Full of photo spots! Enjoy art in Sapporo during the winter at the Sapporo International Art Festival

Not only can you enjoy art at multiple venues in Sapporo, but the Sapporo Snow Festival will also be held during the festival, so there are plenty of photo spots! This article will make your walk around Sapporo even more enjoyable. In this article, we will introduce not only basic information about the Sapporo International Art Festival and the works of the unique artists participating, both domestic and international, but also bus tours that are safe for Sapporo and art beginners, and recommended spots in Sapporo that you should visit along with the Sapporo International Art Festival!

What is the Sapporo International Art Festival?

What is an art festival anyway?

Since the 2000s, art festivals have been held all over Japan, including Setouchi (Kagawa Prefecture) and Echigo-Tsumari (Niigata Prefecture). These are "art festivals" that take place for a limited time, gathering artists active "now" from all over the world, not just in a specific venue, but in an entire city or region. They are held every few years, and in addition to exhibiting existing works, artists from Japan and abroad sometimes create works in the hosting area. Art festivals allow you to experience art that can only be experienced at that time and place.

Because art festivals take place throughout a city or region, the best part is that you can enjoy not only the art, but also the local culture, cuisine, and sightseeing! Since art festivals often take place across multiple venues, it's a great opportunity to travel around the area for a few days, moving from one venue to the other, and experience the area to the fullest.

What kind of art festival is the Sapporo International Art Festival?

The Sapporo International Art Festival is held once every three years in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Based on the idea of Sapporo City that "creative people create a city, and a creative city nurtures people," the first festival was held in 2014, with musician Ryuichi Sakamoto as guest director.

The latest art from around the world is introduced in various locations throughout Sapporo, and the event features not only paintings and sculptures, but also a large number of media art exhibits themed around how modern society, lifestyles, and the human condition have changed due to advances in IT.

This year's theme is "LAST SNOW," and in addition to exhibiting works that look at the past, present, and future, there will also be workshops, talk programs, and participatory art events.

There are six venues in total, including Mirai Gekijo (Higashi 1-chome theater facility), Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Moerenuma Park, Sapporo Art Museum, and Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center SCARTS, all located in various locations around Sapporo, where you can experience the works of approximately 80 artists from over 10 countries.

Where and what kind of works can you enjoy? Introducing noteworthy works

A theater of the future featuring large-scale, towering three-dimensional works

The Mirae Theater (Higashi 1-chome Theater Facility) will feature 19 artists and groups, with many new works being shown in Japan for the first time. Choi Woo-ram, a leader in the Korean contemporary art scene, will be showcasing a number of works, including new ones, that utilize his engineering skills and knowledge as well as his creative experience to create mechanical works that move like living creatures.

Other works on display include glass works by Mika Aoki that evoke slime molds, viruses, cells and pollen, and "Your Own Snowflakes," a program-based project created by over 700 children at 12 elementary and junior high schools in Sapporo by the art unit Fujimori.

At the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, you can enjoy works from 100 years ago to those by contemporary artists

The Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art will be exhibiting a collection of works focusing on the 100 years from 1924 to 2024, including works by Ishii Toru, who develops painting expressions using the staining technique that originated in post-war American painting and the traditional Japanese Itome Yuzen style, and contemporary embroidery artist and textile artist Miyata Ayaka's work "MRI SM20110908," based on an MRI image of her own brain.

The exhibition will also feature many of the museum's proud collections, including photographs by Hirano Yoshikuni, who followed the North Pacific fishing industry at the mercy of harsh international relations, prints by Joseph Albers, who studied flatness, depth, and the diversity of perception, and paintings by Kunimatsu Noboru, a painter with ties to southern Hokkaido who has worked on themes that are conscious of the climate and culture of Hokkaido.

Moerenuma Park, where you can experience the unique space of the "Snow Warehouse" and the "Sapporo Sports Day of the Future"

Inside the iconic glass pyramid of Moere Numa Park, contemporary artist Rei Wakita will exhibit a video work that expresses the dynamics of billions of years of earth's transformation in 8K. In addition, for a limited time, Finnish artist Jussi Andersleva and Swiss artist unit AATB will present a performance of ice and light using a robot arm in a special space called the "Snow Warehouse," which is not open to the public.

In addition, on Saturday, February 24th and Sunday, February 25th, 2024, the "Sapporo Sports Day of the Future" will be held, where participants will brainstorm new sports to create and then hold an actual sports day for those sports. New sports unique to Sapporo will be born on the snowy fields of Moere Numa Park. It looks like something you can enjoy with your family and friends.

Sapporo Art Park: Experience the "Nonsense Machine"

The Sapporo Art Museum will host two exhibitions: "Maywa Denki Nonsense Machine Exhibition in Sapporo," where visitors can touch and play with a number of humorous "Nonsense Machines" by the blue-wearing art unit Maywa Denki; and "Did you know Sapporo is a Media Arts City?", which focuses on Sapporo-based technology and creative industries and introduces the connection between the two.

This year, part of the Sapporo Snow Festival will also be the venue for the art festival! Make the most of your winter in Sapporo!

This year's Sapporo International Art Festival will be held in winter for the first time. The Sapporo Snow Festival, Hokkaido's biggest winter event, will be held from February 4th (Sun) to February 11th (Sun), 2024, so this will be your chance to enjoy Sapporo in winter to the fullest along with the Sapporo International Art Festival.

At the Sapporo Snow Festival Odori 2-chome site, one of the venues for the Sapporo International Art Festival, we will focus on future transportation and lifestyles, and imagine these futures together. Based on the concept of "A Snowy Town of the Future," there will also be an exhibition of large-scale works that change with light and sound by Australian art and technology studio "ENES."

Other "Sapporo Snow Festival" venues also have plenty of attractions, including snow sculptures made by teams from Japan and abroad and Sapporo residents, as well as a large snow sculpture from "Golden Kamuy"!

In addition, as part of the festival's open call and collaborative projects, many workshops, music events, and stage performances are planned to be held throughout the city, including "INTEG'Lab Live: New Innovations in Music and Space/The Current State of Live Electronics" (held on February 5, 2024) and the Sapporo Theater Season 2024-Winter (held from January 27 to February 17, 2024), a theater festival by Sapporo theater companies. Please come and experience not only the exhibitions at the Sapporo International Art Festival, but also the city of Sapporo, which is completely filled with art.

However, if you are visiting Sapporo for the first time and are worried about your itinerary, we recommend taking the "City Walking Guided Tour & Bus Tour to Fully Enjoy the Charm of SIAF2024," which departs from the Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center SCARTS and takes you on a city walking guided tour around Sapporo's streets as you head towards the SIAF2024 venue!
By visiting the venue after the tour, you can not only enjoy art, but also learn about the history and charm of the city of Sapporo.

3 recommended spots in Sapporo to enjoy along with the Sapporo International Art Festival

If you're going to Sapporo, you'll want to enjoy sightseeing too! For those who think this is the case, we'll introduce you to some must-see tourist spots along with the Sapporo International Art Festival. Please use this as a reference for your trip, along with the restaurants and model courses recommended by the curators and staff of each venue listed on the official website.

Before visiting the Future Theater, let's start with sightseeing at the newly opened urban aquarium "AOAO SAPPORO"

First, there is the urban aquarium "AOAO SAPPORO," which just opened in July 2023 and is currently garnering a lot of attention, located near the Mirai Gekijo (Higashi 1-chome theater facility). Based on the concept of "The Wonder of Life - The Invisible Becomes Visible," the aquarium exhibits 4,000 creatures from 250 species, including plants.

The highlight of the attraction is the penguins. You can watch the penguins swimming in an aquarium that is over 8 meters wide, and if you climb the stairs next to the tank, you can observe them at eye level with the penguins on land. The viewing space is close, so you may get splashed by the penguins as they swim vigorously. You may even be able to take a photo of you and the cute penguins together.

In addition to being easily accessible, being directly connected to the Sapporo underground shopping mall, Pole Town, it is open until 10pm, so it is recommended to visit not only before seeing a performance at Mirai Gekijo, but also at the end of the day.

AOAO SAPPORO

Take a relaxing break near the Sapporo Art Park Museum: Rokkatei's library facility "Rokka Bunko"

Before or after viewing art at the Sapporo Art Park Museum, take a break at the library facility "Rokka Bunko" near Makomanai Station on the way from central Sapporo to the Sapporo Art Park Museum. Rokkatei, a confectionery manufacturer representing Hokkaido, is popular for its cute retro packaging with flower designs. This library facility, run by Rokkatei, has a collection of about 8,000 books, all of which are related to food.

Why not relax and unwind after your trip in a space where time flows quietly, with a large crackling fireplace, plush sofas, a large wooden table and chairs, and a single sofa with armrests? There is also a coffee room where you can enjoy hot coffee and Rokkatei sweets to soothe your chilled body, making it the perfect place to take a break before or after visiting the Sapporo Art Park Museum.

Rokka Bunko

After the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, enjoy a typical Hokkaido dinner at the Gibier French restaurant "Gauchet"

Returning to central Sapporo and finishing up your visit to the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, enjoy dinner at the French restaurant Gaucher, which was awarded a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide Hokkaido in 2017. This restaurant has been featured in magazines as a famous restaurant that gives you a taste of modern Sapporo.

Chef Yosuke Ojika trained in Japan and then went to France to learn cooking and hunting for four years before returning to Japan. After returning to Japan, he obtained a hunting license because he wanted to hunt the ingredients he would use to cook.

You can enjoy wild game dishes made with local ingredients and Hokkaido's unique Ezo deer and brown bear, such as "Ezo deer ham and Hokkaido mozzarella salad," "Ezo deer steak," and "roasted Hakodate pork," along with natural wines that go well with them.

Gaucher

Enjoy the Sapporo International Art Festival and a stroll around the city. Have fun in Sapporo in winter.

The Sapporo International Art Festival is held in the bitter cold of Sapporo, but it brings together a collection of artworks that give off a gentle warmth. In addition to artworks by artists from Japan and abroad, why not enjoy the city of Sapporo in winter, including the Sapporo Snow Festival, events unique to Sapporo, rich food, and relaxing spots?

Sapporo International Art Festival SIAF2024

Domestic Discount Fares Skymate

Limited to ages 12 and over and under 25!
Extremely affordable discount fares available for booking from the day of departure (4 hours before departure)

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