Yuko Mohri, Artist, Tokyo
Ming Wong, Artist, Berlin
Moderator: Andrew Maerkle, Editorial Director, Art Week Tokyo

Whether drawing from China and Korea or the international avant-garde, Japanese art has a long tradition of cultural syncretism. At the same time, Japanese culture – from anime to woodblock prints and Zen practices – has had a profound effect on international art. Looking at this history reveals insights into the contradictions and possibilities of global culture today – and recalls Édouard Glissant’s observation that ‘I can change through exchange with the other, without losing or diluting my sense of self.’ This panel invites artists who engage with Japan to discuss issues of cultural translation and hybridity in their work.

This panel is organized in collaboration with Art Week Tokyo.

Yuko Mohri is an artist who creates installation and sculpture not to compose (or construct) but to focus on ‘events’ that constantly shift according to various conditions such as their environment. She is Japan’s representative at the 2024 Venice Biennale, and has participated in numerous international group exhibitions including the Gwangju Biennale (2023); the Biennale of Sydney (2022); the Bienal de São Paulo (2021); and the Biennale de Lyon (2017).

Singapore-born, Berlin-based Ming Wong’s artistic practice explores the politics of representation and how culture and identity are reproduced and circulated, through re-readings of world cinema and popular culture. Recent exhibitions include the Biennale of Sydney (2024); ‘Signals: How Video Transformed the World’ at Museum of Modern Art, New York City (2023); ‘Wayang Spaceship’, Singapore Art Museum (2022); and Aichi Triennale (2022). His performance Rhapsody in Yellow was shown at Steirischer Herbst in Graz (2022); Berliner Festspiele and Spielart in Munich (2023); and Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen in Hannover (2024).

Andrew Maerkle is a Tokyo-based writer, editor, and translator. He is the editorial director of Art Week Tokyo. Previously he was deputy editor of the Japanese online publication ART iT and deputy editor of ArtAsiaPacific, where he helped create the annual Almanac edition. He contributes to international journals including Aperture, Art & Australia, and Frieze. His book of translations Kishio Suga: Writings, vol. 2, 1980–1989 is forthcoming from Skira.