Weaving Memories into the Future! Art Project in Motoko, Kobe

The art project “MOTOKOLOGY” started on July 12 in Motokoro (Motomachi Elevated Street Shopping Arcade, under the elevated JR Motomachi Station) in Chuo Ward, Kobe City. The period will last until March 31 next year.

Motokoro is a place where various cultures such as fashion, secondhand records, used books, and machichuka (traditional townhouses) have overlapped, starting from the black market in the postwar period.

Before the demolition, the project was planned to create an opportunity for the city government, businesses, universities, residents, outside artists, and people who pass by on a daily basis to reexamine the “relationship between places and people” and to create a vision of the future for the next generation through dialogue and trial and error. The name of the project is “Motoko.

The project name is a coined word that combines “motoko” and the suffix “-logy,” meaning “study. It is not an exhibition or an art festival, but rather an art project that contains ambiguity that can be understood in terms of community development, allowing visitors to share what they discover and what they leave behind as they choose.

MeIN|Akashi|Futami|Kids|Dance|Since 2016

Participating artist for July: Haruka Yamada

Various artists participate in the project each month, and in mid-July, artist Haruka Yamada will complete 《Sun of the City》, a sundial work on the exterior wall of Motoko 1, which is currently being created by artist Haruka Yamada.

Participating artists for August and September: contact Gonzo Participating artists for October: Fukusanbussan Ten

The venue will host a variety of programs including workshops, art exhibitions, sales, food and beverage, and initiatives by university laboratories. The project will be supported by Keisuke Tamura (producer) and Mirai Moriyama (director) of Villages, Inc.

Mirai Moriyama (Artist in Residence Kobe)

In addition, monthly roundtable discussions with invited guests will be held at the “Motoko Study” dialogue forum, where discussions will be held from a variety of perspectives, including art, community, history, and urban development. It is hoped that the dialogue accumulated through these daily trials and involvement will provide hints for the next generation’s vision of Motoko.

Detailed Information

Period: Saturday, July 12, 2025 – Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Location: Motomachi – Shinshu Station elevated area (Motokoro), Wards 1 and 2
(1-2 Motomachi Elevated Street, Chuo-ku, Kobe City)
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