ANNOUNCEMENT
Selected Creators
Following an open call for submissions to the AKIYA AIR Program, we are pleased to announce the two creators who have been selected to join us in Yunotsu. After a thorough and competitive final review process, these two individuals were chosen from among the three finalists.
We look forward to welcoming them to our creative residency!
Selection Process for the AKIYA AIR Program
As this is the first round of the AKIYA AIR Program, we initially planned to invite only one creator, and this was communicated in the open call. However, after conducting the second-round interviews, it became clear that both Maan and Matilde presented proposals that were particularly suited for this inaugural residency in Yunotsu.
After careful deliberation with our organizing team in Yunotsu, we made the decision to invite both creators.
Maan’s experience, motivation, and goals align perfectly with the vision for the future of Yunotsu, making their proposal especially appealing to the community. Matilde, as a social designer, impressed us with her ideas for on-site research and a final presentation that actively engages the local community, making her a standout candidate as well.
We are excited to welcome both Maan and Matilde to Yunotsu, as their contributions will undoubtedly enrich our community.
Maan Limburg
Hi, nice to meet you! I am Maan Limburg, born in Utrecht in 1988, a multidisciplinary artist primarily known for my photographic images. But my body of work spans photography, text, books and prints on paper and fabric. For my exhibitions I like to use locations, items, sounds and smells to create a whole new world, like when I used deserted locations with sounds and smells of dust, decay and standing water to set the stage for my images of desolate houses (akiya) in Japan. I like to add some curiosity and playfulness to everything I do.
My work is often described as raw yet dreamy. My images aim to create space for wonder and questioning, countering some of the haste and negativity I experience in contemporary culture. I love the quote “They try to make you think that it’s all normal, all boring. But it isn’t. It’s magic. It’s all magic. Everything is magic” (from the comic Tank Girl) as I feel it captures the outrageous beauty of being alive - something I also try to show in my works. The subjects I portray can be as varied as life itself, but they are often my encounters with people, nature, or locations (and sometimes my current colour obsession - it’s blue right now). I am keen on printing my work on fabric, so it can move with the wind and give you the idea it’s a living, moving thing.
Beyond photography, I’ve studied journalism which influences my art, often reacting to news or asking viewers questions through or alongside my visuals. In my free time I tend to my aquariums, like organising art meets and manage our local resident’s committee. As a hobby I collect and sell second hand kimono’s and uchikake, enjoying the history and symbolisms, beautiful fabrics and handicrafts that are incorporated in those.
Matilde Patuelli
Matilde Patuelli is a social designer, artist and researcher, developing her practice by observing those ambiguous spaces that blur between realities and hide emotional friction. There, she experiments with visualization, manifestation and embodiment to investigate communication, aiming to reinforce empathetic capacity and deconstruct misunderstandings. She is currently diving into the mechanics of larp (live action role play) and layering them with object-making and participatory events – floating thanks to this methodology of ambiguity between fields such as psychology, ethnography and urban mapping, she explores narrational and experiential tools for co-creation.
Starting from the mission of MONO Japan Foundation to transform abandoned houses into creative spaces Fables of Clay and Blade finds inspiration in Pagurus Bernhardus, the Mediterranean hermit crabs who are born with claws but a soft belly, compelled to look for shells or resistant objects to live in, as they grow, they have to find a new bigger house. These crabs in Japan look for soft corals instead, that grow with them through time. I see these as two beautiful ways of discovery and care. As the Mediterranean explores and experiments, the Japanese crab nourishes and preserves their space.
The fables will be manifested by exploring technical, cultural and emotional knowledge and translating this through learning and making with a focus on ceramic and metal, in order for the objects to be tools for activation and catalyzers of collective experience for co-narration with the community.
Join us
Join Us at the MONO JAPAN Fair for an Exclusive Talk!
On September 15th, we’ll be hosting a special talk at the MONO JAPAN Fair, where we’ll dive into the AKIYA AIR Program alongside selected creator Maan. Want to learn more about the creative minds behind this exciting project? Don’t miss out—come join us and get inspired!
Introducing AKIYA AIR: A New Dutch-Japanese Artist-in-Residence Program
Date and time: September 15th (Sun) 15:00 - 16:00
Location: Nieuwe Instituut
Speakers: Maan Limburg, Shinya Kobayashi, Emiko Chujo
