The 2025 edition of Aichi Triennale is set to be one of Japan’s most ambitious art festivals yet. Named A Time Between Ashes and Roses, the sixth edition under artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi brings together over 60 artists and groups from 22 countries, with works displayed across three locations in Nagoya, Seto, and other venues in Aichi Prefecture.
Borrowing its title from Syrian poet Adonis, the exhibition grapples with the space between destruction and renewal – the “ashes” and the “roses”. As Al Qasimi explains, this year’s triennale seeks to platform art that shares “the same desires, the same need, the urgent call for us to be in solidarity and to raise our voices to support each other”. This theme of oppression and resistance runs throughout the works on display, underscored by Al Qasimi’s words: “I echo many people when I say, none of us will be free until all of us will be free. Free Palestine.”
Here are five artists to check out at this year’s edition.
Japan-born, Aomori-based multidisciplinary collective Ohkojima Maki, made up of Tsuji Yosuke and Ohkojima Maki, explores “life that circulates in a distorted way, becoming entangled, tangling, and unravelling”. Their work investigates the relationship between soil, microorganisms, and human intervention. At the Aichi Triennale, they present Tomorrow’s Harvest, a project conceived on Aomori’s reclaimed land that combines ritualised exchanges of fertility to explore the cycles of sustenance and scarcity embedded in the local landscapes of Aomori.
“In this particular case, we paid special attention to the intention of the artistic director, Hoor, the historical context of this Triennale, and the history and environment of Seto City in Aichi Prefecture, one of the main sites of the exhibition. Hoor has identified ‘in-between’ as one of the themes of this Triennale, and this resonates deeply with us as well. In Japan, ‘in-between’ has long been regarded as fundamental. It is not that distinct entities exist first and that relationships are subsequently formed in between them; rather, entities themselves emerge as if backlit by the in between. Prior to the in between there is nothing – that is the Japanese ontology. What we attempted here, through our dialogue with the history and climate of Seto, was to gaze at the landscape of Seto – and indeed the world of 2025 – from the ambiguous and unstable footing found in between such dualities as foreign and native, authentic and false, natural and artificial, preservation and destruction, earth and wind, local community and artist.
“At the Aichi Arts Centre, we are presenting a monumental painting over ten meters in length, alongside an installation composed of ceramics and text. At the tea room of the Seto Ceramic Museum, we are showing an installation incorporating video, ceramics, as well as plants and light. Through these works, if we can bring your awareness – even momentarily – into the in between, we would consider it a great joy.”
Ohkojima Maki’s artworks will be on display at the Seto City Art Museum at this year’s Aichi Triennale.
Japan-born artist Koretsune Sakura works across painting, embroidery, and writing to explore whale-human relationships and oceanic folklore. Drawing on extensive research and fieldwork, her work at the Aichi Triennale presents a multimedia series that combines historical research and storytelling to evoke the legends and ecological histories of the sea.
“Human-cetacean relationships have inspired me for years, and wherever I am by the sea, I try to find local histories and individual memories associated with cetaceans. Cetaceans, to me, are mediators that show an overview of human relationships to the marine environment. By focusing on cetaceans and seeing things through their lives, I realise the world is built on relationships with other species.
“For the Aichi Triennale 2025, I have carried out research and fieldwork on human-cetacean relationships in Aichi and the surrounding areas. I found that whales were hunted in the nearby waters. Whales play essential roles in festivals and songs passed down from generation to generation to the present day. Additionally, there is an underrecognized connection between the past commercial whaling and the local ceramic pipe industry. What I have found are stories of whales, and at the same time, stories of people in Aichi. I present an installation featuring a life-size figure of a sperm whale, crafted from local materials such as fishing nets, dyed fabric, ceramic objects, whale bones, and documents loaned from museums and libraries of Aichi. I embroider the illustrations of various stories between people and whales of different eras on the whale’s body.
“I hope the audience will discover ways to see the world through the accumulation of memories, which often include forgotten stories. It will give us the strength to think about a better future by looking to the past.”
Koretsune Sakura’s artworks will be on display at Aichi Arts Centre and Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art at this year’s Aichi Triennale.
Manga artist panpanya, born in Japan, has been active online, at doujinshi conventions, and through self-published works since the 2000s. Their commercial debut came in 2013 with Rakuen, Le Paradis (Hakusensha), which has remained central to their practice, primarily through short stories. Selected works are on view at the Aichi Triennale, including Shotengai no ayumi (An Advance of the Shopping Arcade) and Sakana shakai (Fish Society), both published by Hakusensha.
“I believe that a manga is only complete once it is printed and delivered into the hands of its readers. When asking people to go out of their way to visit an exhibition and view a one-of-a-kind book that exists only in that location, I thought carefully about what form that book should take. I’d be happy if visitors could come to the venue with the same feeling they have when picking up and reading a manga in their everyday life.”
Panpanya’s artworks will be on display at Seto – Matsuchiyokan, at this year’s Aichi Triennale.
Japanese artist Kato Izumi creates paintings and sculptures depicting undifferentiated primitive lifeforms, fetuses, animals, or hybrid beings. His work examines primal relationships between humanity, nature, and the environment, evoking a return to the womb. While his early practice focused on carved and painted wooden sculptures, Kato now incorporates materials such as soft vinyl, plastic model kits, stone, and textiles, extending his painterly approach to soft sculpture and installations.
“I believe that what matters most in my work – including my paintings – is how viewers feel when they see it. I want people to freely interpret and reflect on it in their own way.”
Kato Izumi’s artworks will be on display at Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum and Design Aichi Gallery at this year’s Aichi Triennale.
Mexican artist Minerva Cuevas creates research-based, site-specific projects that explore social and economic systems. Looking back through Mexican history, she examines companies that prioritised profit over the public good and the communities affected by their actions. At the Aichi Triennale, she presents The Trust, a work that references commercial branding and familiar visual references, such as Pokémon and brand logos, to reveal the real cost of profit.
Minerva Cuevas’ artworks will be on display at the Seto City Art Museum in the Galleries sector at this year’s Aichi Triennale.
Aichi Triennale, A Time Between Ashes and Roses takes place from 13 September to 30 November, 2025.
