WAGON in partnership with Peacock Visual Arts is thrilled to present an evening of presentation and conversation with Manami Sato from Shimizusawa Project in Yubari, Japan and Dr Leslie Mabon from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
Work by Takanori Suga to Sports Center Kokushikan Daigaku of Bunkyo in São Roque of São Paulo
Thanks to the generous support and advice from the Sculptor Yutaka Toyota and Osamu Matsuo of Bunkyo, we just delivered work by Takanori Suga A Blank Sign “Dripping Project in São Paulo” to the Sports Center Kokushikan Daigaku in São Roque of São Paulo. Thank you so much to all the people who gave us warm support and advice towards the production, storage – and future re-installing. We very much look forward to seeing this piece in the near future.
Photos and press coverage: ‘Kyojitsu-Hiniku: Between the Skin and the Flesh of Japan’
Contemporary art exhibition for 110 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil
Kyojitsu-Hiniku: Between the Skin and the Flesh of Japan
7 – 23 September 2018
Pavilhão Japonês, Parque Ibirapuera, São Paulo, Brazil
Juliana Kase | Takanori Suga | Detanico Lain | Satoshi Hashimoto | Hikaru Fujii
COOPERATION:
– Brazilian Society of Japanese Culture and Social Services (BUNKYO)
SUPPORT:
– 110 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil;
– Consulate General of Japan in Sao Paulo;
– The Japan Foundation, São Paulo.
RELATED PUBLIC EVENTS:
– 9 September (Sun) 3pm: Event by Satoshi Hashimoto
– 15 September (Sat) 2pm: Dance Performance by Danilo Silveira
– 15 September (Sat) 3-5pm: Artist Talk by Juliana Kase
– 22 September (Sat) 2pm: Dance + Sound Performance by Beatriz Sano and They-Group
– 22 September (Sat) 3-5pm: Artist Talk by Takanori Suga
– 23 September (Sun) 4pm: Sound-visual performance by Rodrigo Amor Experimental and Evandro Nicolau
Installation shots:
Publication: In Praise of Shadows: Atsuo Hukuda & Alan Johnston
‘Kyojitsu-Hiniku: Between the Skin and the Flesh of Japan’ – Exhibition for 110 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil
WAGON is thrilled to announce its new project Kyojitsu-Hiniku: Between the Skin and the Flesh of Japan, a contemporary art exhibition dedicated to 110 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil. The exhibition features works by Juliana Kase, Takanori Suga, Detanico Lain, Satoshi Hashimoto and Hikaru Fujii at the Pavilhão Japonês in the Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo, Brazil.
Photos and Press Coverage: ‘In Praise of Shadows: Atsuo Hukuda & Alan Johnston’
In Praise of Shadows: Atsuo Hukuda & Alan Johnston two-person show
12 May – 3 Jun 2018
Suisei-Art (11-8-1 Sanjyamachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa 920-0861 Japan)
Supported by Shibuya Foundation for Science, Culture and Sports; Hope Scott Trust; The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation; and THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION.
Photography: Hiraku Ikeda
Finding sharing event: recent trip to Japan
Aberdeen-based Japanese independent curator Naoko Mabon will share findings and experience from her recent trip to Japan. This includes a new development of artist exchange projects in Aberdeen between Yubari-city and Nagasaki-city in Japan. This event is primarily for Peacock Visual Arts’ Associate members but the door is open for anyone who is interested in the topic.
19 June 2018, 4.30–5.30pm
W OR M (11 Castle Street, Aberdeen AB11 5BQ)
Facebook event page
Site-visits to Nagasaki and Yubari
Naoko Mabon made two site-visits to Nagasaki-city and Yubari-city in Japan. The overall aim for these visits is to forge a concrete plan of a new exchange between Japan and Aberdeen of Scotland.
Research residency – Ilana Halperin: The Rock Cycle (Yamaguchi)
NY-born Glasgow-based artist Ilana Halperin has conducted a two week field research residency as part of the 2018 Residence Fellowship Program of Akiyoshidai International Art Village from 16 May – 29 May 2018.
YICA’s 20th anniversary and lecture by Alan Johnston
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of YICA (Yamaguchi Institute of Contemporary Arts), Alan Johnston gave a lecture on his artistic journey from a viewpoint of his 30 year relationship with Yamaguchi. It was held on 19th May 2018 at Saiko-tei, a cultural museum with a beautiful garden which used be a high-end Japanese restaurant. Naoko Mabon was involved as an interpreter.
All image courtesy: YICA (Yamaguchi Institute of Contemporary Arts)
In Praise of Shadows: Atsuo Hukuda & Alan Johnston two-person show
WAGON is delighted to announce In Praise of Shadows, the first two-person exhibition between Atsuo Hukuda (b.1958, Hokkaido) and Alan Johnston (b.1945, Edinburgh) in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Hosted by Suisei-Art, a project space based in a historical Kanazawa Machiya building. Curated by Naoko Mabon.
Landscape Drawings: An Experience of Brazilian Art and Nature

Shot from ‘Desenhos da paisagem, da cidade e do museu’ course by Evandro Nicolau, MAC USP (Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo)
Conversation and outdoor workshop by Evandro Nicolau (Artist / Researcher and teacher at MAC USP – Museum of Contemporary Art of University of São Paulo)
Date/time: 5th May 2018, 2-5pm
Venue: The W OR M of Peacock Visual Arts (11 Castle Street, Aberdeen AB11 5BQ Scotland)
Free but booking required: landscape-drawings.eventbrite.co.uk
Please join us for an afternoon of conversation and an outdoor workshop led by Evandro Nicolau, Brazilian artist/researcher/teacher who is visiting Scotland to conduct a two week research residency at Art, Space + Nature (ASN), Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh.
Photos and Press Coverage: ‘Jack Davidson: Show and Tell’
Jack Davidson: Show and Tell
6 February – 17 February 2018
The W OR M, 11 Castle Street, Aberdeen AB11 5BQ Scotland
Supported by Aberdeen City Council and Robert Gordon University.
Presented by Peacock Visual Arts as part of W OR M / OPEN programme.
RELATED EVENT
Jack Davidson in conversation with Keith Grant and Naoko Mabon
Saturday 17 February 2018, 3-4pm
Guests @ Gray’s lecture by Jack Davidson
Friday 16 February 2018, 1-2pm
Lecture Theatre SB42, Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University
Jack Davidson: Show and Tell

[Image] Jack Davidson | down the road to ecstasy | 2016 | oil on canvas | 65 x 54 cm | Courtesy of the artist and Tat Art Barcelona
WAGON is delighted to announce Jack Davidson: Show and Tell, a showcase of work by Jack Davidson (b.1958, Aberdeen).
Curated by Naoko Mabon. Presented by Peacock Visual Arts as part of W OR M / OPEN programme.
Supported by Aberdeen City Council and Robert Gordon University.
Scottish curators’ scoping visit to Japan: Tokyo and Yokohama
Naoko Mabon has been selected, alongside other seven Scottish-based curators, for the Curators’ Visit to Japan. Led by British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland, this scoping trip has an aim to develop long-term and even more vibrant partnerships between Scotland and Japan into the future.
◆ Follow Mabon’s daily photo report here: scottish-curators-to-japan.tumblr.com
この度、未来に向け末長く、より活発なパートナシップを構築するため ブリティッシュ・カウンシル・スコットランド と、スコットランド政府の文化芸術機関である クリエイティブ・スコットランド が主催する、日本へのキュレーターズビジットにメイボン尚子が選抜されました。メイボンを含むスコットランドで活動する8名のキュレーターが、2017年10月、横浜・東京を中心に日本のアートシーンを訪ねます。
◆ こちらでメイボンによる毎日更新予定の フォトレポート(バイリンガル) をご覧いただけます。
Guests @ Gray’s: São Paulo Residency Report
Mabon will share findings from her recent residency in São Paulo in Guests @ Gray’s, lecture series with invited professionals in art, design and culture at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen on 13th October. She will then invite Coordinators of Überbau_house – Jorge Sepúlveda T. (Independent Curator and Critic, from Chile) and Guillermina Bustos (Artist and Independent Researcher, from Argentina) – to talk about their activities as autonomous initiative in Latin American contemporary art field.
Guests @ Gray’s
‘Residency Report: one-month contemporary art research residency at Überbau_house in São Paulo, Brazil’
Friday 13th October 2017, 1-2pm
Gray’s School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen
Speaker: Naoko Mabon (guest speakers over Skype: Jorge Sepúlveda T. and Guillermina Bustos of Überbau_house)
Please visit Mabon’s daily photo report during her residency here: one-month-in-sao-paulo.tumblr.com
One Month Research Residency in São Paulo
Naoko Mabon will conduct a one-month research residency at Überbau_house in São Paulo from 31st August to 28th September 2017.
Follow Mabon’s daily photo report here: one-month-in-sao-paulo.tumblr.com
Publication: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
We are happy to announce that copies of Ilana Halperin’s ‘Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)’ are now stocked at The Fruitmarket Gallery Bookshop in Edinburgh and Aye-Aye Books in CCA, Glasgow.
‘Leaves Without Routes’ on Cha: An Asian Literary Journal
A writing piece Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い by Naoko Mabon is included in the latest issue of Cha, the first Hong Kong-based English online literary journal founded in 2007 as part of a programme at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Our warmest thanks go to: everyone at Cha, Tammy Ho, Prof Kyoko Yoshida, Yasunori Kawamatsu, Yuki Okumura, Kaori Yamashita, Nobuyuki Yamamoto, I-Chern Lai, Yu Hua Chen, Keting Kurt Chen, Wei-hsiu Wu, Taipei Botanical Garden, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, Japan–Taiwan Exchange Association, Prof Kenji Horigome, MISAKO & ROSEN, Dr Leslie Mabon, among others.
Click here to view the text by Naoko.
For more on the exhibition Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い, please click here.
Photos and Press Coverage: ‘Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)’ Scottish Exhibition and Event
Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
SCOTTISH EXHIBITION
Friday 31 March – Saturday 29 April 2017
Peacock Visual Arts (21 Castle Street, Aberdeen AB11 5BQ Scotland)
RELATED EVENT
Artist’s Talk in conversation with Professor Tim Ingold from the Anthropology Department of the University of Aberdeen and Peacock Visual Arts’ Director Nuno Sacramento.
Saturday 1 April 2017, 3-4.30pm
IMAGE CREDIT: Fiona Stephen
To read a feature in Creative Scotland website, please click here.
To read a feature in The James Hutton Institute website, please click here.
To view more on the project, please click here.
Scottish Exhibition and Event for Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
Scottish exhibition and event for ‘Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)’ will be held at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen.
Photos: ‘Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い’ Exhibition and Event
Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い
Artists: Yasunori Kawamatsu | Yuki Okumura | Nobuyuki Yamamoto | Kaori Yamashita
Date: 3 December 2016 – 15 January 2017
Venue: Nan-Men Ting 323 (南門町三二三) in Taipei Botanical Garden (No.53, Nan-Hai Road, Taipei 10066 Taiwan)
OPENING EVENT
Speaker: Prof Kenji Horigome (architectural historian), participating artists and curator
Date: Saturday 3 December 2016, 2:00-4:30pm
To view more on the project, please click here.
Photos: ‘Mediated Existence’ Exhibition
Mediated Existence
Joseph Calleja // I-Che(r)n Lai // Katie Paterson
21 October – 2 November 2016 at sleeper
To view more on the project, please click here.
Works by Joseph Calleja and I-Che(r)n Lai:
Courtesy of the artists
Works by Katie Paterson (image number: 1-4, 9 and 10):
[left and right] Courtesy of the Artist and Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
[middle] Courtesy of the Artist and Collection SimonPaul
Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い
WAGON is delighted to announce Leaves Without Routes: 根も葉も無い, an art exhibition featuring work by four Japanese contemporary artists – Yasunori Kawamatsu, Yuki Okumura, Nobuyuki Yamamoto and Kaori Yamashita – at Nan-Men Ting 323 (南門町三二三), a Japanese style house originally built in 1930s during the Japanese colonial period within Taipei Botanical Garden in Taiwan.
Mediated Existence: Joseph Calleja // I-Chern Lai // Katie Paterson
WAGON is delighted to announce the group exhibition Mediated Existence, which features work by Joseph Calleja, I-Chern Lai and Katie Paterson at sleeper gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Photos and Press Coverage: ‘Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)’ Japanese Exhibition and Event
Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
JAPANESE EXHIBITION
Saturday 24 September – Sunday 9 October 2016
Fujiya Gallery Hanayamomo (1 Kannawa-kami, Beppu, Oita 874-0046)
OPENING EVENT
Artist talk followed by contributions from Yasuka Tachibana (BEPPU PROJECT) and Misuzu Goto (Irifune-so Ryokan)
Saturday 24 September 2016, 1pm-3pm
IMAGE CREDIT: Sachiyo Ando
To view more on the project, please click here.
Japanese Exhibition and Event for Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The resulting exhibition of Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana), which launched last Autumn, will be held in Kannawa, Beppu. Meet the artist Ilana Halperin and newly formed her geothermal sculptures.
昨年9月にスタートした「イラナ・ハルペリン:地質学的むつまじさ(湯の花)」。1年の時間をかけ生成された新しい地熱彫刻を美しい明治建築で知られる別府・鉄輪の冨士屋Gallery一也百さまにて開催します。
Photos and Press Coverage: Atsuo Hukuda solo exhibition
Atsuo Hukuda: SUKI-MONO: Ways Since Rin-pa – Duff House
Curated by Naoko Mabon
4 September – 23 October 2016
Duff House, Banff, Scotland AB45 3SX
OPENING RECEPTION | ARTIST TALK EVENT
Saturday 3 September 2016, 2-4pm
IMAGE CREDIT:
Andy Martin Photography (installation shots)
Shuhei Fukuda (talk event)
Progress Report #6 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The sixth and the final on-site photo report by BEPPU PROJECT is now up.
第6回目、そして最終回となる現地レポートがBEPPU PROJECTさんより届きました。
To view the photo report #6, please click here.
Atsuo Hukuda + Shuhei Fukuda exhibition at sleeper
WAGON is delighted to announce the exhibition Atsuo Hukuda + Shuhei Fukuda: RYUHA = Inheritance of School of Art and Inheritance of Style of Art, which will be held at sleeper in Edinburgh.
Bushiro Mohri solo exhibition in Gunma, Japan
WAGON is delighted to announce Bushiro Mohri: ‘Message from Mr. A, No 4’ – Work and Document. This exhibition will be held at AIS GALLERY in Gunma, Japan as part of CONCEPT SPACE The 35th Anniversary Programme No.2・AIS GALLERY 2016 Project No.17・【Born in 1982 – 1】.
SSW Public Talk
Naoko Mabon is invited to SSW Public Talk, a series of open talks to accompany SSW’s Summer AiR programme. In this Naoko will share her curatorial practice with the wider community.
EVENT DETAILS
SSW Public Talk: Naoko Mabon
Independent Curatorial Practice from North East Scotland: The Case of Naoko Mabon
Friday 24th June 2016, 7-8pm
Scottish Sculpture Workshop (1 Main Street, Lumsden, Huntly, Aberdeenshire AB54 4JN)
Free, all welcome
For more details on the exhibition please click here.
Progress Report #5 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The fifth on-site photo report by BEPPU PROJECT is now up.
第5回目となる現地レポートがBEPPU PROJECTさんより届きました。
To view the photo report #5, please click here.
Atsuo Hukuda solo exhibition at Duff House
WAGON is delighted to announce the exhibition Atsuo Hukuda: SUKI-MONO: Ways Since Rin-pa – Duff House, which marks the first major solo exhibition of Japanese conceptual sculptor Atsuo Hukuda held in Northern Scotland.
Artists’ Talk in Dundee
Naoko Mabon is invited to talk in Artists’ Talk as part of the exhibition あ い ま い な : am big you us held in Dundee.
This multi-layered, cross-cultural exhibition will combines solo displays by three Japanese artists – 1984/48 by Yasunori Kawamatsu, tempera | ambiguous | painting by Nobuyuki Yamamoto, and a showcase by a Jewellery Designer/Maker Sayoko Kobayashi.
Curated by Lada Wilson
EVENT DETAILS
Artists’ Talk as part of あ い ま い な : am big you us
Sunday 12 June 2016, 3pm-
Meadow Mill Projects (4th floor, Meadow Mill, West Henderson’s Wynd, Dundee DD1 5BY)
Free, all welcome
For more details on the exhibition please click here.
Curator’s Talk at Sanki Bunko
Naoko Mabon is invited to give a talk at Sanki Bunko. She will share her view towards curatorial practices based on her recent, on-going and upcoming international projects.
Sanki Bunko is a private library of more than 20,000 books collected by an art critic/historian Prof Hitoshi Mori. In this beautiful Taisho era Kanazawa Machiya building situated by the Asano River in Kanazawa, artist Akane Nakamori (Suisei-Art) together with Prof Mori is curating a number of international art/cultural programmes.
EVENT DETAILS
Curator’s Talk Vol.1: Naoko Mabon
Sunday 24 April 2016, 3-5pm
Sanki Bunko (5-27, Sakura-machi, Kanazawa 920-0923 Japan)
Free, all welcome
For more information please visit Sanki Bunko website
Progress Report #4 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
Progress Report #4 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The fifth on-site photo report by BEPPU PROJECT is now up.
第4回目となる現地レポートがBEPPU PROJECTさんより届きました。
To view the photo report #4, please click here.
Progress Report #3 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The third on-site photo report by BEPPU PROJECT is now up.
第3回目となる現地レポートがBEPPU PROJECTさんより届きました。
To view the photo report #3, please click here.
Guests @ Gray’s
Naoko Mabon is invited to give a lecture at Guests @ Gray’s, a regular lecture series from invited professionals in art, design and culture at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen.
Naoko will share her view and approach to work as an independent curator in Aberdeen, a city to which she is foreign, based on her experience and perspective through her recent, on-going and upcoming curatorial practices in the city, region, nation or beyond.
EVENT DETAILS
Friday 26th February 2016 at 1.00pm
Lecture Theatre SB42
Garthdee House Annexe, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen
Open to all
For more information please click here
Roger Ackling: Between the Lines
Naoko Mabon has been invited to contribute to Roger Ackling: Between the Lines, the first comprehensive overview of the work and teaching of the late British artist Roger Ackling (1947–2014). Edited by Emma Kalkhoven, published by Occasional Papers.
Progress Report #2 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The second on-site photo report for Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana) by BEPPU PROJECT is now up. BEPPU PROJECTさんより第二回目となる「イラナ・ハルペリン:地質学的むつまじさ(湯の花)」の現地フォトレポートが届きました。
To view the photo report #2, please click here.
Progress Report #1 – Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
The first on-site photo report for our ongoing project Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana) by BEPPU PROJECT is now up. 今回「イラナ・ハルペリン:地質学的むつまじさ(湯の花)」プロジェクトをパートナーとしてサポートしていただいているBEPPU PROJECTさんより第一回目の現地フォトレポートが届きました。
To view the photo report #1, please click here.
Tatsuo Kawaguchi solo exhibition in Kanazawa and Toyama
Two solo exhibitions by one of the most celebrated Japanese artists Tatsuo Kawaguchi will be held at Sankibunko in Kanazawa and Coelacanth – Bushiro Mohri Memorial Museum in Toyama in Japan at the same time from 23 Oct – 16 Nov 2015.
To coincide with the showcases, a new Japanese-English bilingual exhibition catalogue will be published – for which Naoko Mabon is a part of the production team as a translator.
Ilana Halperin: Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana)
We are delighted to announce that, together with one of the most acclaimed Scotland-based contemporary artists Ilana Halperin, we have officially launched Geologic Intimacy (Yu no Hana), a new art-science project between Japanese island Kyushu and Scotland.
Photos: ‘A to/from B’ Exhibition
A to/from B – a year-long silent conversation
12 September – 3 October at Seventeen
Kaori Yamashita | Martyna Benedyka
To view a year-long silent conversation online, please click here.
To view images of the related open discussion event, please click here.
To view more on the project, please click here.
Courtesy of the artists and WAGON
Photography: Fiona Stephen
Photos: ‘A to/from B’ Discussion Event
Cultural Interchange Beyond Languages and Locations
Saturday 12 September 2-4pm at Seventeen
Speakers:
Martyna Benedyka (Artist) | Dr Leslie Mabon (Environmental Sociology, Robert Gordon University) | Chris Yuill (Sociologist, Robert Gordon University) | Caroline Gausden (Gray’s School of Art, SCAN) | Naoko Mabon (Independent Curator, WAGON)
To view a year-long silent conversation online, please click here.
To view images from A to/from B showcase, please click here.
To view more on the project, please click here.
Courtesy SCAN and WAGON
Photography: Kirsty Russell
Open Discussion Event: Cultural Interchange Beyond Languages and Locations
In partnership with Seventeen and Robert Gordon University, SCAN (Scottish Contemporary Arts Network) and WAGON are delighted to invite you to an afternoon of open discussion.
Open Discussion: Nice Dream
Nice Dream is an open discussion organised by Grampian Hospital Art Trust (GHAT) and WAGON featuring three speakers who are working within specific contexts to integrate arts into the day-to-day experience of people.
Torry Sound Project: Navigations
RINKOU-KAKU PROJECT 2015
Naoko Mabon has been invited to a talk event as part of RINKOU-KAKU PROJECT 2015.