ROJŌ [shared ground]―am i in your way?

Freedom and obstruction coexist on the street.

There was once, in Japan, a type of autonomous space known as kugai: realms exempt from the dictates of fixed systems and state authority. Situated at temple and shrine gates and within post towns, these zones were open to travelers and performers alike, serving as hubs that fostered culture and exchange.

While the modern rojō (shared ground) does not align perfectly with these historical precedents, it remains a site where frameworks of ownership and governance are fluid. Consequently, individuals have long sought autonomy within this space, at times through acts of resistance against institutional control. Simultaneously, rojō is more than a symbol of freedom and liberation; it also harbors discomfort and precarity born from the logic of exclusion. Taking rojō as its conceptual core, this exhibition assembles artworks, historical milestones, and critical discourses to interrogate the increasingly complex challenges of publicness in the contemporary world.

This exhibition also marks the 40th anniversary of the ROJO Society (Street Observation Society), founded in 1986. Established by Genpei Akasegawa, Terunobu Fujimori, and other members, the Society cultivated—through media—a shared “eye” attuned to the unintentional humor arising from the interplay of the urban and the natural, rather than deliberately creating works of art. Their practice communicated the inherent richness of rojō while embedding a critique of cities homogenized by development.

“She was in the way.” These were the words spoken by the perpetrator in the murder of an unhoused woman on the streets of Shibuya in 2020. Precisely because ownership of rojō is ambiguous, public order comes to the fore—and with it, a space emerges where the subjective rules of individuals collide, creating a suffocating tension. The 2020 incident confronted us with the irreversible violence that can ensue when the meaning of publicness is misconstrued.

And yet, it is precisely on rojō—where “freedom” and “obstruction” coexist—that numerous critical cultural practices have emerged. Encompassing contemporary art, historical materials, video games, public bathhouses, and street performance, this exhibition aims to pose the question of “Whose rojō is it?” Tracing a path from past practices to critical approaches concerning the contemporary city, it explores the publicness of rojō. We invite you to come and encounter the art of rojō, alive with the clamor of critique and humor.