To mark the opening of  ‘Polite Existence’, join us for a conversation with exhibition artist Tsuyoshi Hisakado  in conversation with curators Anna Bernice delos Reyes and Yu Iseki.

Inspired by the laws of physics and mathematics, Tsuyoshi Hisakado’s multi-form practice questions the order of space, time, and other natural forces that inform and shape our everyday lives. This is the artist’s first exhibition in the Middle East and South Asia, presenting a wide body of work using a variety of techniques and materials- including sound, light, sculpture, drawing, and large-scale immersive installations.

The conversation will focus on the research and thinking behind the artist’s works as well as look retrospectively at the curatorial process of the exhibition, across Japan and the UAE. From studio visits to travels, from making to translating, the dialogue will also look at the different considerations of this milestone show for an artist exhibiting outside of Japan.

RSVP required. Attendees are welcome to stay after the talk for a preview of the exhibition, 7-8pm.

Tsuyoshi Hisakado: Polite Existence is produced by Art Jameel in collaboration with the Japan Foundation and coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Japan (2022).

Tsuyoshi Hisakado (b.1981) Lives and works in Kyoto, Japan.

Tsuyoshi Hisakado is one of Japan’s leading contemporary artists. His work has been featured in various exhibitions, including ‘Practice of Spiral’, a solo exhibition at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (2020), the Hawai’i Triennial (2022),  58th Venice Biennale (2019), Kyoto Experiment (2019) and Aichi Triennale (2016). He has been awarded the ‘Mercedes-Benz Art Scope 2018-2020’ and the Audience Award at the ‘Nissan Art Award 2015’ among others.

Anna Bernice delos Reyes is a curator, writer, and communications strategy specialist based in Dubai and Berlin.

She co-founded Sa Tahanan Co., a grassroots arts collective platforming Filipino creatives in the Gulf and beyond. At Berlin-based agency Send/Receive, she works with museums, galleries, artists, architects, and other cultural organizations on communications, research, and public relations. Her most recent curatorial projects include In Response to Solastalgia (Maisan15), After the Beep (Satellite), and Sa Tahanan Exhibition 01 (Alserkal Avenue), and most recently writes for Vice, Global Art Daily, and The National. Her previous institutional collaborations and engagements in the UAE include Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, 421, Art Dubai, and NYUAD Art Gallery. Originally from Manila, Anna Bernice studied sociology, performance and contemporary art at New York University Abu Dhabi.

Yu Iseki  is a curator based in Japan.

Currently affiliated with the Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yu Iseki has also practised as assistant curator of the 2005 Yokohama Triennale, curator at the Shiseido Gallery from 2006 to 2014, exhibition coordinator at the 2014 Yokohama Triennale and has served in a curator of the Contemporary Art Center at Art Tower Mito since 2014. He has also curated Memories through Cycle–Images by RongRong & inri and Yuan Goang-ming (2016), Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Umbrellas Japan-USA 1984-91 A Documentation Exhibition (2016), Terunobu Fujimori: Architecture with Nature, and “ROJO” (2017), Rei Naito: on this bright Earth I see you (2018), Shinro Ohtake: BLDG. 1978-2019 (2019) and Sato Masaharu Trace–absence of presence/presence of absence (2021). In 2018, he served as co-curator of Architectural Ethnography at the Japan Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia.