KUMANONISUMU!
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE KUMANO
About Us
KUMANONISUMU! is an Artist-in-Residence program launched in 2022 in the small coastal town of Kumano, located in Mie Prefecture on Japan’s Kii Peninsula. The region holds a significant place in Japan’s cultural and spiritual tradition and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes. Like many rural areas in Japan, Kumano is experiencing demographic and structural transitions, including a declining population and changing socio-ecological dynamics. These developments prompt new reflections on local identity, sustainability, and the future of shared living spaces.KUMANONISUMU! invites international and local artists from diverse disciplines to live and work in Kumano for one month, engaging with the local context through site-specific, participatory, and interdisciplinary artistic practices. The residency serves as a temporary space for collective inquiry—an experimental ground for planting ideas, questions, concerns, and hopes that emerge from encounters between artists and the community.
It provides a space for dialogue, reflection, and co-existence. Through collaborative artistic interventions, KUMANONISUMU! explores how cultural practices can reimagine local realities, proposing new ways for people and places to come together and for shared living environments to be reshaped.The project is curated and organized by Hisa Enomoto and Tina Natsvlishvili.KUMANONISUMU!（熊野に住む！）は、2022年にキュレーターのティナ・ナツヴリシュヴィリと美術家えのもとひさによって再始動したアーティスト・イン・レジデンス・プログラムです。開催地は三重県熊野市。ここは、ユネスコ世界遺産に登録された熊野古道が息づく場所であり、日本の文化と精神を今に伝える、かけがえのない聖地です。
多くの地方と同様、熊野も人口減少、高齢化、土地利用の変化など、社会構造が大きく変化しています。だからこそ、地域のアイデンティティ、持続可能性、そして「ともに生きる未来」について、新たな問いと創造が生まれています。KUMANONISUMU!は、国内外のアーティストを熊野に招き、1か月間滞在・制作するプログラムです。地域に根ざしたリサーチをもとに、場所や人々との関わりの中で、参加型で学際的なアートプロジェクトを展開します。このレジデンスは、アーティストと住民の出会いから生まれるアイデア、問い、願いを“まく”実験的な共創の場となります。それは対話と内省、そして共に生きる時間を生み出します。KUMANONISUMU!は、アートを通して地域の現実を捉え直し、人と場所が出会い、関係性を築くヒントと可能性を探ります。
KUMANONISUMU! 2022
The first edition of KUMANONISUMU! took place from July 15 to August 14, 2022. Under the theme “At Home” the project explored how the notion of home can be redefined in times of global crises and local rural transformation.
Artists from Austria and Japan collaborated on site-specific, participatory projects that responded to the cultural, ecological, and economic shifts in Kumano—a town affected by rural depopulation and vacant spaces. Working in public spaces and an abandoned school building, the artists developed installations, performances, photographic works, videos, and paintings that engaged directly with the community.
The final works were presented in exhibitions at the former Kamikawa Junior High School, the Kumano Cultural Center, and in public spaces throughout Kumano, accompanied by talks and workshops that opened space for discussion and reflection.2022年夏、KUMANONISUMU! は「At Home」をテーマに始動。グローバルな危機と地方の変化の中、「ホーム」の再定義を試みました。オーストリアと日本のアーティストが熊野の文化的、経済的、環境的変化に向き合い、地域住民と協働。公園や旧校舎を舞台に、多様なアートプロジェクトを展開しました。インスタレーション、パフォーマンス、写真、映像、絵画など多様な表現方法を用いて仕上がった作品は、神川町の旧神上中学校、熊野市文化交流センター、そして熊野市内各地の公共空間で展示され、トークイベントやワークショップも開催。対話と交流を深める1か月となりました。participating artists / 参加アーティスト: Lorenz Kunath & Emma Kling, Krisztina Kerekes, Mayumi Arai, Linus Riepler, Noriaki Imai, Natia Kalandadze, Michaela Falkensteiner, Matthias Ramsey, Laura Nitsche, Ayumi Sawa & Jarek Piotrowski
Kindly supported by:
KUMANONISUMU! 2025
The second edition of KUMANONISUMU! took place from August 1 to September 1, 2025. Under the theme “Oh, Otherness” this edition focuses on the experience of encountering what feels unfamiliar in times of global migration, interconnectedness, and shifting notions of identity.
Rooted in Kumano’s long-standing tradition of hospitality, the project turns attention to the cultural significance of openness and belonging. KUMANONISUMU! 2025 invites international and local artists from various backgrounds to engage with the town and its people through participatory and site-specific practices. The aim is to develop artistic interventions that open up spaces for reflection on the visible and invisible layers of otherness and belonging in everyday life.
The works were realized in public space, Kumano Kodo-kan and the Kumano Cultural Center. The final presentations, held between August 28 and September 15, 2025, were accompanied by talks and discussions, creating space for subtle or direct audience engagements.KUMANONISUMU! 2025は、8月1日から9月1日まで「Oh, Otherness（ああ、異質さ）*1」をテーマに開催されます。グローバル化が進む現代において、変化し続けるアイデンティティと、「知らないもの」や「異なるもの」との出会いに焦点を当て、熊野に根付く巡礼の歴史の中で培われた“おもてなし”の文化を基盤に、「開かれた心」と「居場所」というテーマに新たな光を当てます。
国内外のアーティストが熊野のまちや人々との交流を通じて、参加型で場所に根ざした作品を展開。目に見える「異質さ」だけでなく、日常に潜む繊細な違いやつながりを見つめ直す場を目指し、インスタレーション、パフォーマンス、写真、サウンドなどの作品を熊野市内の公共空間などで展示します。最終発表は8月28日から9月14日。トークイベントやディスカッションも予定されており、観客が積極的に関われる空間を作り出します。
*1：Otherness “よそ者、他者性”とも訳せる。participating artists / 参加アーティスト: Chiku Komiya, Midori Mitamura, Elsa Okazaki, Sophia TabatadzePROGRAM 2025EXHIBITION 展覧会オープニング
2025年8月29日（金）17:00〜世界遺産熊野古道館での展覧会オープニングにぜひお越しください。
ウェルカムレセプションのあと、午後5時30分か らアーティストと一緒に木本町のまち中に展示 された作品巡りを行います。場所 : 世界遺産熊野古道館
熊野市木本町517-1
開館時間: 9時〜13時、14時〜17時
9 月2日火曜日休館Exhibition Opening & Reception
August 29, 2025 | 5:00 PMWe cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition at Kumano Kodo-kan. Following the welcome reception, at 5:30 PM, we will walk together with the artists through the streets of the Kinomoto neighborhood to discover artworks in public spaces and encounter stories along the way.Location: Kumano Kodo-Kan
Kinomoto cho 517-1, Kumano-shiARTIST TALKS アーティストトーク8月30日 (土)
10時 – 小宮知久 Chiku Komiya
11時 – ソフィア・タバタッツェ Sophia Tabatadze8月31日 ( 日)
10時 – エルザ・岡崎 Elsa Okazaki
11時 – 三田村光土里 Midori Mitamura場所 : 世界遺産熊野古道館
熊野市木本町517-1
開館時間: 9時〜13時、14時〜17時
9 月2日火曜日休館Artist Talks:
August 30, 2025
10 AM - Chiku Komiya
11 AM - Sophia TabatadzeAugust 31, 2025
10 AM - Midori Mitamura
11 AM - Elsa OkazakiLocation: Kumano Kodo-Kan
Kinomoto cho 517-1, Kumano-shiART TOUR キュレーターによるガイドツアー
展示会場をキュレーターと一緒に巡ります。9月1日 (月)・3日 (水)｜午前10時
集合場所：世界遺産熊野古道館
熊野市木本町517-1Curator-led Guided Tours:
September 1 & 3, 2025
Meeting point: Kumano Kodo-kan
Kinomoto cho 517-1, Kumano-sh
KUMANONISUMU! Studio House is a place where the project takes place.During the residency editions of our project, invited artists live here while developing their work in Kumano. In the periods between the official editions, we open the house to artists, curators, researchers, writers, and other cultural practitioners who wish to spend time in Kumano in a more independent way - to work, to think, to read, to write, to research or to shift their surroundings for a while.The house is located in the centre of Kumano and offers a quiet place to work. You are never far from the mountains or the sea. The Kumano Kodo routes pass through the region, shaped by its cultural and spiritual history and the rhythm of a rural town facing ongoing social and ecological changes.The House can host up to five people. It includes several bedrooms, a Japanese-style tatami room, a kitchen, basic living facilities, and a studio space on the ground floor that can be used for working, reading, preparing ideas, or small-scale production. The house is situated close to Kumano-shi Station, with daily infrastructure such as supermarkets and convenience stores within walking distance.An important part of staying at KUMANONISUMU! Studio House is the local support structure. Hisa Enomoto, who lives in Kumano and co-initiates the project, supports guests on site and can help with practical questions, orientation, and, when useful, with making connections to the local community.We open the house to people who are looking for new impulses, for encounters, or simply time to focus on their own work in a different setting. It works best if you are comfortable working independently and finding your own rhythm.The conditions for staying depend on the length of the visit and the number of people.
If you’re interested, just write to us and we’ll share the details.
Contact Us
KUMANONISUMU! is an initiative by Tina Natsvlishvili and Hisa Enomoto.
If you have any questions, would like to share your thoughts or feedback, or are interested in supporting our project, we would be happy to hear from you.このプロジェクトは、えのもとひさ（Hisa Enomoto）とティナ・ナツヴリシュヴィリ（Tina Natsvlishvili）が企画・運営しています。
ご質問やご感想、またはプロジェクトへのご支援をご検討されている方は、どうぞお気軽にご連絡ください。ご連絡をお待ちしております！
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Tina Natsvlishvili / Interact Projects
Mariannengasse 2
1090 Vienna
Austria
Email: [email protected]
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