Last Snow

Returning after six and a half long years after its cancellation in 2020, Sapporo International Art Festival 2024 (SIAF2024) is finally opening on January 20 to run for 37 days until February 25.

With the theme Last Snow, and Where the Future Begins as its sub-theme, SIAF2024 invites the visitors to embark on a new journey of “beginnings” where we examine the past, present, and future from a new perspective at the festival held in frosty winter Sapporo.

As its main venue, SIAF2024 is transforming a theater into an extraordinary exhibition space using the stage, backstage mechanisms, and even seating areas. The Future Theater, with the exhibition title 2124—Where the Future Begins—, presents works of internationally renowned artists with six chapters.

The visitors first “time travel” to a world 100 years into the future. In “Landscape of the Future,” visitors can encounter nature intertwined with technology. Underneath the stage, visitors experience the creative power of “Alchemy of Time and Space.” Behind the scenes, six artists weave a “Tales from 100 Years’ Time.” In “Crisis Now,” Sapporo and the Earth are shown in the midst of climate change. The “Mirai Lab” (Mirai means “future” in Japanese)” awaits at the very end, where we can take action for the sake of our future.

Six venues have already been announced which are designed to tell two different stories, “A journey across 200 years” and “Experimental zones for future winters,” and now one additional venue for February Underground Park was unveiled.

Sapporo, home to a long season of falling snow, has one of the largest underground urban spaces in Japan. The Underground Park is a platform for social experiments where projects are assembled to utilize the underground space for the future of Sapporo. During the festival, a series of experimental projects, including a video installation using a large LED screen in the underground shopping mall, and guided tours to explore the unknown underground world of Sapporo by visiting the cable tunnels and huge snow-melting tank that are not open to the public.

Opening during February 4 to 11 is a major winter event Sapporo Snow Festival which draws about 2 million visitors from around the world every year. Sapporo Snow Festival Odori 2-chome Site will also be one of the venues of SIAF2024 for eight days only with a concept A Snow City in the Future. With this concept, this venue will be formed as a social experiment with visitor input where the future is created collectively, focusing on transport and lifestyle.

SIAF2024 calls for creativity and action through art with around 80 artists from more than 10 countries and featuring citizen participation projects, and collaborations with local organizations and initiative partners, all with a goal of envisioning our future.

Titles and artists of each venue

Future Theater: 2124—Where the Future Begins—
Artists: Amy Karle, Mika Aoki, Choe U-Ram, Fujimori, Giovanni Betti + Katharina Fleck, Akinori Goto, Ai Hasegawa, h.o, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner + Aka Niviâna, Komakus, Kineta Kunimatsu, Yuima Nakazato, Emiko Ogawa, Quayola, Taihei Shii, Superflux, Tega Brain + Julian Oliver + Bengt Sjölén, Wabisabi, Xin Liu
Initiative Partners: Startbarn, inc., Wacom Co., Ltd

Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art: 1924–2024 Fragile [Handle with Care]
Artists: Hiroshi Abe, Yoshikuni Hirano, Toru Ishii, Wajiro Kon, Sayaka Miyata, Harumi Yukutake
Artists from museum collections:  Ten-ei Abe, Bridget Riley, Dana Zámečníková, Kazuharu Hanada, Meiji Honda, Arinori Ichihara, Joan Miro, Josef Albers, Sotoichi Koshiba, Noboru Kunimatsu, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Kenichi Kuriyagawa, Lee U-fan, Léonard Foujita (Tsuguharu Foujita) + Atelier Simon Marq, Daishiro Matano, Kimi Nakamura, Tatsuoki Nambata, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Stanislav Libenský + Jaroslava Brychtová, Stanley William Hayter, Rumiko Sugiyama, Tomoji Sunada, Kiyotsugu Uenoyama, Victor Vasarely
Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples collections: Annie Akulukjuk Kilabuk, Eva Jaaka, H. Manonq, Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq, Martha Apsaq, Martha Hiqiniq, Martha Kogvik, Martha Tickiq, Martha Tiktaq Anautalik, Mary K. Okheena, May Kenalik, M. Killulark, Nancy Pukingrnak Aupaluktuq, Olive Mamak Innakatsik, Paulina Ulurksik Kolit, Qariksaq, R. Vosuaq＋B. Lode, Vera Avaala, Victoria Kayuryuk and more

Sapporo Art Museum: Forest of Media Arts
Artists: Maywa Denki, Hiroshi Ishii + Tangible Media Group | MIT Media Lab, LAUSBUB, Snow Miku (Crypton Future Media, Inc.), Yukikaze Technology

Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center (SCARTS): SIAF2024 Visitor Center
Artists: Norimichi Hirakawa, SIAF Lab
SCARTS Collaborators: Mangekyo, Ryuichi Kawajiri, Sapporo Municipal Library and Information Center
Initiative Partners: Panoramatiks, Sony Group Corporation, WIRED JAPAN

Moerenuma Park: Snow Park for the Future
Artists: Jussi Ängeslevä + AATB, Sapporo Future Undokai, Akira Wakita

Sapporo Snow Festival Odori 2-chome Site: Snow City in the Future
Artists: ENESS, h.o, SIAF Lab
Initiative Partners: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., Nikken Sekkei Ltd, Panoramatiks, Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd.

Underground Park
Artists: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation / Integrated Design Center + Keio University Akira Wakita Laboratory and more

Official festival trailer with SIAF2024’s theme song, Dancer in the Snow, written by LAUSBUB, a new wave techno-pop band based in Sapporo. 

Sapporo International Art Festival 2024
Theme: Last Snow
Sub-theme: Where the Future Begins
Director: Hideaki Ogawa
Curatorial team: Asami Hosokawa, Seiji Nakamura, Kohei Sato, Mai Sakamoto, Chieko Kinoshita, Kazumi Miyai, Panoramatiks / Seiichi Saito (Director, Panoramatiks) 
Initiative Partners: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., NIKKEN SEKKEI LTD, Panoramatiks, Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd., Sony Group Corporation, Startbarn, inc., Wacom Co., Ltd., WIRED JAPAN
SIAF Ainu Culture Coordinator: Mayunkiki
Art Direction & Designer: Wabisabi
Designer: Hiroaki Shirai
Theme Song: “Dancer in the Snow” LAUSBUB
Organizers: Sapporo International Art Festival Executive Committee and City of Sapporo