Dream of Dragon God soaring through time and space・・・
Appears at the great waterfall-
The Shape of Water・The Shape of Time・The Shape of Life

Fourteen hundred years ago, during the second half of the seventh century, the ancient Takimichi mountain trail, running along the Minoh River, was visited by the legendary holy man, En no Gyoja, noted for his practice of mountain asceticism, and by the Tojin people or Chinese Tang.
Since ancient times, Benzaiten, Goddess of Water, and her incarnation as the White Dragon, have been enshrined in the Minoh Great Waterfall.
In the fall of 2023, when the forest is bathed in autumn's shades of scarlet and gold, leading contemporary artists from all over the Kansai area will come together and again, applying their creative practice along the Takimichi trail to cerebrate and call forth the Dragon God with one, unified spiritual voice.
We can only imagine the great number of diverse people who, since ancient times have traveled this sacred mountain road, following the Takimichi to the Great Waterfall, reviving an air of mystical beauty from past to present.
The Great Waterfall is a guide post and gateway into the world of Pure Light and Spirit.

About Minoh no Mori Artwalk　

Minoh is well known for the autumn leaves and the waterfall since long ago: it is the most popular tourist spot in the Hokusetsu region, where two million people visit throughout the year. The Takimichi, the venue of this art event, has a long, 1350 year history. It is said that Enno Gyoja (a mountain priest) practiced asceticism at the waterfall in 658. Since then the Takimichi (a path to the waterfall) has not been a virgin forest. Its nature has been altered by human activities. That means that it is a nature loaded with cultural and historical meaning. It is very significant to install contemporary art work along the Takimichi, where a rich relationship between man and nature has developed, in both point of view, art, and sightseeing.

For this event, contemporary artists who are at the cutting edge, mainly in the Kansai area, are invited. Site-specific artwork is installed at facilities and stores along or neighboring the Takimichi, leading to the Otaki, or waterfall, from the Minoh station on the Hankyu railroad. Performance will be featured.

Site-specific art refers to an artwork that is created taking the location, the environment, the facilities, the culture, the history and the people's lives in this community into account. Communicating with locals to know their lives is intended for art tourists and other visitors to understand what contemporary art is and to appreciate it to rediscover Minoh's nature, history and culture with a new perspective provided by the works of art.

This year's story of Minoh, once again, is about to unfold among the people on the stage of the Takimichi.

Toru Nakatani, Minoh no Mori Artwalk General Producer

Artists ＆Venues

Organizers: Executive Committee of the Minoh no Mori Artwalk
Mayumi Odagiri, Youichi Nakama, Kaori NakaI, Sonoe Nishio, Ayame Hashimoto , Shuichi Hashimoto,
Tomoko Pepping, Lee Chungho
General Producer: Contemporary Art Gallery Zone (Toru Nakatani, Masayo Nakatani)
Sponsors: Saikouji Temple / Osaka Prefectural Gavernment / Minoh City / Minoh City Tourism Association
　/ Minoh-City Foundation of Cultur
Supporters: Saikouji Temple / The Committee for the Preservation of Mt.Minoh/ Minoh KAJIKASOU
　/ Rental Housing Service（Kotonoya)
Grants: The Daijoukoushou Minoh Art and Culture Promotion Fund

●illustration & design : Shuichi Hashimoto　●Haiku : Shosei Kajiyama
●Translation : Toru Nakatani, Tomoko Pepping　●翻訳協力：Edited by Thomas Cleveland, Vallo Riberto

About Zone, Our Contemporary Art Gallery Zone

In December 2008, the Contemporary Art Gallery Zone opened at the Sakurai Ichiba (marketplace in Sakurai) Minoh Osaka, Japan. Since then, Zone has become famous among the people in this community as the gallery that has provided them an opportunity to see contemporary art. The reason we opened the gallery in the marketplace is because we want people in this community to be aware of how interesting and accessible contemporary art is, even for people not interested in art. We would like to inform people on what we think contemporary art is through our exhibitions.

The Zone gallery, has no walls, figurative or literal, existing between public walkways and the interior of this setting, so pedestrians can freely stop by with shopping bag in hand to join in with full of curiosity, and have fun. Everyday life space becomes art space. Art space becomes everyday life space. There are no boundaries between life and art. We would like you to feel closer to contemporary art in such a space and to introduce the works which meet our esthetic without the limitation of the genre of art: installation art, performance art, painting, drawing, sculpture and others.

Our gallery's year-round programming features solo and group exhibitions by regional, national and international visual artists. The gallery also promotes a range of programming including artist talks, openings, lectures and other special events. Gallery programming aims to foster professionalism and appreciation of regional visual arts practice, and provides the community with exposure and access to a diverse range of contemporary visual arts practices and theories.

We have created an art space with this new concept.