The Aichi Triennale, an internationally watched recurring exhibition that takes place in Japan, has become ensnared in protests over ties between Israel and Aichi Prefecture, where the triennial takes place and which provides funding for it.
The protests center around the Aichi-Israel Matching Program, which links companies in Aichi with startups based in Israel. The point of the program is to enable to local enterprises to “find innovative technologies” via Israeli ones, per the program’s website. The program is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed between the prefecture and the Israel Innovation Authority in 2022.
While the Aichi Triennale is not formally linked to the Aichi-Israel Matching Program, both receive funding from the prefecture. An open letter circulating online urges artists participating in the triennial to “#SMASHTHEMATCH and demand the immediate cancellation of the Aichi-Israel Matching Program!” That letter says the program is “normalizing the world’s first AI-powered genocide and tech-driven Apartheid and willfully turning its businesses and workers into genocide collaborators.”
Several artists participating in this year’s edition have signed that letter, including Basel Abbas, Michael Rakowitz, Dala Nasser, and Manri Kim, founder of the Taihen performance group. Video posted to social media shows a small protest over the program during the exhibition’s opening last week.
In an email, an Aichi Triennale spokesperson told ARTnews that the show “is not directly affiliated with any other economic or industrial partnerships undertaken by the Aichi prefecture.”
This year’s edition was curated by Hoor Al-Qasimi, director of the Sharjah Art Foundation. The exhibition’s title, “A Time Between Ashes and Roses,” was borrowed from a poem by Adonis, a Palestinian writer whom she said granted her permission to use the quotation.
Qasimi has spoken about Israel’s war in Gaza during events held by the triennial. The National reported that, at the exhibition’s opening conference, she called Israel’s military action a “genocide and ethnic cleansing,” and said, “It’s been a very emotional experience. I echo many people when they say, none of us will be free until all of us are free. So, free Palestine.”
The Aichi Triennale spokesperson told ARTnews, “Aichi Triennale respects the free expression of all its participating artists to the fullest extent. ‘A Time Between Ashes and Roses’ is a platform embodying the idea that, through solidarity and our collective voices, we can foster a brighter future for generations to come.”
As in the past, this edition of the triennial was put together by an organizing committee. Since the beginning of the controversy over the Aichi-Israel Matching Program, the committee has lost one member, ARTnews has learned.
Hideyuki Tomita, president and CEO of Toho Technology, has left his post at the Aichi Triennale, the triennial spokesperson confirmed. A 2020 report states that Toho Technology “decided to focus on the Israeli startup ecosystem,” but ARTnews was not able to verify whether the company had formally participated in the Aichi-Israel Matching Program. Tomita’s involvement in the triennial had been denounced by some Palestine-focused social media accounts.
The Aichi Triennale spokesperson said that Tomita departed for “personal reasons.” ARTnews has reached out to Toho Technology for comment.
