Okayama Prefecture Announces Dates, Concept, and First Artists for 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country 2027'

The executive committee of the 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country' (Chairman: Ryuta Ibara, Governor of Okayama Prefecture) will hold the second edition of the international art festival, 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country 2027', over 67 days from Saturday, September 18, to Tuesday, November 23, 2027, in northern Okayama Prefecture.

This release announces the festival's concept, the first wave of participating artists, and venue information.

For this second edition, the festival adopts the concept 'Protopia – The Forest Moving Forward', and will be developed in collaboration with experts from various fields, not just artists. As part of this initiative, 'food' will be a central theme, aiming to showcase the rich regional resources unique to northern Okayama.

Overview of 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country 2027'

Name: Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country 2027

Concept: Protopia – The Forest Moving Forward

Period: Saturday, September 18, 2027 – Tuesday, November 23, 2027 (67 days)

Area: 12 municipalities (Tsuyama City, Takahashi City, Niimi City, Maniwa City, Mimasaka City, Shinjo Village, Kagamino Town, Sho-o Town, Nagi Town, Nishiawakura Village, Kume-nan Town, Misaki Town)

Artwork Installation Municipalities: Tsuyama City, Takahashi City, Niimi City, Maniwa City, Kagamino Town, Sho-o Town, Nagi Town

Art Director: Yuko Hasegawa (Curator / Art Historian)

Organizer: Executive Committee of 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country' (Chairman: Ryuta Ibara, Governor of Okayama Prefecture)

Planning Cooperation: West Japan Railway Company

Website: https://forestartfest-okayama.jp/

Concept of 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country 2027'

Protopia – The Forest Moving Forward

Building on the first festival's idea of attuning to the forest's sensibility to rediscover surrounding nature and culture, this edition introduces a new perspective: 'The Forest Moving Forward'. This represents a forest that slowly continues to change, moving towards a tomorrow that is slightly better than today. Behind this image lies the concept of 'Protopia' proposed by Kevin Kelly (*). It is neither a utopia nor a dystopia, but a perspective of cultivating a better society in reality through the accumulation of small daily improvements.

This art festival overlays the philosophy of Protopia with the idea of social common capital. It opens a space for people from various fields—technology, agriculture, welfare, education, and more—to meet and collaborate, starting from the art festival. It aims to protect and pass on to the next generation the important shared foundations of nature, infrastructure, and institutions.

The 'Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama: Clear-skies Country 2027' will re-examine the dormant resources and culture of northern Okayama, accumulating small practices. It is not just about creating artworks; it is an attempt to gently reweave the relationships between people and nature, culture and daily life. Through this process, the festival hopes to foster new perspectives and pride for both visitors and residents, cultivating the power to move towards the future from within the region.

Art Director: Yuko Hasegawa

* An American editor, thinker, and technology critic. Known for his writings on technology, society, and future predictions, he is one of the founding editors of WIRED magazine. He is a globally influential figure who has long discussed artificial intelligence, the internet, and decentralized society.

Art Director Yuko Hasegawa

Curator / Art Historian.

Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University; Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts; Program Director of the Art and Design Division at the International House of Japan; Visiting Professor at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature; Artistic Director of the Inujima 'Art House Project'. Former Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.

Recipient of the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs Award (2020), Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2015), Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit (2017), and Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2024). She has curated numerous international exhibitions, including biennales in Istanbul (2001), Shanghai (2002), São Paulo (2010), Sharjah (2013), Moscow (2017), and Thailand (2021), as well as 'Japanorama: A New Vision of Contemporary Japanese Art' and 'Japonism 2018: In Search of Japanese Aesthetics' in France.

She served as a professor at Tama Art University from 2006 to 2016 and as a professor at the Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, from 2016 to 2023. She has been a visiting professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy (2023) and the Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy (2025).

Her major publications include 'The Power of Curation to Shake Knowledge and Sensibility', 'They Say to Destroy: Women Artists Gently Crossing Boundaries', 'Japanorama: Japanese Contemporary Art Since 1970', and 'New Ecology and Art: The Anthropocene as a Period of Bewilderment'.

Participating Artists (First Announcement)

In addition to four artists continuing from the previous edition, diverse artists from around the world, including Juliana dos Santos and Isabel Sicat (TOQA), who will exhibit their work in Japan for the first time, will gather in northern Okayama to present their artworks.

◾ New Participating Artists

Juliana dos Santos [b. 1987, Brazil]

Photo: Nti Uirá Courtesy of the artist. Installation view of Temporã at Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Erika Mayumi Courtesy of the artist and Galeria Luisa Strina.

Isabel Sicat (TOQA) [b. 1993, Philippines]

Installation view of Iike the sun, i love the sky (เสน่หานิรันดร์), 2025, Morning Market Room Courtesy of the artist

Sputniko! [Japan]

'Drone Searching for a Lucky Four-Leaf Clover', 2023

Luiz Zerbini [b. 1959, Brazil]

Photo: Eduardo Ortega. Os Comedores de Terra [The Earth Eaters]. Photo: Sebastiano Di Persano

◾ Returning Artists from the Previous Edition

Four artists from the previous edition have been confirmed to continue. They will develop new works under the concept of 'Protopia'.

Leandro Erlich [b. 1973, Argentina]

Photo: Ignacio Coló. 'Upside-Down Nature', Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama