ARTISTS
Ayako Kato+Natsuki Iwata
Photo by Hideto Maezawa
Ayako Kato
Japan／Violinist
A violinist who researches the “classical musical body” in Japan and Asia, presenting recitals and performances. Explores the present state of human behavior. Graduated top of her class from the String Instrument Course at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and its graduate school. Completed the master's program at the IMEP in Namur, Belgium, with the highest marks in her class.
Her major works to date include the recital Breath the Form, the performance (Meta)Fiction by a Violinist (2025 / Selected for the Toyooka Theater Festival Fringe Showcase), and I'm Meat! (2025 / Co-organized with the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art within project “&21+”). In 2025, selected as a Bangkok-dispatch artist for the Program for Dispatching Performing Arts Professionals by The Japan Foundation and YPAM, and participated in artist support program “Kaihatsu” by KAAT.
Her major works to date include the recital Breath the Form, the performance (Meta)Fiction by a Violinist (2025 / Selected for the Toyooka Theater Festival Fringe Showcase), and I'm Meat! (2025 / Co-organized with the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art within project “&21+”). In 2025, selected as a Bangkok-dispatch artist for the Program for Dispatching Performing Arts Professionals by The Japan Foundation and YPAM, and participated in artist support program “Kaihatsu” by KAAT.
Natsuki Iwata
Japan／Dancer, Choreographer
Dancer and choreographer, born in 2002 in Chiba, Japan. Iwata is currently enrolled in the Master’s Program (M.A.) in Image Arts and Body Studies at Rikkyo University.
Her practice engages with the sense of “inescapability” that arises from bodily differences and social structures, continuing to dance together with it rather than seeking resolution.
Grounded in her original concept Aite-goto (roughly, “being-with the other”), her work takes shape through dialogue and the sharing of language that emerge from being already entangled with others, and develops jazz-like relationships with people, objects, sounds, and the surrounding environment.
She was selected as a member of the Chiba Artist Follow-up Program (2024–)."
Her practice engages with the sense of “inescapability” that arises from bodily differences and social structures, continuing to dance together with it rather than seeking resolution.
Grounded in her original concept Aite-goto (roughly, “being-with the other”), her work takes shape through dialogue and the sharing of language that emerge from being already entangled with others, and develops jazz-like relationships with people, objects, sounds, and the surrounding environment.
She was selected as a member of the Chiba Artist Follow-up Program (2024–)."
2026 project
Scale System
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Illustrated by Moeno Ootsu
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1/2
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”.
The third work in a performance series by violinist Ayako Kato, in which she presents a vivid portrayal of the "classical musical body" in Japan. Through the bodies of musicians who make themselves transparent in order to recreate the composer's intentions and the traditions of Western classical music, Kato explores the current state of our behavior as Japanese. Following her previous works on "flesh" and "skin", this piece is based on the theme of "bones". In collaboration with dancer/choreographer Natsuki Iwata, whose work centers around the concept of partnership, Kato explores bones that support the bodies of classical musicians and humans, and reflects this research into the work.
In her cycle of works exploring the "transparent bodies" of musicians, the theme of “bones” succeeds “flesh” and “skin”.
The third work in a performance series by violinist Ayako Kato, in which she presents a vivid portrayal of the "classical musical body" in Japan. Through the bodies of musicians who make themselves transparent in order to recreate the composer's intentions and the traditions of Western classical music, Kato explores the current state of our behavior as Japanese. Following her previous works on "flesh" and "skin", this piece is based on the theme of "bones". In collaboration with dancer/choreographer Natsuki Iwata, whose work centers around the concept of partnership, Kato explores bones that support the bodies of classical musicians and humans, and reflects this research into the work.
