First “Coral Islands Science and Art Biennale” Ran on Kikai Island Until November 8, Presenting an Uplifted Coral Reef Island Through Video, Sound and Light

On October 15, 2026, the NPO Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences announced that it would hold the first “Coral Islands Science and Art Biennale” in Kikai Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. It ran from Friday, October 30 to Sunday, November 8, and has now closed. The general producer is Tsuyoshi Watanabe, chair of the institute, and the executive art director is Yuko Hasegawa, former director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Shoyo Miyao, Jukan Tateisi, Yuna Yagi, Atsuko Yamazaki and others presented works at six sites on the island, including a beach and an underground dam tunnel. Viewing the exhibits was free.

Why Kikai Island? “100,000 years of Earth’s memory” preserved in an uplifted coral reef

The announcement introduces Kikai Island as “an island formed by uplifted coral reef, rare even worldwide.” The festival aims to visualize the “100,000 years of Earth’s memory” and environmental data the island has accumulated as contemporary art using video, sound and light. It treats the 100,000 years of strata, the uplifted coral reef landscape, groundwater and the very life and culture of the island’s villages as the stage for the works.

The institute’s official website expresses the festival’s concept as “Science reads, art translates, the island responds.” The idea is for Hasegawa and the artists to “translate” the academic findings the institute has accumulated into video, sound and light. The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) also joins as a co-organizer. Hasegawa also serves as art director of the “Forest Festival of Arts Okayama” in northern Okayama Prefecture, whose second edition will be held in 2027 (Okayama Prefecture announcement).

What can visitors see? Six venues: the coast, underground, a village and the institute

Works are placed at six sites on the island. The main contents, according to the announcement and the institute’s official website, are as follows.

• Sugira Beach: Shoyo Miyao, “The liminal blink.” An outdoor beach cinema projecting images onto uplifted coral rocks

• First Underground Dam Tunnel: Jukan Tateisi, “Five Fathom Down.” A sound installation using the 366 m-long tunnel of an underground dam

• Onotsu Jingu Community Hall: Yuna Yagi, “When the Island Was Sea” (given with a slightly different Japanese title on the institute’s website). An installation of coral and time tracing the memories of sea and land

• Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences: Atsuko Yamazaki, “c_cycle of coral.” A special exhibit visualizing the chemical cycles of the island and its corals

• Sango Lodge: The photo exhibition “100 Views of Coral Day” and the MR work “Hikari no Gajumaru (Banyan of Light)” by RIHN’s SceNE project (Nako Shigesada and others)

• Tebarubanta: The symbolic exhibit “Microatoll Overlooking the Island”

Some venues and works may be changed or canceled due to weather or other circumstances. Check the latest information on the official website before visiting.

Opening and related events, including a meeting of the Japanese Coral Reef Society

On the first day, October 30, an opening ceremony begins at 18:00. In addition to video projection onto the surface of uplifted coral rock, performances of island songs and shamisen, hachigatsu odori (August dance) and rokucho are planned. Participation is free, and food and drink stalls are also planned. In case of rain, the venue will change.

In the latter half of the festival, from November 6 to 9, the 29th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Coral Reef Society will be held on Kikai Island with about 300 participants. On Sunday, November 8, from 10:00 to 12:00, the public symposium “Kikai Island, an Uplifted Coral Reef Island the World Can Be Proud Of: Coral Reefs, Geopark and the Future of the Region” will take place at the Kikai Town Gymnasium (free). On October 31 and November 1, a “Summit on Endangered Languages and Dialects” will also be held on the island.

In January 2027, a touring exhibition is planned at Sangoan (Fushimi Port), the institute’s base in Kyoto. The institute has launched a crowdfunding campaign on READYFOR that includes the Kyoto touring exhibition. Other events in November are compiled in our November exhibition and art event calendar.

Editor’s perspective

The institute, which holds the environmental data and academic findings that serve as the works’ subject matter, joins as a co-organizer, and an academic conference overlaps with the second half of the festival. The venues differ in character: video projection on the coast, sound in an underground tunnel and an exhibition in a village community hall. The structure overlays the site of research and the presentation of works within the same 10 days on the same island. The schedules of art festivals around the country can be found in our 2026–2027 art fair and art festival calendar.

Overview

Name: Coral Islands Science and Art Biennale
Dates: Friday, October 30 – Sunday, November 8, 2026 (10 days)
Venues: Six sites in Kikai Town, Oshima District, Kagoshima Prefecture (Sugira Beach, First Underground Dam Tunnel, Onotsu Jingu Community Hall, Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences, Sango Lodge, Tebarubanta)
Admission: Viewing the exhibits is free
Organizer: Coral Islands Science and Art Biennale Executive Committee
Co-organizers: Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Cooperation: Kikai Town, Japan Air Commuter Co., Ltd., Attoll Inc.
General producer: Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Chair, Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences)
Executive art director: Yuko Hasegawa
Touring exhibition: January 2027, Sangoan (Fushimi Port, Kyoto)
Official website: https://kikaireefs.org/
*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: A photograph from the announcement for the “Coral Islands Science and Art Biennale” (from the NPO Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences’ press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on an announcement by the NPO Kikai Institute for Coral Reef Sciences (October 15, 2026) and information on the official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team