Artist Talk: Kyunchome in conversation with Keith Whittle
ArtLink, Inishowen
Talk by Kyunchome accompanying All Living Things Are Breathing Now, the Japanese artist duo’s first solo exhibition in the British Isles. The exhibition explored the sea and intertidal zones as spaces where humans and other species coexist, examining the connections between ecological, cultural, and spiritual forms of life.
Curator Talk: The Biennialisation of Contemporary Art: Institutions, Networks, and Power
ArtLink, Inishowen
Keith Whittle opened a programme of five talks featuring Lewis Biggs, Shubigi Rao, Fram Kitagawa, and Leah Gordon. His keynote explored “Biennalisation” and the growing influence of international biennials on artistic production, curatorial practice, cultural policy, and audiences, with particular attention to contemporary art emerging beyond Western contexts.
Artist & Curator Talk: Leah Gordon
ArtLink, Inishowen
In a talk moderated by Keith Whittle, artist, curator, and Ghetto Biennale co-founder Leah Gordon discussed the origins of the Biennale as a response to social, racial, class, and geographic divisions. She reflected on encounters between different artistic and cultural contexts and the new relationships and practices that can emerge from them.
Artistic Director Talk: Fram Kitagawa
ArtLink, Inishowen
Fram Kitagawa discussed the ideas behind the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, which he has directed since its founding in 2000. The talk explored how contemporary art can respond to rural communities, ecological challenges, and social change, and how the Triennale’s integration of art, local culture, and landscape has influenced contemporary art in Japan.
Curator Talk: Shubigi Rao
ArtLink, Inishowen
Shubigi Rao discussed her multidisciplinary artistic practice and her role as curator of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Her work brings together archaeology, neuroscience, libraries, archives, literature, violence, ecology, and natural history, using these diverse fields to explore memory, knowledge, loss, and contemporary social and cultural concerns.
Artistic Director Talk: Lewis Biggs
ArtLink, Inishowen
Lewis Biggs discussed the development of the Liverpool Biennial and its position within the international biennial movement. He explored the challenges faced by earlier biennials and explained how Liverpool developed a distinctive model that became important to the city, its communities, its artists, and the wider international contemporary art scene.
Artist Talk: Mari Katayama
Royal Society of Arts, London
The Royal Society of Arts, White Rainbow, and the Japan Foundation presented an artist talk with Mari Katayama accompanying her solo exhibition at White Rainbow. Katayama discussed the relationship between her physical challenges, artistic practice, and body image, followed by a conversation with Simon Baker, director of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie.
Artist Talk: Daisuke Ida in conversation with Keith Whittle
3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo
Daisuke Ida and Keith Whittle discussed Ida’s artistic process and his exploration of the aura and reproduction of artworks. Focusing on his reproduction of Auguste Rodin’s The Gates of Hell, the conversation examined how copying and multiplying an iconic sculpture can reactivate the original work and create new possibilities for interpretation.
Artist Talk: Meiro Koizumi
Royal Society of Arts, London
White Rainbow and the Japan Foundation presented an artist talk with Meiro Koizumi accompanying his solo exhibition at White Rainbow. Koizumi introduced key works from his practice and discussed his approach to challenging subjects, followed by a conversation with Charlotte Knaup exploring the ideas and concerns underlying his work.
Artist Talk: Taro Izumi
Jerwood Space, London
White Rainbow and the Japan Foundation presented an artist talk by Taro Izumi accompanying his solo exhibition at White Rainbow. Izumi discussed the themes and ideas behind his exhibition and earlier works in conversation with Mark Rappolt, Editor-in-Chief of ArtReview, exploring his distinctive approach to contemporary art and performance.
‘Clothes Line’ performance and catalogue launch: Aki Sasamoto
White Rainbow, London
Artist Aki Sasamoto presented a performance lecture at White Rainbow to coincide with her exhibition Clothes Line. The event also marked the launch of a new catalogue accompanying the exhibition, bringing together Sasamoto’s performance, installation, and sculptural practice with the themes explored in the exhibition.
Artist Talk: Yuko Mohri
Camden Arts Centre, London
Following Yuko Mohri’s first UK solo exhibition in 2017, White Rainbow hosted a conversation between Mohri and independent curator Jason Waite to coincide with her Voluta exhibition at Camden Arts Centre. They discussed socially engaged and participatory art practices in contemporary Japan, with particular attention to the impact of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Artist Talk: Chim↑Pom
ArtReview Bar, London
White Rainbow and ArtReview Asia presented a screening programme and conversation with members of Tokyo-based artist collective Chim↑Pom. The group discussed their socially engaged practice, including projects addressing contested territories, public space, and the Fukushima Nuclear Zone, alongside a selection of performance works related to their solo exhibition at White Rainbow.
Artist Talk: Chikako Yamashiro
White Rainbow, London
White Rainbow hosted the launch of a new monograph on Chikako Yamashiro, coinciding with her solo exhibition Shapeshifter. The publication featured a newly commissioned essay by Isabella Maidment and an artist response by Claire Potter, providing further perspectives on Yamashiro’s practice and the themes explored through the exhibition.
Publication Launch: Yuko Mohri
White Rainbow, London
White Rainbow launched the first catalogue dedicated to Yuko Mohri with a drinks reception and conversation between Mohri and Richard Wentworth. The publication focused on Moré Moré [Leaky], Mohri’s exhibition at White Rainbow, alongside related texts and documentation of earlier works, providing context for her wider artistic practice.
Publication Launch: Overlay
White Rainbow, London
The closing event for Overlay marked the launch of a publication accompanying the exhibition, which brought together four young artists with a historic work by Nancy Holt in response to the 10th Tokyo Biennale, 1970. The programme included a conversation with curator Jeremy Millar and a performance by Claire Potter.
Performance: Patrick Coyle and Jenny Moore
White Rainbow, London
For Fitzrovia Lates, Patrick Coyle and Jenny Moore presented a collaborative performance responding to White Rainbow’s exhibition Index II by Shigeo Anzaï. Their improvised performance revisited a 1984 collaboration between Joseph Beuys and Nam June Paik, documented by Anzaï. The event also marked the launch of a new monograph on Anzaï.
Artist Talk: Satoru Aoyama
ICA, The Mall, London
To accompany his exhibition Division of Labour at White Rainbow, Satoru Aoyama presented an illustrated talk, Common Thread, exploring his use of embroidery and the relationship between technology, gender, and labour. He later joined Dr Caterina Albano, Reader in Visual Culture and Science at Central Saint Martins, for a conversation about his practice.
Performance: Ken Ikeda
White Rainbow, London
Ken Ikeda presented a 30-minute performance for Fitzrovia Lates in connection with Satoru Aoyama’s exhibition Division of Labour. The performance featured Ikeda’s experimental approach to sound and visual art and accompanied Aoyama’s embroidered Map of the World series, which reflects on the relationship between contemporary art, technology, and global culture.
Curator Talk: Keith Whittle
The Japan Foundation, London
Keith Whittle presented One Place After Another: What Can Periodical International Contemporary Art Projects Share?, examining the growth of large-scale international exhibitions. A panel discussion with Yuko Hasegawa, Lewis Biggs, Koki Tanaka, and Mark Rappolt considered the opportunities and challenges these projects create for artists, curators, institutions, and audiences.
Academic Talk: Kenji Kajiya in conversation with Keith Whittle
The Japan Foundation, London
Intervening in Nature explored the development of non-museum-based art projects in Japan, from artist-led initiatives to large rural festivals. Kenji Kajiya and Keith Whittle examined the growth of site-specific exhibitions such as the Echigo-Tsumari and Setouchi Triennales, considering how these projects connect contemporary art with landscape, environment, and local communities.
Artist Talk: Ichiro Endo in conversation with Keith Whittle and Kaori Homma
The Japan Foundation, London
Post 3.11: What Can Art Do? examined how artists responded to communities affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku. Ichiro Endo, Kaori Homma, and Keith Whittle discussed art’s potential role in times of crisis, considering questions of community, social responsibility, recovery, and the relationship between artists and society.
Artist Talk: SHIMURAbros
Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
SHIMURAbros presented Film Without Film, exploring their approach to moving image, sculpture, and installation. Yuka and Kentaro Shimura discussed how technology and film history inform their practice and how they transform cinematic language into immersive spatial experiences. The event was presented in partnership with the Japan Foundation and Central Saint Martins.
Artist Talk: Adam Chodzko, Sutapa Biswas and Keith Whittle
Beppu Project NPO, Japan
As part of the Beppu Contemporary Art Triennial 2015, Adam Chodzko and Sutapa Biswas joined curator and programme director Keith Whittle for a discussion about their artist residencies and exhibitions in Beppu. The conversation considered their practices and experiences working within the Fujiya Gallery and the wider context of the Triennale.
Artist Talk: David Blandy in conversation with Keith Whittle
Create London, The Rose Lipman Building, London
As part of Frieze London VIP events in 2013, David Blandy and Keith Whittle discussed Blandy’s solo exhibition Anjin 1600: Edo Wonderpark. The conversation explored his wider practice and earlier works, examining cultural identity through popular media including music, video games, manga, anime, and the visual languages of global popular culture.
Artist Talk: Daisuke Ohba in conversation with Keith Whittle
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London
Daisuke Ohba and Keith Whittle discussed The Light Field, accompanying Ohba’s London solo debut. The artist’s paintings use iridescent pearl paint to explore light, perception, and pictorial space. The conversation considered how changes in viewing angle and illumination transform the surface, colour, and image of the work.
Curator Talk: Keith Whittle
Cornerhouse, Manchester
Keith Whittle presented Mirrored Lenses: A Brief History of Japanese Video and Media Art alongside The Conquest of Imperfection, the first major UK exhibition of Japanese media artist Masaki Fujihata. The talk explored Japanese moving-image and media art, tracing how artists have used technology to connect performance, sculpture, video, and digital practice.
Artist Talk: Liliane Lijn
V&A South Kensington, London
Keith Whittle presented a series of talks at V&A South Kensington, beginning with kinetic art pioneer Liliane Lijn. Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions: Matter and Light explored Lijn’s experiments with light, movement, language, film, liquids, and industrial materials, placing her influential practice within the wider history of kinetic and experimental art.
Conference: Art in the Age of the Global Environment Conference
The Sainsbury Institute, Norwich
This two-day conference examined the international significance of rural contemporary art festivals in Japan. Discussions considered how festivals such as the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and Setouchi Triennale respond to ageing populations, depopulation, rural decline, and natural disasters, while exploring their wider cultural, social, and environmental impact.
Curator Talk: Keith Whittle
Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT), Tokyo, Japan
Keith Whittle’s Biennial Fever: An Anthology of Perennial International Exhibitions of Contemporary Art examined the rise and influence of international biennials. The talks considered how “Biennalisation” has shaped artistic production, curatorial practice, cultural policy, and public engagement, alongside the growing visibility of contemporary art from regions beyond Europe and North America.
Symposia: Art School Futures: What Does It Mean to Be an Art Graduate in 2013?
Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
This international symposium explored the changing experience of art graduates and the structures supporting emerging artists. Co-organised by Keith Whittle and Tokyo University of the Arts, the event brought together artists, curators, educators, students, and graduates from Japan and the UK to discuss careers, professional development, and international perspectives.
Curator Talk: Alessio Antoniolli
University of Sunderland
Alessio Antoniolli, Director of Gasworks, London, discussed his career and the development of Gasworks’ distinctive studio and residency programme. He explored how artists are selected for exhibitions and residencies and considered the importance of creative communities and places such as Vauxhall within London’s contemporary art ecosystem.