``Art Biotope Nasu'' has evolved since its founding and continues to propose new ways for resorts to be. He is particularly active in artist-in-residence activities, which support young artists, and is currently working on a new project with Takara Leben, a partially listed company. In addition to the water garden that opened in 2018, new initiatives are attracting attention, such as the construction of 2020 new suite villas and a restaurant this summer, 15. Miyu Kitayama, whose mother is Hitomi Kitayama, who founded the Niki Club, is currently searching for a new form for Art Biotope Nasu.

Written by Miyu Kitayama

Art Biotope Nasu aims to create a new space that goes beyond a resort.

Art Biotope Nasu, located in Yokozawa at the foot of the Nasu Mountain Range, was established in 1986 as a cultural project to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Niki Club, which was founded in the same area in 2007. "Art Biotope" is a coined word that combines the words "art" and "biotope," which means "place of life," and is a place where people gather around art, just as plants and animals form an ecosystem. It was named with the hope that it would become a nursery where they can interact with each other and form a colony. The name father is Takashi Niimi, a professor at Musashino Art University who has supported us in various activities as a cultural advisor for a long time, and I really like this name.

The environment around Yokozawa, which was originally an agricultural forest, has been carefully created over 30 years by many creators, guests, and the second generation team, and has gradually changed with the breath and hands of people. It is very meaningful for me to continue to evolve and deepen the "art biotope" in a place like this.

When I was a student, there was a discussion about ``education that fosters the zest for life'' as a reflection on the traditional cramming-type education, and from there I thought deeply about ``the zest for life'' and ``learning.'' Based on this experience, the open college ``Yama no Schule'' has been held every year since 2008 as a symbolic event of Yokozawa Art Colony. At this ``Mountain School'', for several days in the summer, a diverse range of people, regardless of age, gender, or nationality, come together to eat and sleep together under the theme of ``Nature's Wisdom and Human Wisdom.'' For 10 years, we have had Professor Shunji Ito, a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, as the general supervisor, and we have listened to the voices of nature in the forest while interacting, talking, and learning with lecturers and guests who are active in various fields. This activity was also a great opportunity for me to think about the future of "art biotope".

The opening stage, which is the opening event on the first day of the annual Yama Schule, is directed by Noboru Yasuda Noboru, a Noh actor. Mr. Yasuda's stage creation is a highly thought-provoking practice in itself, and the series, which is based on the theme of descent into the underworld seen in world myths, provides an opportunity to reconsider "living" from the ancient people's view of life and death, which was in harmony with nature. became. There was also a 45-year lecture by Nose Iseo, who has been running a live music venue in Okayama for 10 years, a cultural theory of play by poet Mutsuo Takahashi, a seed workshop by Kazuhiro Tamura, a seed collector from Iwate, and the sacred Through a symposium on the power of place, we will question our civilization, which has grown with nature as our mother, from various perspectives, learn about the land and the culture that was born from it, and how it has deepened, and consider the form of coexistence of life. I did.

The ``water garden'' was created as the next form of the result of this mountain schule. It was created by transplanting trees from adjacent land and bringing in river water to land that was once forest, paddy fields, and then pasture. It was created by using materials that originally existed in this land, such as trees, moss, stones, and water, and by layering and reconstructing them in a precise manner with a density and relationship that does not exist in nature.

Mr. Junya Ishigami, who worked on the design, had previously asked himself, ``At this timing, in this Yokozawa environment, what is really needed in this art biotope, in this place?'' and ``What should remain?'' He once told me the story behind his thinking. Even as someone from Ishigami's generation, I felt a great deal of sympathy for him.

``The water garden, which secretly contains an ancient view of gardens, can be thought of as a device that reminds us of ``a certain origin'' that we have lost sight of in the process of modernization. By relativizing the modern era and the way we live in it, we are beginning to believe that the ideas that underlie the modern era, such as human subjectivity and self-consciousness, are in fact nothing more than illusions. It makes me realize that.” Mr. Iseo Nose also concluded this in his lecture on the mountain schule. I believe that we have created a place of experience and meditation that questions the modern era of consuming natural resources without self-reflection, and makes us realize that all things circulate slowly, supporting each other.

I once visited an art residence in a city called Poitiers, about 300 kilometers from Paris. Artists and architects are invited to hold workshops every summer. I also visited a place in India where many people from all over the world gathered for a meditation retreat, ate vegetarian food, and held meditation lectures and workshops in the morning. In today's world, where information is easily available and travel has become easier, I feel that ``deep experiences'' when traveling have become an even more important factor.

Until now, Art Biotope has invited various artists and practitioners from Japan and abroad and held workshops.Through a variety of hospitality, we believe that living is art, and link it to education and co-development. I hope I can go. Professor Takeji Hayashi of Miyagi University of Education said, ``Academics are catharsis. Examination is the way to do that.'' As the place called Yokozawa deepens, I believe that from now on, this art biotope itself can become a field for the study of life.

In summer 2020, 15 suite villas and a restaurant will open on the adjacent site. We are currently working on a new project with Kazuichi Shimada, President and Representative Director of Takara Leben, a comprehensive real estate developer, and his team. Together with these new facilities, the new art biotope will realistically connect to the origin of life, the "diverse chain" and "dynamism of life," and truly "purify" the human spirit through repeated introspection and practice. I want to make it a place. We would be happy if we could work with all of our visitors to cultivate an experience space that encourages a new metanoia (change in perspective) while carefully inheriting the context and ideas that have been accumulated here so far.