Mt. Rokko in Kobe has long served as a crossroads of diverse cultures. Through contrasts between humans and other animals in this space of coexistence, visitors are invited to contemplate the question: What does it mean to be human?

Area Curator: TAKAMIZAWA Kiyotaka/Representative of Takamizawa Art Projects

The overarching theme of the Museum Area, Embodying Mt. Rokko, was inspired by the word “Rokko” (六甲) found on the cover of a book that I happened to pick up in Korea. In this context, “Rokko” refers to mudang culture, the tradition of Korean shamanism. Rather than a system of thought that seeks to explain the world through reason, mudang culture offers a way of living alongside events, uncertainties, and fluctuations that cannot be fully expressed in words. It also embodies the role of a mediator—one who moves between humans and nature, the visible and the invisible, crossing these boundaries through physical and embodied acts. The concept of “six” (六) employed here refers to the six directions—east, west, south, north, heaven, and earth—which together represent the totality of the world. This perspective shifts attention away from a human-centered view and encourages visitors to first place themselves within this environment and become receptive to the subtle presences, atmospheres, and transformations that surround them before attempting to understand a work. Bringing together artists of diverse nationalities and cultural backgrounds, the Museum Area aims to create a place where tourism and culture intersect through works that embody lived experience itself—experiences that emerge through the mountain’s stillness, sounds, and the passage of time.

Area Curator: HORIE Noriko/Representative of OFFICE HORIE LLC.

The Japanese word kankō (tourism) is said to have originally carried meanings such as “observing a nation’s culture and governance” and “presenting its landscapes, culture, and heritage to people from outside.”
Mt. Rokko and this art festival have likewise built their histories through tourism.
The sights experienced here encompass far more than the visual. They include histories, memories, and stories embedded within the spaces, as well as the people who have visited, observed, and experienced them, and those who have contributed to shaping them over time.

This area is characterized as an alternative space that welcomes people with a wide range of purposes and backgrounds, not only those interested in art appreciation or tourism. Another distinctive feature is that the area comprises multiple venues dispersed throughout the site.
By journeying between these venues and engaging with artistic expressions, visitors are encouraged to deepen their understanding of the site and to share the impressions and insights gained there with others.

We hope this area will become a place of exchange and resonance, where diverse forms of light overlap and intertwine.

Area Curator: OGUNI Yosuke/President of NPO Geiho
Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1984, where he currently resides. He supports the creative practices of artists, primarily in the Kansai region.
His work focuses on planning and management of art festivals, art projects, and alternative spaces that utilize a wide variety of sites beyond the conventional white-cube gallery setting. These include vacant houses and lots, industrial heritage sites, and spaces that are temporarily out of use.
Through these initiatives, he seeks to expand the possibilities of artistic expression while reexamining and reimagining the functions of places and their relationships with people.
As a director and curator, his recent projects include the Shitamachi Art Festival (2015–present), the Route d’Argent Art Festival in Ikuno (2020–present), and the Gakuenmae Art Festa (2020–2022).

Mt. Rokko is located remarkably close to the city, where expansive views can be reached in just tens of minutes from the urban environment. As one travels from the city into the mountains, the quality of light, the movement of the wind, surrounding sounds, temperature, bodily sensations, and even one’s state of mind gradually begin to change. Mt. Rokko offers an exceptional setting in which to experience these subtle transitions in all their richness. Under this theme, the exhibition sites are conceived as devices for experiencing, with the whole body, the process of transformation from the urban to the natural environment.

Area Curator: WASHIO Elena/KOBE Mt. Rokko ART & TOURISM Co., Ltd.