Nakanojo
Tetsuo Yamashige

Based on the closed school of Isama, they conduct the town revitalization and international exchanges through art, such as holding the Nakanojo Biennale once every two years and creative activities through inviting foreign artists.

From Nakanojo to the world

Nakanojo Biennial was launched mainly by Yamashige in 2006. It was the seventh time in 2019. Under the concept of “a town turns into an art museum,” artists from home and abroad gather to display contemporary art works throughout the town. He has been the general director for 14 years. “I just wanted a place where the artists could create and present their own works,” says Yamashige. The stage is set in places where even local people have never entered, such as closed schools, old track sites, and a 300-year-old warehouse. “vanishing heritage” is regaining attention as center stage.
After graduating from Tama Art University in Tokyo, he was looking for a place to create works. In this town where is advanced in support for artists, such as lending a recreation facility as an atelier to artists, Isama Studio, which utilized a closed jinior high school, was proposed as “good place” by the town office. He has long been associated with Isama. It was Isama of Gunma Prefecture where he visited for the fi rst time when he heard from a friend from college that there is a closed school available for staying. “I was drawn to Isama. This is a nice place there are hot springs and I genuinely wanted to join here.”
He was also involved in the launch of the creative center “tsumuji”, facility to off er information about art and town information in Nakanojo, which opened in 2010. Except for the year of the Nakanojo Biennale, held once every two years, he has been conducting international exchange with foreign countries. “Artist-in-residence” is a project in which artists are invited to a certain land for a certain period to work while staying there. For example, in Fiskars Village, which is known as an artist village in Finland, he stayed at the absent writers' house, made works, and held an exhibition. Conversely, when Finnish writers come to Japan, he treats them in the same way. He continues international exchanges with over 20 countries through such arts and fly around the world.

Interviewed in January, 2020
Writer : Hideko Takahashi / Photographer : Hiroyuki Tamura