About Artists

Tadasu Takamine
Born in Kagoshima in 1968, Tadasu Takamine currently lives in Akita. While studying lacquer work at Kyoto City University of Arts and Music, he became a member of the performance group Dumb Type. He later did graduate work at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) in the Gifu Prefecture and began making interactive installations and media art that incorporated video and sound. Since the 2000s, Takamine has produced numerous performances based on the expressive power of the human body. He is engaged in a wide range of genre-spanning creative work, such as collaborating with musicians and directing stage productions. His recent solo shows include Too Far to See (Yokohama Museum of Art, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Kirishima Open-Air Museum, 2011-2012), and Tadasu Takamine’s Cool Japan (Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, 2012). In 2013, he was invited by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to do a one-year residency in Berlin. In 2014, Takamine participated in Japan Syndrome – Art and Politics after Fukushima, an event held at the HAU (Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin). His published works include A Lover from Korea (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2008).

Toshiki Okada
Born in Yokohama in 1973, Okada is a playwright/director. In 1997, he formed the theatre company “chelfitsch.” Since them he has written and directed all of the company’s productions, practicing a distinctive methodology in creating plays, and has come to be known for his use of hyper-colloquial Japanese and unique choreography. In 2005, his play Five Days in March won the prestigious 49th Kishida Kunio Drama Award. Okada took part in the 2005 Toyota Choreography Award with Air Conditioner(Cooler) (2005), garnering much attention. In February of 2007, his collection of novels, The End of the Special Time We Were Allowed, debuted and was awarded the Kenzaburo Oe Prize. He has been a member of the jury of the Kishida Kunio Drama Award since 2012. In 2013, his first book on theatre studies was published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha.