PROJECTS

theme/
"Is there a shared spirituality amongst groups of people who live in northern regions of the globe, outside of race and nationality?"
With this question as the driving force, our project Spirit of North has continued to explore the spirituality of northern peoples by creating a platform for exchange not only between artists from Tohoku (the northeastern part of Japan including Fukushima) and other northern regions of the world, but with artists from other regions as well. 

Spirit of North was initiated soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake hit Tohoku in 2011. This project facilitates interactions between the people of Tohoku and other northern areas of the world to examine a northern spirituality that resonates among us all. Beyond lifting the spirits of Tohoku people after the disaster, our project aspires to create a global network through which northerners from across the world, and anyone who is drawn to the north, can collaboratively build a 'northern philosophy'. 

Through the project, similar spiritual practices can be observed in Ainu culture, further north of Tohoku, and is also common among other northern peoples of the world. Furthermore, I believe that the northern spirit can resonate with anyone who shares the northern sentiment. Thus 'North' in the project title does not merely indicate the direction or region but posits 'North' as a metaphor for a spiritual dimension. 

Organiser/
Spirit of North Executive Committee:
MARUYAMA Yoshiko (Artist, Representative of this Executive committee)
and the core members of each exhibitions.

Spirit of North site
Spirit of North facebook page

Exhibitions and Participants/
vol.1: 
2013 at Sanju Hachi Kengura, Fukushima.  
artists:Vigdis HAUGTRØ, Margrethe AAS, Su GRIERSON, MARUYAMA Yoshiko
vol.2:
2014 at Sanju Hachi Kengura, Fukushima.  
artists:YOSHIOKA Masami, KOBAYASHI Hanako, SATACHI Ruriko, MARUYAMA Yoshiko
vol.3:
2014 at Kaiyokan, Fukushima.  
artists: ONO Yoshimasa, CHIBA Naoko, MARUYAMA Yoshiko. cooperation: HASEGAWA Hiroshi, YAMANAKA Yushi, KANKE Hiroaki
vol.4:
2015 at Steps Gallery, Tokyo. 
artists: CHIBA Naoko, MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Helena JUNTTILA, Antti YLÖNEN, Kaisa KERÄTÄR
vol.5:
2015 at Traditional Japanese storehouses in Otazuki-chiku Minami-machi area, Fukushima.
artists: CHIBA Naoko, MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Helena JUNTTILA, Antti YLÖNEN, Kaisa KERÄTÄR 
vol.6:
2017 at NishiAizu International Art Village, Fukushima. 
participants: Amanda BILLBERG,  MARUYAMA Yoshiko, MARUYAMA Tokio, ISHIKURA Toshiaki, TAKASHIMA Masashi, Snow Collective
vol.7:
2017 at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo. 
participants: ISHIKURA Toshiaki, TATSUKI Masaru, TAKASHIMA Masashi, CHIBA Naoko, MARUYAMA Tokio,  MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Amanda BILLBERG, Vigdis HAUGTRØ, Helena JUNTTILA
vol.8:
2018 at Gallery Off Grid, Fukushima.  
participants: MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Amanda BILLBERG, Vigdis HAUGTRØ, Helena JUNTTILA. conversation: AKASAKA Norio
vol.9:
2018 at Toki Art Space, Tokyo.  
artists: AKASAKA Tomoaki, MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Amanda BILLBERG, Vigdis HAUGTRØ, Helena JUNTTILA
vol.10:
2019-20 at Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland.  
artists: ISHIKURA Toshiaki, CHIBA Naoko, NAKATSUGAWA Hiroaki, MARUYAMA Tokio, MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Auri AHOLA, Amanda BILLBERG, Titta COURT, Mia HAMARI, Helena JUNTTILA, Jukka TARKIAINEN
vol.11–14:
In 2021, when the Covid-19 prevented face-to-face exchanges. Spirit of North in Japan and Confluence of North in Scotland co-curated exhibitions in which artists from both countries remained apart and sent works to each other. They connected online to realize a series of exchange exhibitions.
artists: MARUYAMA Yoshiko, TAKIZAWA Tatsushi, ASAI Mariko, MARUYAMA Tokio from Japan,
Su GRIERSON, Gillian MCFARLAND, Kyra CLEGG, Inge PANNEELS from Scotland
vol.11: Perth Creative Exchange, Perth, Scotland, UK
vol.12: Nijuken–gura, Kitakata, Fukushima
vol.13: NishiAizu International Art Village, Nishiaizu, Fukushima
vol.14: An Lanntair, Stornowey, Scotland, UK

This exhibition was held as the contemporary art exhibition series of Itabashi Art Museum in Tokyo.
MARUYAMA Yoshiko and MARUYAMA Tokio, artists' couple were the commissioners and lead artists, they settled the theme, participants and composition of the exhibition and organized with the vice-director MATSUOKA Kiyoko.

theme/
When a large tree that collapses in a mature forest, it makes a large hole that opens at the top of the forest. It is called a gap, and the sunlight inserts into the bottom of the forest causes germination, the plant group dynamically changes, and eventually the forest reaches an equilibrium state again. The process of returning is called gap dynamics.
If you compare the pre-2011 society to a forest, 3.11 made awful thud and opened a huge gap. How do artists work in the gap that can be called a wound or a hole created in society and open up the beginning of new germination?

date/ 26 Nov, 2013 ~ 5 Jan. 2014
place/ Itabashi Art Museum
artist/ OHYA Rica, KANAZAWA Sumi, TOUDA Shinichi, NAKATSUGAWA Hiroaki, MARUYAMA Tokio, MARUYAMA Yoshiko

Theme:
The main theme of our project is not preserving the environment but looking squarely at the actions of human beings, who make up a part of the ecosystem (ECO) while satisfying their egos and pursuing their daily lives (EGO), and thinking about how we should strike a balance between these two apparently antithetical concepts.
The city of Kawaguchi has played a crucial role in the theme as well.

Planed and Organized by Between ECO & EGO Executive Committee:
MARUYAMA Yoshiko (Artist, Representative of this committee)
MARUYAMA Tokio (Artist)
KANEKO Ryoji (Executive of KAWAGUCHI ART FACTORY)
Cooperation of the participated artists and the local citizens.

Artists:
2003 and 2004- Exhibition in Japan
IKEDA Ichi, ISHIKAWA Raita, ITAMI Hiroshi, KANEKO Akihiko, KAWAKAMI Kaori, KOUNO Hiroko, KOSEMURA Mami, SHINJO Kureha, HARANAKA Koso, HIGUMA Haruo, HIROTA Miho, MARUYAMA Tokio, MARUYAMA Yoshiko, YAMAOKA Sakiko

2004 Exhibition in Greece
MARUYAMA Tokio, MARUYAMA Yoshiko, Klaus Pfeiffer

2005 and 2006
ISHIKAWA Raita, OKABE Masao, SATO Kazue, TSUBAKIHARA Akiyo, HANAUE Naoto, HISAYOSHI, MARUYAMA Tokio, MARUYAMA Yoshiko

From Outside Japan（2006）
Andree Weschler, Artur Tajber, Barbara Maron, Belu-Simion Fainaru, Boris Nieslony, Caroline Dear, Christina Lindeberg, Diana Radaviciute, Diane Maclean, Francisco Felipe, Francisco Sepulveda, Hortensia Ramirez, Jason Lim, Klaus Pfeiffer, Klavs Weiss, Lars Wikstrom, Liina Siib, Manou Soobhany, Massimo Zanasi, Neda Razavipour, Nenad Bogdanovic, Sakino, Saulius Valius, Siamak Filizadeh, Simin Keramati, Su Grierson, Sylvia Winkler, Stephan Koeperl, Tang Da Wu, Victor Martinez Diaz, Wanli-Furukawa Mari, Wu Ye

Place:
Various places in Kawaguchi City of Saitama Pref.

Term:
[Between ECO & EGO 2004 in Japan] May 29 - June 20, 2004
[Between ECO & EGO 2004 in Greece] August 22 - 29, 2004
[Between ECO & EGO 2006] October 22 - November 3, 2006

>> website of [Between ECO & EGO]

theme/
Tree female artists attempted to understand whole one foreign artist, not only her arts but also her life, policy, ethnic identity and so on. That dialogue include audiences created echo to understand one another.

Organiser/
ESASHI Tomoko, HONDA Mariko, MARUYAMA Yoshiko

Guest Artist/
Su Grierson (Scotland, UK)

Exhibitions/
vol.1: March 2003 at Toki Art Space Annex, Tokyo.  

vol.2: June 2003 at Toki Art Space and Galerie Omotesando, Tokyo. 

vol.3: August 2003 in Scotland, Grierson and Esashi’s show. 

vol.4: 2004, Su GRIERSON solo show at Yokohama Art Museum, Kanagawa