.
Land Before Time
Yaltari

■The Other Programs
-Acceptance of theater production students from the Professional College of Arts and Tourism.
-Programs for the Toyooka Theater Festival 2026, a performing arts festival held in the suburbs of Toyooka City.

The residency programs by the above 12 artists and projects, as well as related programs will be carried out.
We hope that you will continue to pay attention to the activities of Kinosaki International Arts Center in 2026/2027 season.

March 20, 2026
Kinosaki International Arts Center