Mission & History
Mission
Kyoto Experiment is an international performing arts festival that has been held annually in the city of Kyoto since 2010. Inviting radical artists from Japan and abroad, we introduce stage works that freely cross genres—not only theater, dance, and music, but also art, design, and more. At the same time, we serve as a meeting point between society and cutting-edge art/culture, fostering thinking and dialogue about experimental artistic expression with an eye on the future. Kyoto Experiment operates in collaboration with theaters and art centers, both private and public, with the following three goals:
1. Becoming a creative home for pioneering art from Japan and overseas
2. Fostering new interactions by innovating Kyoto’s art/culture and making it available to a wider public
3. Cultivating new possibilities for art/culture in team with the people who will carry its future.
Logo Concept
With the appointment of Aiko Koike as Artistic Director in 2020, KYOTO EXPERIMENT introduced a new logo. We are sure not only the festival’s program but the festival’s design identity will develop and evolve experimentally.
Canceled, postponed, to be streamed online.
Seemingly endless notices of plans altered. The anxiety and difficulty of dealing with an uncertain future.
In this environment of constant change, we found it impossible to decide on a single logo for the festival.
It’s as if this chaotic world is moving in squiggles, not unlike those movements we see in dance and performance.
Our logo can be drawn offhand in two seconds, and is flexible enough to adapt to social and emotional shifts.
Let us put our anxiety, hope, and love into each squiggle.
Just as the world is squiggling around, so too are the performing arts.
But though platforms may change, performance itself will never disappear.
This will be an experiment to see what shapes the squiggles can take,
breaking away from the conventions of performing arts festivals.
Art Director
Aiko Koike
Born in Tokyo in 1989. After graduating from Central Saint Martins with a degree in Graphic Design, she joined village®. Independent from 2016, she provides art direction and graphic design.
aikokoike.com