Now in its third year, Akigawa Art Stream is an art project focused on contemporary art with six venues throughout the Akigawa River watershed, the largest tributary of the Tama River that runs through Tokyo, featuring a circuit-type exhibition and live experience. As expectations for the project have grown over the years, especially among the people living in the basin, the area has been expanded this year to include Akiruno City in addition to Hinohara Village.
In addition to village resident SUGAYA Aki (contemporary art) and other Tama living artists such as NARUSE Tsubasa (media art), Konseki-In (sculpture), and NanaAkua (design and crafts), invited artists from all over Japan, including KYUN-CHOME (contemporary art), MIYAKE Mai (contemporary art), ONISHI Chifu (paint), and TEZUKA Makoto (film), who echo the “goodness of the mountains”. The organizer,Creative Cluster, a purely private intermediary support platform, took the lead in curating exhibitions and experiences (live performances, workshops, etc.) that made local residents love being in the region and therefore co-created with the region, in venues such as old private houses and warehouses provided by local residents. This project also saw the creation of new uses for properties owned by local residents and the public that had not been used in the past, with owners and residents using them as venues for new initiatives after the exhibition.