Aichi Triennale 2025 participating artists

The Aichi Triennale 2025 (September 13–November 30, 2025) announces the full list of participating artists/groups. Led by Artistic Director Hoor Al Qasimi (President and Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation), the 6th edition of the Triennale will bring together 60 artists from 22 countries and territories, each selected for their relevance to the theme, A Time Between Ashes and Roses. The majority of participating artists hail from Japan, while elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and Europe are also strongly represented. 

The theme of the triennial departs from Adonis’ poem, A Time Between Ashes and Roses (1970). Echoing its sentiments and visions, the exhibit brings together a futurity empowered by geological views of time rather than immediate national or territorial perspectives, which illuminate contemporary human-environment divides. 

The newly announced artists further enrich this dialogue with their diverse and compelling works, including, Robert Andrew (b. 1965, Australia), a descendant of the Yawuru people, whose work investigates personal and family histories that have been denied or forgotten; Afra Al Dhaheri (b. 1988, UAE), whose work is rooted in her experiences growing up in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE; Priyageetha Dia (b. 1992, Singapore), whose practice braids themes of Southeast Asian labour histories, speculation of the tropics, and ancestral memory meeting machine logics; Simone Leigh (b. 1967, US), whose ceramic and bronze sculptures often employ forms traditionally associated with African art, and will be exhibiting for the first time in Japan; and for the Performing Arts program, Faustin Linyekula (b. 1974, Congo), a storyteller who expresses himself through dance and choreography, inspired by its complex history and motivated to counter the exodus of talent, and this will be his first time performing in Japan. The Learning team of Aichi Triennale 2025 will organize and design a rammed earth project, employing a construction technique where raw materials are compacted, in collaboration with Hive Earth (est. 2017, Ghana) in the field of the Aichi Prefectural Ceramic Museum. 

Various aspects of Japanese popular culture are also incorporated into the theme, such as science fiction manga titled Nextworld by Osamu Tezuka, which is a traversal between apocalypse and blossoming. Two manga artists were selected to participate in the triennial: Morohoshi Daijiro (b.1949, Japan), who has created works in the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, depicting the underworld lurking on the other side of everyday life with a unique touch, sometimes with a sense of humor and has an enormous influence on Japanese popular culture through his fifty-plus-year career; and panpanya (b. undisclosed, Japan), a manga artist who has been active on the web, at doujinshi (self-published works) conventions and other outlets since the 2000s. 

Resonating with the locality of the Aichi Prefecture, writers such as Adonis and Tezuka, as well as themes explored by participating artists, A Time Between Ashes and Roses is a triennial which shows that by adopting the spectral, limited, and 'in between', assumed social structures and hierarchies can come undone.

Speaking on the selection of artists, Artistic Director Hoor Al Qasimi stated:

“I am excited to work with such a strong line up of artists for the Aichi Triennale 2025. Through the exhibition, we will delve into the complex issues emerging between humans and the environment, exploring them from a myriad perspectives through diverse artistic practices. Art, as a multifaceted form of expression, is deeply intertwined with various societal challenges. By engaging with art and reflecting on the world around us, we may uncover new insights and potential solutions to our pressing crises.

During my research visits to Nagoya and Seto City, the host cities for Aichi Triennale 2025, I was inspired by Seto City’s background which holds abundant natural resources, such as clay, that are deeply embedded in the daily lives of its residents. This has served as the foundation for the exhibition’s theme. I sincerely hope many will join us in experiencing this unique celebration of art and its connection to the world.”

Artist list 
Artist name (Place of Birth or Formation / Place of Activity)

Contemporary Art program
Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (Cyprus, US / US, Palestine); Maitha Abdalla (UAE / UAE); John Akomfrah (Ghana / UK); Robert Andrew (Australia / Australia)*; Asano Yuriko (Japan / Japan)*; Mirna Bamieh (Palestine / Portugal)*; Barrack (Furuhata Taiki + Kondo Kanako) (Japan / Japan)*; Marilyn Boror Bor (Guatemala / Guatemala); Minerva Cuevas (Mexico / Mexico); Elena Damiani (Peru / Peru); Afra Al Dhaheri (UAE / UAE)*; Priyageetha Dia (Singapore / The Netherlands)*; Solomon Enos (US / US); Simone Fattal  (Syria / France); Fudamoto Ayako (Japan / Japan); Hive Earth (Ghana / Ghana)*; Wendy Hubert  (Australia / Australia); ikkibawiKrrr (Korea / Korea); Kamala Ibrahim Ishag (Sudan / UAE, Sudan)*; Kato Izumi (Japan / Japan); Kawabe Naho (Japan / Germany, Japan)* ; Mohammed Kazem (UAE / UAE)*; Koretsune Sakura (Japan / Japan); Kubo Hiroko (Japan / Japan)*; Simone Leigh (US / US)*; Cannupa Hanska Luger (US / US)*; Mayunkiki (Japan / Japan); Shaikha Al Mazrou (UAE / UAE); Miyamoto Saburo (Japan)*; Mizutani Kiyoshi (Japan)*; 
Morohoshi Daijiro (Japan / Japan)*; Mulyana (Indonesia / Indonesia); Wangechi Mutu (Kenya / US, Kenya); Nagasawa Aoi (Japan / Japan); Dala Nasser (Lebanon / Lebanon); Ogawa Machiko (Japan / Japan); Ohkojima Maki (Japan / Japan); Oki Junko (Japan / Japan); Ota Saburo (Japan)*; Christodoulos Panayiotou (Cyprus / Cyprus); panpanya (Japan / Japan)*; Michael Rakowitz (US / US); Silvia Rivas (Argentine / Argentine); Saijo Akane (Japan / Japan); Hrair Sarkissian (Syria / UK)*; Sasaki Rui (Japan / Japan); Bassim Al Shaker (Iraq / US)*; Yasmin Smith (Australia / Australia); Sugimoto Hiroshi (Japan / US)*; Tomiyasu Yuma (Japan / Japan); Adrián Villar Rojas (Argentine / Lives and works nomadically); Yamamoto Sakubei (Japan)*; Robert Zhao Renhui (Singapore / Singapore)*

Performing Arts program
AKN PROJECT (Japan / Japan); Black Grace ( New Zealand (Aotearoa) / New Zealand (Aotearoa)); Kwon Byungjun (Korea / Korea); Faustin Linyekula (Congo / Congo)*; OLTA (Japan / Japan); Selma & Sofiane Ouissi (Tunisia / Tunisia, France); 
TAIHEN (Japan / Japan)

*Newly announced 24 artists/groups on February 26, 2025.

Among the list, Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme and Mayunkiki  in the Contemporary Arts program and Selma & Sofiane Ouissi in the Performing Arts program, are participating in BOTH the Contemporary Arts program and Performing Arts program. 

Press contacts
Beth Corner / Sutton, beth@suttoncomms.com
Renee Chan / Sutton, renee@suttoncomms.com
Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee (Public Relations), press@aichitriennale.jp   

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