The Artists and Works of PLANET SNOW | Sapporo International Art Festival

The world of Planet Snow opens its doors with the first list of participating artists

Three Hokkaido-born/based artists have been selected sculptor KAWAKAMI Rie, who, amid the harsh nature of Ishikari City, engages deeply with iron while contemplating the geological timescale of Earth, otherwise known as “deep time” shigechanland ONISHI Shigenari, based in Tsubetsu Town, assembles driftwood and found objects to summon mysterious creatures and WAKAKI Kurumi, who humorously depicts the world using astonishing printmaking techniques that sometimes involve her entire body.

At the Hokkaido Museum, ISHIGURO Hiroshi / FUTURE OF LIFE Laboratory will present an android inheriting the “Future of Life,” a Signature Pavilion of Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, that provoked questions on the nature of life. Fashion designer NAKAZATO Yuima will present a site-specific installation with his 2025-26 Autumn/Winter Collection, “GLACIER”, inspired by his fieldwork in the frigid glacier-covered region of Finland.

Fragmentin, a media art collective from Switzerland, plans to showcase a new work based on their research to be conducted in Sapporo, and French animation artist Boris LABBÉ will also present his latest piece. HIWA Kazuhiko will take part in venue design, drawing on the findings from his サイアフ2024 research conducted using a wheelchair as his medium.

ENESS, an Australian art and technology studio, will return to the Sapporo Snow Festival venue with their latest award-winning, interactive balloon installation, a light and sound artwork in the form of enormous rocks. Continuing from the previous edition, the Sapporo-based new wave techno-pop duo LAUSBUB will create the theme song for サイアフ2027.Three Hokkaido-born/based artists have been selected: sculptor KAWAKAMI Rie, who, amid the harsh nature of Ishikari City, engages deeply with iron while contemplating the geological timescale of Earth, otherwise known as “deep time”; shigechanland (ONISHI Shigenari), based in Tsubetsu Town, assembles driftwood and found objects to summon mysterious creatures; and WAKAKI Kurumi, who humorously depicts the world using astonishing printmaking techniques that sometimes involve her entire body.

At the Hokkaido Museum, ISHIGURO Hiroshi / FUTURE OF LIFE Laboratory will present an android inheriting the “Future of Life,” a Signature Pavilion of Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, that provoked questions on the nature of life. Fashion designer NAKAZATO Yuima will present a site-specific installation with his 2025-26 Autumn/Winter Collection, “GLACIER”, inspired by his fieldwork in the frigid glacier-covered region of Finland.

Fragmentin, a media art collective from Switzerland, plans to showcase a new work based on their research to be conducted in Sapporo, and French animation artist Boris LABBÉ will also present his latest piece. HIWA Kazuhiko will take part in venue design, drawing on the findings from his SIAF2024 research conducted using a wheelchair as his medium.

ENESS, an Australian art and technology studio, will return to the Sapporo Snow Festival venue with their latest award-winning, interactive balloon installation, a light and sound artwork in the form of enormous rocks. Continuing from the previous edition, the Sapporo-based new wave techno-pop duo LAUSBUB will create the theme song for SIAF2027.

KAWAKAMI Rie

Based in Ishikari, Hokkaido
Born in Chiba

Reference Works

shigechanland (ONISHI Shigenari)

Based in Tsubetsu, Hokkaido
Born in Tsubetsu, Hokkaido

Reference Works

WAKAKI Kurumi

Based in Kyoto
Born in Rishiri Island, Hokkaido

Reference Works

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©FUTURE OF LIFE

ISHIGURO Hiroshi / FUTURE OF LIFE Laboratory

Based in Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo
Born in Shiga

NAKAZATO Yuima

Based in Tokyo, France
Born in Tokyo

Reference Works

Fragmentin

Based in Switzerland
Born in Switzerland

Reference Works

Boris LABBÉ

Based in France
Born in France

Reference Works

HIWA Kazuhiko

Based in Osaka
Born in Osaka

Reference Works

ENESS

Based in Australia
Born in Australia

LAUSBUB

Based in Sapporo, Hokkaido
Born in Japan

Reference Works

Overview Eight Venues Production Team