If you are chosen for the Artist in Residence program, Kumonodaira will become your remote home for up to two weeks, a comfortable, convivial base to explore new forms of artistic expression. You will have to make your own way on foot, but we will provide you with a private room a full board.

Concept

We welcome projects that renew the practice of art inspired by nature.

Japan is famous the world over for its biodiversity and scenic beauty. Isolated from the rest of the world through the Edo period, Japan developed unique aesthetic traditions and craftsmanship that worked in harmony with the natural world. Complex wooden architecture, traditional gardens, flower arrangement, pottery, and lacquerware are the most well known examples. The rapid industrialization of the 20th century saw the abandonment of many traditional forms, and an increasing separation of daily life from the rhythms of nature.

We are working to preserve and promote an updated vision of what it can mean for contemporary Japanese to live in harmony with nature, and be inspired by nature to create. This works in two directions. First, we are working to preserve and restore the natural setting around Kumonodaira. Despite hosting ten million visitors per year the Northern Alps National Park is grossly understaffed and under budget.
Japan’s hoards of hikers rarely make the connection between their hobby, and the traditional view of the natural world that would seek its preservation.

Our second direction is to inspire Japan’s (and the world’s) hikers to deepen their contemplation of the natural world, and what it might mean to honor and conserve it for future generations. Economic development and conservation do not have to be in internal conflict. The mountains and the city, nature and industry can be brought together through art!

Going to the mountains is not the only way to escape the hustle and bustle of city lie; we can create opportunities for more people to think about nature daily. Bringing back to the city images nurtured in the mountains can help bridge the divide between the city and the natural world.
This is why it is essential for us to cultivate artistic expression.

At night, when you stand on Kumonodaira moor all you can feel that there’s nothing here but sky and earth. There are no city lights, the shadows of the mountains rise in the distance, and the faint sound of the Kurobe River, unchanged since ancient times, can be heard from the bottom of the valley. At dawn, the chirping of birds heralds the arrival of a new day, and the valley breeze that rises at sunrise gently shakes the flowers…

Kumonodaira is the perfect environment for the artist to capture the essence of unspoiled nature.
All art is inspired by nature.
In nature we witness an infinity of colors, the earth’s fecundity, the eternal death and rebirth of a forest, tectonic movements that bring overwhelming destruction. A similar dynamism inhabits all artistic activities, from the religious images of ancient civilizations to contemporary art, from household utensils to commercial design, from Buddhist meditation to classical music and punk rock.

Where people and nature meet, art is always born.

This insight is the genesis for our idea of using Kumonodaira’s unique and compelling setting for artists to forge a renewed connection between people and nature. We hope that this pioneering “Artist in Residence” program can also bring new life to Japan’s national parks, which find themselves at a crossroads, urging outdoor culture towards a more sustainable future.

Applications are welcome from all artists, painters, photographers, graphic artists, architects, writers… who wish to strengthen the connection between people and nature; mountains and city. Your work doesn’t need to be light, warm and fuzzy; challenging proposals are welcome, too!

We sincerely hope that your stay at Kumonodaira, set in the remote heart of Japan’s Northern Alps, will give new life to your creative expression.
We look forward to your application.