The UTORO Art Festival 2025, themed “Migration, Life, Hope,” draws inspiration from the struggles surrounding the migration and lives of people who left their homelands to establish new lives and communities in Utoro, Kyoto. This exhibition gathers art pieces that open new perspectives on migration, aiming to imbue the ongoing global movement of people with hope.
Festival Overview
Title: Migration, Life, Hope
Period: October 10 – November 10, 2025 Venues: Utoro Peace Memorial Museum, Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa, Doshisha University
Curatorial Team
- Artistic Director: YOO Jae-Hyun
- Chief Curator: CHUNG Hyun Joo
- Curator/Contemporary Art: NAM Sang Hwa
- Curator/Performing Arts: KIM Myosu
- Curator/Contemporary Art: Cornelia OßWALD-HOFFMANN
Board Members
- KIM Suhwan, Rebecca JENNISON, Steffi RICHTER, YOO Jae-Hyun
Organized by
Utoro Art Festival 2025 Exective Committee
In Collaboration with
- Utoro Peace Memorial Museum, Kyoto Korean Studies Consortium, Doshisha Center for Korean Studies
Cooperation
- Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Art5 e.V., Iskra21, KIN, Korean women’s group in Germany, Japanese Women’s Initiative Berlin, Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa, Podonamu Art Space, Korea Eurasia Road Run, Babonanum, Gwangju Culture Foundation
Statement
This exhibition project is inspired by the struggles surrounding the migration and lives of people who left their homelands to establish new lives and communities in Utoro, Kyoto. The exhibition brings together artworks that open new perspectives on migration. These works will help to fill the ongoing global movement of people with hope.
Eight billion people live on planet Earth. Of these, 89 million have been forced to leave their original homes or “countries” and live in other lands. This means 1 in every 89 inhabitants of this planet is a migrant. Of the 89 million, 27 million are refugees, 4.6 million are asylum seekers, and 53 million are internally displaced persons (UNHCR, 2021–2022 statistics). The causes of forced migration are varied, including wars, civil conflicts, and natural disasters, as well as major accidents like factory explosions, chemical contamination of water sources, oppressive regimes causing ethnic exclusion, economic policy failures leading to impoverishment, and severe economic disparities between regions.
Furthermore, these statistics reveal that, from the late 19th century to the present, in addition to clearly involuntary migration, there has also been a significant amount of voluntary migration in search of a better life. In other words, “moving and settling elsewhere” has been a shared experience for many people for well over a century.
This experience of migration creates a gap between the “uprooting” of life in the destination from the place of origin, and the “rooting” of the next generation born in the new land. There are possibilities to pave the way for new communities, but also obstacles that prevent them. It is a source of both hope and suffering.
Regardless of whether it’s involuntary or voluntary migration, how has the phenomenon of moving to distant, culturally different lands, building communities there, and establishing lives transformed our planet of 8 billion people? And how will it continue to transform it in the future? Through this exhibition and forum, we aim to pose these questions and engage in extensive discussion.
Foreword
The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan. What did Japan’s colonial rule and wars of aggression bring to East Asia, and what effects still persist today? Utoro is a community of Zainichi Koreans in Kyoto, embodying the hardship and experiences of poverty, cold treatment, and discrimination.
In 1987, the land of Utoro was sold to a private company, and eviction orders were issued. However, residents completely rejected these orders and launched a struggle. Utoro encapsulates issues of the right to migrate and settle for Zainichi Koreans, who have a unique background shaped by colonial rule and war, as well as questions of coexistence with Japanese society.
The UTORO Art Festival 2025 focuses on Utoro’s historical significance and the affirmative spirit of seeking coexistence by overcoming discrimination and suffering. Furthermore, this project aims to create a platform for exchange with people from around the world visiting Kyoto, reinterpreting Utoro’s experience, a symbol of peace, through contemporary art and its expressive language.
The UTORO Art Festival 2025 will be held at the Utoro Peace Memorial Museum, Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa, and Doshisha University. Leveraging the unique characteristics of each location, it will visualize migration, settlement, and coexistence.
The “Utoro Peace Memorial Museum” is a place to confront the despair of colonialism, war, discrimination, and neglect, all imprinted in the name “Utoro.” It is also a place where, by facing this despair, we can look at the past that still clearly exists and, through this insight, speak of the future and hope.
The “Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa” is a place primarily dedicated to German language education and the promotion of German culture, offering an “experience of migration” to different languages and cultures.
“Doshisha University” houses a monument to the poet Yun Dong-ju, who tragically ended his short life in Fukuoka Prison in 1945. His poignant life, which sang of all “dying things,” could not take root in either Longjing, Gyeongseong, or Kyoto.
This exhibition aims to connect, intertwine, and amplify the meaning of these three locations in Kyoto. This endeavor will provide new perspectives for considering global migration and lives, and the various struggles of people surrounding them.
Exhibitions and Events
2-1. UTORO Art Festival 2025 Opening: Madanggeuk Utoro
Venue: Utoro Peace Memorial Museum Forecourt
Date: October 10, 2025, 7 PM
Related Link: https://dal-o-reum.com/j/
2-2. Contemporary Art Exhibition at Utoro Peace Memorial Museum
Venue: Utoro Peace Memorial Museum
Date: October 10, 2025, 7 PM
Details: An exhibition by third-generation Zainichi Korean artist HA Jhonnam (河専南), an exhibition by ikkibawiKrrr that sublimates personal histories into art, and a large-scale art installation by Life Peace Art Action.
2-3. Contemporary Art Exhibition at Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa
Venue: Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa Basement and First Floor Exhibition Spaces Period: October 10 – November 10, 2025
Details: Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa is the second exhibition space for the Utoro Art Festival. Works by FUJII Hikaru (JP) and OKIDO Mio (JP/DE) from Sado, along with exhibits by Linda HAVENSTEIN, Alexander STEIG, LIM Jee Ae, TERUYA Yuken, Nika OBLAK, and Primoz NOVAK, will be displayed.
Related Link: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=9PkE9hkKLHx
2-4. Doshisha University UTORO Art Festival 2025 Grand Performance
Venue: Doshisha University Hardy Hall
Date: October 11, 2025, 3 PM – 6 PM
Performance Time: 150 minutes
Related Link: https://www.doshisha.ac.jp/information/kambai/facility/hardy/index.html
2-5. Exhibition at Doshisha University Gallery
Venue: Doshisha University Gallery
Period: October 10 – October 24, 2025
Details: Exhibition of works by KI Seulki (KR) and CHOI Jimok (KR). Explanations of each artist’s concept and historical background will be provided.
Related Link: https://www.doshisha.ac.jp/information/kambai/facility/gallery/index.html
2-6. International Utoro Academic Symposium
Host: Kyoto Korean Studies Consortium
Organizer: Doshisha Center for Korean Studies
Date: Sunday, November 2, 2025, afternoon
Venue: Doshisha University Imadegawa Campus, Ryoshinkan RY107
Presenters (tentative): NAKAMURA Ill-song, GU Ryok-ok, SONKATA Shimo, MORI Chikako
Details: This international symposium will start from the experiences of the people who have lived in Utoro and the surrounding circumstances, cross-referencing them with experiences from around the world to stimulate discussion and thought on migration and coexistence.
