Japan-UK Joint International Book Art Exchange Project
"Dialogue and Expansion: The Space Created by Book Art"

（Expanding Conversations: Spaces of Book Arts）

「Folding Space（折り込まれていく空間）: Japanese and UK Artists’Books」

Date: January 30th - March 28th, 2026
Venue：England／The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton／Park Ave, Winchester SO23 8DL U.K.）

https://www.thewinchestergallery.soton.ac.uk

Exhibiting artists from Japan (18 people):
Hiroko Akasaka, Hisako Inui, Miyuki Kido, Masako Kuroda, Hidekazu Konishi, Masako Kobayashi, Sei Sato, Shiho Dono,SYUTA (Shuta Mitomo), Runa Nakagawa, Haruyo Nakanishi, Takeshi Hirose, Hiroko Fukumoto, Kyoko Matsunaga, Ai Mikami, Yo Yamazaki, Koichi Yamamoto, Tamiko Washizu

Overview:
This is an exhibition of book art and artist's books (artworks in book format) by Japanese and British artists. The exhibition features 22 contemporary book art pieces by Japanese book artists, as well as one piece selected from the collection of works by British artists held by Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton Faculty of Arts), chosen to complement the expression of each Japanese artist. Winchester School of Art holds one of the largest collections of book art works among British higher education institutions, with approximately 3,000 pieces.

Purpose of the Exhibition:
This exhibition is being held as part of a collaborative Anglo-Japanese book art project undertaken by the Urawa Art Museum in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, and the University of Southampton and the University of the West of England in the United Kingdom. Book art, as a genre of art, has steadily developed in both countries since the 1960s. However, in the UK, there have been few opportunities to exhibit contemporary book art works created in Japan. This book art project aims to bring together book art works created in both countries and promote exchange between them. Overview:
This is an exhibition of book art and artist's books (artworks in book form) by Japanese and British artists. In addition to 22 contemporary book art works by Japanese book artists, one work by a British artist will be selected from the collection of the Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton Faculty of Arts) to complement the expression of each Japanese artist, and these works will be exhibited together. The Winchester School of Art holds one of the largest collections of book art works among higher education institutions in the UK, with approximately 3,000 pieces.

Repatriation Exhibition "Traveling Book Art":

Dates: July 9th - July 25th, 2026 (Closed on Sundays)
Venue: Galerie 412 (Omotesando Hills Dojunkai 302, 4-12-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo)

https://galerie412.com

Below, you will find images of the works submitted by each artist, along with comments from each artist.

Hiroko Akasaka
Book Object Red & White No.3/ Book Object Red & White No.5／2025／paper (ready-made book)/cutting／21.3×15.3×1.6cm
I am fascinated by the spaces that are created by layering and cutting thin paper. It all started when I created a piece in which a staircase appeared inside a rectangular tower made of over 2,000 sheets of tracing paper (https://youtu.be/k5iiuN3GLb0). My book objets d'art pieces make that space portable. When you open a book, you can see the layers of the white earth and the stairs to the underground. Viewers will experience the perspective of a giant, or perhaps an ant. In addition to producing copperplate engravings and acrylic illustrations, he has also produced and exhibited intricately crafted book art using tracing paper, as well as life-size chairs made from this same paper material to create spatial compositions.
In addition to creating copperplate prints and acrylic illustrations, Akasaka Hiroko has also produced and exhibited intricately crafted book art using tracing paper, as well as life-size chairs created from this same paper material to create spatial compositions.
Hisako Inui
Narative and Time／2025／kent paper, cardboard, old cloth, embroidery thread, silk thread, cover fabric, bond ink, embroidery／18.8×18.8×2.0cm
I embroidered drawings onto clothing and fabrics that I couldn't throw away. Drawing has been a long-standing method of expression for me. I create drawings in a variety of sizes and materials. Each piece of fabric used in this work carries its own memories and stories. I drew on the fabric with needle and thread. As the time of the embroidery slowly flows, past memories and my present self intersect. New stories and time are woven together and unfold with each page.
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1958. Using line, time, language, and communication as creative keywords, she expresses spontaneous lines, shapes, relationships, and processes in her works.
Miyuki Kido
Friction and hugs／2016／two French-Japanese dictionaries, synthetic leather／13.0×14.0×18.0cm
A friend from college suddenly passed away, leaving many belongings behind in my house. We were both taking the same foreign language class, so there were two identical dictionaries left on the bookshelf. I spent a long time piling up the pages one by one. The other two dictionaries would not come apart, no matter how hard I tried.
Born in 1972. Starting out with the production of flat works and objects based on illustrations with distinctive curves, she has since presented installation works in which spaces are constructed using everyday materials such as paper, stockings, and electrical cords.
Masako Kuroda
One Hundred Views of Mano Screen Printing ／2025／glassine, thread/silkscreen print／21.3×15.3×1.6cm
When I create or exhibit a work, I think about what I want to do and what kind of experience I want the viewer to have, and then I think about how I can give it shape, rather than using set materials, techniques or methods. I make things that interest me at the time, or do things that I feel like doing. The book I'm exhibiting this time is a Japanese-style binding of photographs of my printing workshop, printed in black on the back on thin paper (glassine). Work has been busy recently, and I'm mostly at the factory, so I printed a scene from the factory. It was printed by hand silkscreen printing.
Born in 1980. With the main focus on Silkscreen Studio as his backdrop, Konishi has been developing creative activities based on the relationship between his daily life and art, including exhibiting works in printed media such as cards and matchboxes, and holding solo exhibitions featuring all of his books.
Hidekazu Konishi
100 Landscapes of Mirrors／2025／paper, acrylic mirror/on-demand printing／21.2×15.2×2.5cm
Japan has the highest number of convex mirrors in the world. These road reflectors are ubiquitous in everyday life, from deep in the mountains to the seaside. I have compiled "One Hundred Views of Convex Mirrors" out of my love for the countless convex mirrors, as an homage to Hokusai's "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," which features the one and only Mount Fuji as its theme. Through this book, readers will be captivated by the multiple worlds of convex mirrors and their perspective on the world will be transformed. My future goal is to expand this universal record of landscapes into a thousand, even ten thousand views.
Born in 1979. He continues to collect everyday life (by taking photographs, collecting, etc.) and express it as specimens (installations, books, goods, etc.).
Masako Kobayashi
Wuthering Heights／2025／paper (ready-made paperbacks)/cutting／20.5×13.0×11.0cm
I use my favorite books to give their worldview a three-dimensional shape. This time, I chose stories that challenge your common sense when you read them, and created them into a work of art. When I cut and folded the book to make it into a work of art, I could no longer turn the pages. If it had just sat on the bookshelf, I would have enjoyed reading it, but turning it into a work of art might be a nuisance. Nevertheless, I wanted to question the importance of "books" to me.
Born in 1971. She has exhibited works in which she creates life-size sculptures on oiled paper out of her own personal memories, such as rooms, dolls, and clothing. She also creates works based on her favorite books from her childhood, meticulously transforming existing books into objects that depict scenes from stories. Masaru Sato: In addition to creating book art, he also works as a graphic designer, edits art magazines, and manages an art gallery. His work primarily focuses on literary works, such as poetry collections and novels, and involves creating objects that create new stories by manipulating them. He has also presented installations in which he constructs spaces based on disassembled books.
Sei Sato
A wind of light blowing through the silence／2023／varuable(instsllation）
I create works that explicitly and unconsciously intertwine the fundamental contrast between life and death, contemplating the infinite life of the universe, and seeking the vague dreams and fantasies that exist between the everyday and the fantasy worlds that emerge unexpectedly. About the exhibited works: The act of dismantling paperbacks and folding their pages to create semi-three-dimensional works dragged my memories into the present, and as if pulling a thread from the lying flesh of words, I descended to the bottom of their veins and contemplated what accompanies them, an act that made me reconsider what words and life are. Taking inspiration from the smell and feel of the paper, the arrangement of letters, the binding, and the shape of the book, I dismantled 120 paperbacks I had read...they are also traces of a world of fantasy and dreams where the past is in the present, and the future is in the present, intertwined and multiplying in people's lives. I use my favorite books to create three-dimensional worldviews. For this work, I chose stories that challenge one's common sense when read. Once I cut and fold the book into a work of art, I can no longer turn the pages. If it had just been left on the bookshelf, I would have enjoyed reading it, but turning it into a work of art might be a nuisance. Nevertheless, I want to question the importance of "books" to me.While producing book art works, She also works as a graphic designer, edits art magazines, and manages art galleries. Her works consist of objets d'art pieces that create new stories by processing existing literary works such as poetry collections and novels, as well as installation works that create spaces based on dismantled existing books.
While creating book art pieces, I also work as a graphic designer, an editor for art magazines, and manage an art gallery. My artwork primarily consists of object-based pieces that transform existing books, such as poetry collections and novels, to create new narratives. I also present installation works where spaces are constructed using dismantled existing books.
SYUTA (Syuta Mitomo)
COVID-19 Landscape of Pandemic／2020：2025／paper/laser print／17.5×17.5×2.5cm
While working in pharmaceutical development, he is also an artist and art director, working on the theme of how art interacts with society. The foundations of his work and activities lie in the intersection of diversity and the ordinary and the extraordinary, influenced by the biochemistry and life science he studied as a student and his experience as a pharmacist. He conducts workshops with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, with the theme of how art can connect people and contribute to society. In Japan, he is involved in regional revitalization programs, advocating for the appeal of local areas and their interactions with people through art.
Born in 1967. With a focus on the relationship between art and society, Shiho Horino not only produces her own artwork, but also holds workshops and various art projects.
Shiho Dono
Raindrops of Leaf Rain (Fallen Leaves): 2025 / Paper, Japanese paper, cardboard, leaves, copperplate print, acorns, acrylic paint, acrylic medium, glue, accordion binding, etching, aquatint, gampi prin
She creates works with motifs of natural objects and parts of the human body. He mainly uses techniques such as non-toxic copperplate engraving and paper printmaking. He also creates handmade books with covers made from tree bark and leaves. In addition, as she loves folk tales, he retells and illustrates folk tales from Slovakia, where he lives, and neighboring countries when it comes to picture books. About the exhibited work: By layering irregularly shaped quires and holes, and leaves with the veins still intact that are sandwiched between the quires, he creates shapes that resemble holes in a stump, hollows in a tree, or holes made by insects or birds, and then binds them as an accordion book.
Born in 1977. With a particular obsession with the human ear and hand, she primarily exhibits lithographs and copperplate prints featuring delicate lines and pale, monochrome colors.
Luna Nakagawa
The day when deep fish comes／2023／paper, yellow ball, silver thread, foil, flocking, bookmark string/silkscreen print, cutting／19.3×15.0×3.0cm（left work） Looking at the same moon／2025／handmade drawing paper, Japanese paper (kozo), hemp string, lithograph, milk carton drypoint, acrylic paint（lrighgt work）
Having majored in dyeing and weaving and produced fabric,she became interested in clothing and the human body (a collection of tiny cells) that wears it, and became fascinated by things made up of countless tiny objects, starting to create spatial exhibitions filled with things like human figures, small Buddha statues, and gachapon capsules. She also continues to create books with the feeling that each page is an accumulation of one mass. About the exhibited work: The moon seen from a small corner of the bright city sky, the moon seen from our home tonight, the moon seen from a city of rubble. The moon is the same, but the thoughts of each person who looks at it are different, and at times it is terribly unequal. This moon is filled with such thoughts.
Using acrylic and plaster, she creates well-known characters like "KyuPi" and "Licca-chan," as well as small Buddhist statues. She began by presenting installation works in which countless of these were lined up to create exhibition spaces. In recent years, she has produced three-dimensional works and book art that reiterate and develop various images.
Haruyo Nakanishi
Seed Journey／2025／handmade drawing paper, Japanese paper (kozo), hemp string, lithograph, milk carton drypoint, acrylic paint／31.7×21.0×1.5cm
I create my works with the theme of life, inspired by the great flow of nature. Things that circulate continuously in nature - the cycle of water, the changing of seasons, and the repeated death and rebirth of plants and living creatures. I was born and raised in Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan. After a long, harsh winter, spring arrives, when various flowers and plants sprout and bloom all at once. I feel the joy of life filled with blooming flowers and realize that life is a cycle of death and rebirth in the natural flow. I believe that the sensibility born from the northern climate influences my artwork. The various expressions of nature in my memories pass through the filter of my mind and are reconstructed as new images.
Born in Hokkaido in 1963. Using monotype printmaking techniques, he creates flat works that symbolize certain auras, such as visually expressing the movement of water or air.
Takeshi Hirose
Collage of Words type/Tools／2005／magnolia board, brass square bar, brass wood screws, brass hinges, pencils, hex wrenches, driver bits, jigsaw blades, punches, wedges, broken bolt／13.0×33.0×32.0cm
He creates books whose contents change with each reading. Brass bars engraved with words are placed inside a wooden box, and viewers can freely swap them out. Each time, the fragments of words appear as new sentences, and the traces left by previous viewers are passed on to the next reader. Additionally, by adding stationery and tools with hidden writing, he encourages viewers to sense the cognitive gap that arises between the meaning of words and the function of objects, exploring the nature of the act of "reading" itself.
Born in 1969. After studying graphic design and picture book production, he began working as an illustrator and designer. She has also worked on many book covers, including picture books. Currently, she creates book art pieces that evolve as the audience interacts with them. She also teaches book art and picture book authors as a professor at Oita University.
Hiroko Fukumoto
Book of BabelーSutra／2025／paper (pre-made sutras), cloth／17.5cm×7.0cm×3.0cm
If there is a book without words, what kind of existence would it have? Can it really be called a book? To find out, I used an incense stick to burn all the words off the book. In conclusion, the book remained a book. It had lost the words, but instead existed as a "book" with a new meaning. This time, I created a "book without words" using a sutra that is familiar in Japan, at least in Kyoto. It was a copy of a sutra that I found in a bookstore that sells Buddhist books. While I was burning the words, I was thinking about Borges's "The Book of Sand."
Born in 1971. The exhibition focuses on the relationship between "information" and "things." In addition to installations constructed from numerous printed materials such as magazines and newspapers, which have been dissolved in water and then reshaped into blocks and other forms, as well as book objects made from books, the exhibition also includes a book in which mushroom spores are planted on existing books, from which actual mushrooms are grown. She creates works that reflect this.
Kyoko Matsunaga
The Skin Square, the Pupil Square: Dreams of Scientists (Deluxe Edition)／2017／Japanese paper, beeswax, old book pages, trifoliate orange branches, brass wire,/inkjet print, cyanotype, letterpress printing／11.5×11.5×11.5cm（left work）　 　Intersection; Gion, Kyoto／2016／Japanese paper, beeswax, old book pages, trifoliate orange branches, brass wire,/inkjet print, cyanotype, letterpress printing／10.0×15.6×2.0cm（lrighgt work）
Her theme is to capture the humble everyday lives of anonymous people and preserve the fleeting yet tangible world that existed before his eyes as a memory she recognizes. By painting photographs white, he manually removes the homogeneous information captured by the camera. Tracing the sense of uncertainty between memory and reality, he creates works that reconstruct people's traces and fragments of their daily lives into the form of a book. About the exhibited works: The box contains the dream memories of seven scientists. Even in today's world where all information is shared, dreams remain as independent spaces that belong to individuals. The structure allows you to follow the pages in order, or view the entire picture as a single large picture, allowing you to sense the length or breadth of time within a dream. The seven independent worlds unfold into a single, even larger world on the back. If there were a book without words, what would it be? Can it really be called a book? To find out, I burned every word on the book with an incense stick. In conclusion, the book remained a book. Although the letters had been lost, it existed as a "book" with a new meaning. This time, I created a "book without letters" using a sutra that is familiar in Japan, at least in Kyoto. It was a copy of a sutra that I found in a bookstore selling Buddhist books. While I was burning the letters, I was thinking about Borges's "The Book of Sand."
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1981. Her work explores the perceptions of moving between the world as information and the world as perceived by individuals. Drawing on meticulous bookbinding techniques, she creates book art and flat-screen works using silkscreen and wax-coating techniques.
Ai Mikami
Hat thoughts／2025／Japanese pape, cedar bark paper, new Bafun paper, cotton, cotton thread, synthetic indigo, Indian indigo, chalk powder, magnet (embedded in the cover)/Washi dyed with dye and pigment (chalk powder) (book), fabric dyed with Indian indigo and chalk powder (box)／34.0×4.0×4.8cm
Ever since my childhood, I have had an attachment to the clothing, fabrics, and textures I wear. The feeling of fabric touching my skin is vague and indefinable, yet like a story, it is always with me. The soft texture of washi paper resembles skin, and by dyeing it, I attempt to visualize images related to clothing, fabric, the body, and touch. About the exhibited work: In the winter, I put on my favorite knit cap and take a 20-minute walk round trip every day. The riverbank, the rice paddy footpath, the steps leading to the shrine, the sky, the big mountains. It's a short journey walking with the wind in my step. I have captured in this book the sensation of my body, hat, and landscape becoming one.
After studying traditional Japanese dyeing techniques and expression, she transformed craft decoration and handcrafted methods to create works using dyed washi paper and fabric. Since 2012, she has studied bookbinding techniques and has been fusing textile art with book art.
Yoh Yamazaki
BOOOX----Matryoshka dolls in book-shaped boxes／2025／cardboard, bookbinding cloth, paper, food wrap, cheeseclot／30.0×13.0×24.0cm
As a hand-made bookbinder, I design and work on books every day. I'm always thinking about this special object known as a book. It feels like I'm taking a walk around books every day. My bookbinding art is about creating something using things I pick up and ideas I come up with along the way. About the works in the exhibition: Books are nested. If you imagine a book containing a story or something, it looks like a box. The "Couple Box," which opens like a hinge, is the box that most resembles a book. I added a cover, grooves, and loose flowers to it to create a book-shaped gimmick. The matryoshka-like nesting boxes can be played with by taking them out, arranging them, or putting them away. Steps, the sky, a big mountain. A short journey walking while feeling the wind. I captured the feeling of my body, hat, and scenery becoming one within the book.
Born in 1962. After mastering traditional Western bookbinding techniques, he continued to create works that expand the possibilities of handmade bookbinding, pursuing new methods and materials without being bound by conventional methods. In addition, while presiding over the "Handmade Book Workshop," he has trained many book artists who create their own handmade books.
Koichi Yamamoto
entdecken→40-card deck→φαίνω／2025／paper, cloth (jute, etc.), wood (shina veneer), toner (copy machine toner), adhesive (glue of Arabic, wood glue),/acrylic gouache, oil stain／26.0×18.5×5.0cm
This work is an introductory section of Heidegger's Being and Time rendered "unreadable" or "difficult to read." It's covered with all sorts of "extraneous" things, making it "unreadable." Philosophical books are inherently "unreadable," so even if you don't do anything like that, they'll still be "unreadable." Whether the feeling of "I don't understand what this is all about!" is a pleasure or a discomfort varies from person to person, but I wanted to create something "kind of like that." "Book art" or "art book"...where books and art intersect, there may seem to be "infinite possibilities," but perhaps there really is nothing there. Or rather, because both are "invisible" and "unreadable," it's "incomprehensible" no matter what you do with them.
Born in Kyoto in 1949. Starting out by questioning the systems by which humans perceive things, such as vision, he creates works using a variety of techniques, including flat surfaces, text-based paintings, and installations.
Tamiko Washizu
The sounds of things that make no sound. A presence that is there, yet is missing. A space where people have certainly lived. A sense of time. A landscape permeated with memory. An homage to things that will one day disappear once their purpose is over. There is a hint or sense of a story somewhere, but none of it quite achieves that. About the exhibited work: "Uraue House" Uraue means that the outward appearance and the inner reality do not match. Just as what appears peaceful and tranquil is false, and what is invisible is reality. Tracing back my roots and family history, and starting from my own background, I have woven together various inner landscapes through my grandmother, stepmother, and myself, and expressed them in the form of an essay, drawing, and assemblage.
Born in 1945. In addition to creating book art using techniques such as assemblage, collage, and drawing, using a variety of materials such as boards, cardboard, and thread photographs in notebooks he has made himself from bound craft paper, he has also presented three-dimensional works that blend his own memories into the sculptures and exhibition spaces.