UMEDA TETSUYA
Umeda produces installations that are inspired by and incorporate existing elements found in the environment and circumstances surrounding the exhibition space including its architectural structure. In addition to exhibitions in museums and art institutions, he has produced numerous site-specific works based on the context of both urban spaces and the natural environment. Performance works are presented in Japan and abroad, such as tours inviting the audience to unfamiliar places, stage works focusing on functions found in theaters, and chorus projects without a center point. He is also internationally renowned as a leading artist in the field of sound art.
His solo exhibitions are “wait this is my favorite part” (The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, 2023-2024), “Tetsuya Umeda in BEPPU “0 Tai” (Oita, Japan, 2020-2021) “On the origin of voices” (Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, 2019-2020), and “See, Look at Observed what Watching is” (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, USA, 2016). Also, he has taken part in numerous international exhibitions including “Oku-Noto Triennale 2023” (Suzu, Japan, 2023), “REBORN ART FESTIVAL” (Ishinomaki, Japan, 2019 and 2021-022), “Saitama Triennale 2020” (Saitama, Japan) and “Taiwan East Coast Land Arts Festival 2018” (Dulan, Taiwan).
His performance works in recent years are “Riverwalk” (KYOTO EXPERIMENT 2022, Kyoto, Japan), “Age0, September” (Takatsuki Contmporary Theater, Osaka, Japan, 2022), “Composite: Variations/Circle” (Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2017, Brussels, Belgium), and “INTERNSHIP” (Asia Cultural Center, Gwangju, South Korea, 2016 and TPAM 2018, KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater, Yokohama, Japan).
Solo Exhibitions
2023
- wait this is my favorite part, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
2022
- Black, Transparent, Token Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
- 「 」, OTA FINE ARTS 7CHOME, Tokyo, Japan
- Tetsuya Umeda in Beppu “0 Tai”, Beppu, Japan
- AMARI, Aoisou, Beppu, Japan
2021
- Tetsuya Umeda in Beppu “0 Tai”, Beppu, Japan
- Book “0 Tai” published, T&M Projects
2020
- Tetsuya Umeda in Beppu “0 Tai”, Beppu, Japan
- On the origin of voices, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
2019
- On the origin of voices, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
2016
- See, Look at Observed what Watching is, PICA/ Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, USA
- Almost over, Always around, Ota Fine Arts Singapore
2015
- SCIENCE DE LA SUPERSTITION, Instants Chavires, Montreuil, France
2014
- Age0, Breaker Project, Osaka, Japan
2013
- HOTEL NEW OSOREZAN, Ota Fine Arts Singapore
2012
- waiting room, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2011
- show big things as if they were small, Kobe Art Village Center, Hyogo, Japan
- small things that it seems big, Shin FUKUJUSO, Osaka, Japan
- it was moving at first, VOX building/Art Project Room Art Zone, Kyoto, Japan
2010
- counter image number system, Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Aomori, Japan
- DEADSTOCK, LABORATORY, Kyoto, Japan
2009
- Science of Superstition, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan *Nu, AD&A gallery, Osaka, Japan
- ●, shin-bi, Kyoto, Japan
2008
- Electrical Behavior, Sendai Mediatheque, Miyagi
- CRITERIUM73 Tetsuya Umeda, Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, Ibaraki, Japan
- Mon(), ARCUS STUDIO, Ibaraki
2007
- Shizuka-nu, ZAIM, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
2006
- Shizuka-nu, art space tetra, Fukuoka, Japan
Selected Group Exhibitions, Festivals
EXHIBITION●, PERFORMANCE○, LIVE/CONCERT◇
2023
- Oku-Noto Triennale 2023, Suzu, Japan●
- ROOTS & ARTS SHIRAOI, Hokkaido, Japan●○
- New Fune 23, Doujima River, Higashi Yokobori River, Kizu River, Osaka, Japan○
2022
- GARAGE SAILING」with John Richards (Dirty Electronics), Tim Shaw and Kanta Horio, Do a Front, Yamaguchi, Japan●○
- Spiral River, Sumida River, Tokyo, Japan○
- Riverwalk, KYOTO EXPERIMENT2022, Kyoto, Japan○
- ROOTS&ARTS SHIRAOI 202, Shiraoi, Japan●
- REBORN ART FESTIVAL2021-2022, Ishinomaki, Japan●
- Age0, September, Takatsuki Contemporary Theater, Takatsuki, Japan○
- Uber Pots / TERRACOTTA EMBASSY ACTIVATION BY JATIWANGI ART FACTORY DOCUMENTA FIFTEEN, Kassel, Germany○
- Exhibitions of New Collections, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan●
2021
- Uber New Fune, Agoraphobia, Sumida River, Tokyo, Japan○
- Field Action in Ishinomaki, Ishinomaki, Japan○
2020
- Floor 0, 0 Times, Saitama Triennale 2020, Former Omiya ward office, Omiya, Japan●○
- PLAYTIME/PRAYTIME, Bunkamura Theater Cocoon, Tokyo, Japan○ *Concept and direction
- RhythmScape, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Canada●
- Pijin Neji & Tetsuya Umeda, Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama 2020, w.More Jimin & Akira the Hustler, Yokohama, Japan○
guest performance
- Pijin Neji “Dress Code”, Theater E9, Kyoto, Japan *Choreography
2019
- PuSh Festival 2019, Vancouver, Canada○
- TECTONICS ATHENS 2019, Former Athens Stock Exchange, Athens, Greece○
- Agosto Foundation: mediateka Tetsuya Umeda: solo performance, Stone Bell House, Prague, Czech Republic○
- Tetsuya Umeda Performance, LOM space, Bratislava, Slovakia○
- Homo Novus 2019, Tu jau zini Kur., Riga, Latvia○
- Umeda + Sawa, OTA FINE ARTS Shanghai, OTA FINE ARTS Singapore Singapore ●○
- New Fune 19, Honmachi port to Chiyozaki port, Osaka, Japan○
- REBORN ART FESTIVAL 2019, near Dowameki lighthouse, Aji Island, Ishinomaki, Japan●○
- Aichi Triennale 2019 MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVA, Aichi Arts Center, Nagoya, Japan◇
- Composite, Kobe Art Village Center, Kobe, Japan○
- BnA Alter Museum Permanent Exhibition, Kyoto, Japan●
guest performance
- carry on, Internasjonale Teaterfestival, Oslo, Norway
2018
- Tectonics Glasgow 2018, Old Fruit Market, Glasgow, Scotland◇
- Wiesbaden Biennale 2018, New City Passage, Wiesbaden, Germany●○ *Collaboration with Yosuke Amemiya
- Taiwan East Coast Land Arts Festival 2018, Dulan, Taiwan●
- INTERNSHIP, Tokyo Performing Arts Meeting 2018, KAAT Kanagawa Arts Hall, Yokohama, Japan○
- Ship/2017, Honmachi port to Chiyozaki port, Osaka, Japan○ ※In March 2018
- FORT PROCESS 2018,Newhaven Fort, Sussex, UK○
- Ringo, RIMI/IMIR SceneKunst, Stavanger, Norway○
- Creative Dialogues with Museum Spacing/Experience What can happen there?, Tottori Prefectural Museum, Tottori●○
- ALIEN DISKO #3, Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich, Germany◇
- SACRIFICIAL FLOORS, The Northern Charter, Centrala, iklectil, Arnolfini, Newcastle, Birmingham, London, Bristol, UK◇○
- Phantom of Media Art, The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media[YCAM], Yamaguchi, Japan○
- ICECREAM MUSIC, Oto Bldg. Osaka, Japan○
guest performance
- carry on, Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki, Tou Scene, Stavanger, Norway○
- Yusuke Nishimitsu NEW Photography, Chidori Bunka, Osaka, Japan○
- hyslom・Floating, sinking, going, and coming back, Kyoto Seika University Gallery Terra-S, Kyoto, Japan○
- 2017
- Ship2017, Yodo River, Oh Riber, Neya Riber, Doujima River, Shirinashi River, Kizu River, Osaka bay and Hosono Bldg., Osaka, Japan○●
- RhythmScape Tokyo, Korean Cultural Center, Tokyo, Japan●
- Sapporo International Art Festival 2917, Kinichikan Bldg., Ringo, Sapporo, Japan ●○
- THE SUBSTATION Tetsuya Umeda, Melbourne, Australia○
- LIVEWORKS 2017, Carriageworks, Sydney, Australia○
- SEND+RECIEVE A Festival of Sound v.19 2017, Winnipeg, Canada◇○
- MONO 25: UMEDA + MANNING, IMA, Brisbane, Australia○
- Composite: VARIATIONS (element), SCOOL, Tokyo, Japan○
- Composite Variations/Circle, KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS, BRASS/GC Ten Weyngaert, Brussels, Belgium○
- Composite: VARIATIONS (element), Soto, Kyoto, Japan○
- second edition festival for other music, Reaktorhallen, Stockholm, Sweden◇○
- Around the test, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto, Japan○
- Field Action, Moerenuma Park, Sapporo, Japan○●
2016
- Seven Ships, Higashi-Yokobori River – Dotonbori river ‒Kizu river, Osaka, Japan○
- Hinterland – HIRAKI SAWA and TETSUYA UMEDA, Roaming Room, London, UK●
- Doing history!, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan●
- minus20degree Art & Architecture Winter Biennale, Flachau, Austria○
- REAL DEAL – behördlich genehmigtes Festival für falsche Zustellungen, Neues Hafengelände, Vienna, Austria○
- OUR MASTERS, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, Korea○
- ALLNIGHT HAPS 2015 “DEMO”, HAPS/ Higashiyama Artists Placement Service, Kyoto, Japan●
- FUSE BOX The 2016 Festival, Museum of Human Achievement, Austin, USA○
- It Was Moving At First, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, USA○
- Performance – Tetsuya Umeda. REDCAT, Los Angles, USA○
It been moving at first, OLD FREEMAN FACTORY, Portland, USA○
- Nettai Music Festival in Totsukawa○
- Kyoto Experiment 2016 Spring○
guest performance
- “carry on” Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki, festival bit-teatergarasjen, Sentralbadet, Bergen, Norway○
- OTOASOBI PROJECT 10th Anniversary, Xebec Hall, Kobe, Japan○
2015
- Sounds of Us, TRAFÓ HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, Budapest, Hungary●
- Festival Tsonami 2015, Arte Sonoro, Valparaíso, Chilli●○
- Contemporary Art Stream 2015 《RhythmScape》, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, Korea●
- Nose-Den Art Lines 2015, Mount Myoken-zan, Hyogo, Japan●
- Five Ships, Yodo river ‒ Kizu river, Osaka, Japan○
- Japan Media Arts Festival, Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture REIMEIKAN●
- CULTURETOPIA Digital Art & Culture Festival, Penang State Museum & Art Gallery, Penang, Malaysia●○
- DRIFT A series of experimental sound project Project #3 ACCIDENT, BACC, Bangkok, Thailand○
- composite, Quezon Hall, UP Diliman, Manila, Philippines○
- Sonic Protest 2015, Évreux, Lille, Marseille, Bordeaux/London, France/UK○
- Taktung Festival 2015, Aufführungen, Zurich, Switzerland○
- Performa 70 HONMOKU, HONMOKU AREA-2, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan○
- *Otodate in Wakayama AKIO SUZUKI + TETSUYA UMEDA, Wakayama, Japan○
guest performance/ installation
- “distant voices – carry on” ~Aoyama Syakkei Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki, Spiral Hall, Tokyo, Japan○
2014
- Playmaking, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan●
- Transi(en)t Manila, projectglocal, Manila, Philippines●
- KUNISAKI ART FESTIVAL “The Principle of Hope”, Former Kakadi town hall, Oita, Japan●
- DIG∞AKITA Japan Media Art Festival, Akita, Kakunodate, Akita, Japan●
- Neo Classic! Kakunodate, Kakunodate, Akita, Japan●
- Soundpocket – Around Sound Art Festival 2014, Kwun Tong Ferry Pier, Hong Kong●
- Theater Spektakel, Rote Fabrik, Zurich, Switzerland○
- Noorderzon, The Noorderkerk northern church, Groningen, the Netherlands○
- Around sound art festival 2014, Kyotango City, Kyoto, Japan○
- One Week Tenisscoats, SuperDeluxe, Tokyo, Japan ○
- DARUMA-SAN-GA-KORONDA : silent mob, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan○
2013
- Towada Oirase Art Festival 2013, Towada Art Center + Oirase Area, Aomori, Japan●
- Nose-Den Art Lines 2013, Mount Myoken-zan, Hyogo, Japan●
- MEDIA/ART KITCHEN Manila, Ayala Museum, Philippines●
- MEDIA/ART KITCHEN Bangkok, BACC, Thailand●
- soundpocket, soundpocket-office/Kadoorie Farm, HongKong● WORLD NEW MUSIC DAYS, Vienna, Austria○
- element bent lynchpin, ESCOLTA, Manila, Philippines○
- Artificial Nature, vacant, Tokyo, Japan○
guest performance
REYKJAVÍK DANCE FESTIVAL, w.contact Gonzo, Reykjavík, Iceland○
2012
- Namura Art Meeting’04-’34 VIL.04, Namura/Creative Center Osaka, Osaka●
- Double Vision: Contemporary Art from Japan, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel●
- Double Vision: Contemporary Art from Japan, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow●
- x_sound: John Cage, Nam June Paik and After, NJP Art Center, Yongin, Korea●
- Tetsuya Umeda<>Ross Manning, KICK CONTEMPORARY ART, Cairns, Australia●
- Son et Lumière, et sagesse profonde, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan●
- Festival Bo:m, National Theater Company of Korea, Seoul, Korea○
- Unlimited26, Alter Schlachthof, Wels, Austria○
- Festival DENSITE’S 2012, Fresnes-en-Woëvre, France○
- Collaboration with exonemo “UMEX”, IDPW+FUCA, Fukuoka, Japan●
- MONO11 Tetsuya Umeda, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia○
- Umeda Tetsuya & Tenniscoats, Signal, Malmö○
- Färgfest2012, STIGEN FRISKOLA, Färgelanda, Sweden○
- Performance, guling street avant-garde theatre, Taipei, Taiwan○
- TRASH, BOX, MUSIC, Yokohama Museum of Art , Kanagawa, Japan○
2011
- Roundly Unnamed, Matsumoto City Museum of Art, Nagano, Japan●
- Simple Interactions. Sound Art from Japan, Museum of Contemporary Art Roskilde, Denmark●
- Sapporo Pre-Biennale Contemporary Art Exhibition 2011, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan●
- Tetsuya Umeda, café OTO, London, UK○
- Michael Vorfeld / Tetsuya Umeda, Mica Moca, Berlin, Germany ○
2010
- The Doors of Perception II, Kiraku-tei, Toyota, Aichi, Japan●
- Resonance, Suntory Museum, Osaka, Japan●
- AICHI TRIENNALE 2010, FUTABA building, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan●
- Tetsuya Umeda Performance, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan○
- Out of Place, Out of Time, Out of Performance, NJP Art Center, Yongin, Korea○
- DEADSPACE, art project room ARTZONE, Kyoto, Japan●
guest performance
- Ableart Onstage Collabo Theater Festival 2010, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan○
- AICHI TRIENNALE 2010 contact Gonzo collaboration with Tetsuya Umeda, Aichi Arts Center, Japan○
- YCAM performance lounge #5 contact Gonzo collaboration with Tetsuya Umeda / Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM), Yamaguchi Japan○
2009
- CORDED CULTURES, Museums Quartier, Vienna, Austria●
- in the landscape, Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto, Japan●
- ensembles’09, Chiyoda-ku Rensei Junior high school, Tokyo, Japan●
- moids 2.0, Houryuan, Yamaguchi, Japan●
- Takamatsu Contemporary Art Annual vol.00, Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, Japan●
- Tetsuya Umeda 3days guests: Seiichi Yamamoto, Tenisscoats, shin-bi, Kyoto, Japan○
- HAZMI, vacant , Tokyo, Japan○
- Tetsuya Umeda from Osaka to Sapporo, Old Kobetsuzawa Tunnel, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan○
- Tetsuya Umeda a la Felpa, La Felpa, Barcelona, Spain○
2008
- Media Art Tango, Maizuru Chiegura, Kyoto, Japan●
- Extended Senses, NTT Inter Communication Center, Tokyo, Japan●
- Ohgaki Biennial ’08, Ohgaki City Street, Gifu, Japan●
- RELAY, AD&A Gallery, Osaka, Japan●
- Extended Senses, Alt Space Loop, Seoul, Korea●
- Picnic or Recurrent Migration, Kumamoto city contemporary art museum, Kumamoto, Japan●
- Uchu-no-tamago, pia NPO, Osaka, Japan●
- MUSIQUES VOLANTES, Les Trinitaires, Metz, France○
- Festival DENSITE’S 2008, Fresnes-en-Woëvre, France○●
- YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2008 “RISING TUNES”, Ring Dome○
2007
- Aoba Ennichi II, Sendai Mediatheque, Miyagi, Japan●
- OPENPOOL, BRIDGE, Osaka, Japan●
- view masters Melbourne Mix, Nankai Railway Hamadera-Kouen Station Gallery, Osaka, Japan●
- Sound Effect Seoul2007, Songwon Art Center, Seoul, Korea●
- 11th Festival Beyond Innocence2007~FINAL~, BRIDGE, Osaka, Japan○
- Blurrr, The Center for Contemporary art, Tel Aviv, Israel○
- pacific perspective performance, San Francisco. Art. Institute, USA○
- Conducted a residence project waitool sounds in San Francisco, California, U.S.○
- KITAKYUSHU BIENNIAL ’07 Keynote sounds / Multilayered Realms, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan○
- UNDERGROUND – Adventure in the Darkness Created by Imagination and Science, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo, Japan●
2006
- Place that links to somewhere, Osaka Port Red Brick Warehouse, Osaka, Japan●
- piano,piano, Osaka Port Red Brick Warehouse, Osaka, Japan●
- Freeing the mind, Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto, Japan●
- the listening project, Slade Research Center, London, UK●
- Instal, The Arches, Glasgow, Scotland○
- 10th Festival Beyond Innocence2006, BRIDGE, Osaka, Japan○
- Technoporitan Museum, Nihonbashi electric town, Osaka, Japan●
- dorkbot TΩKYΩ in National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, Tokyo, Japan○
2005
- Sound Art Lab.2005 ”Sun and Escape”, Osaka Port Red Brick Warehouse, Osaka, Japan●
- 9th Festival Beyond Innocence2005, BRIDGE(大阪)○
- View Masters, Osaka Port Red Brick Warehouse, Osaka, Japan ○
- map presents Channel22 feat.Joanna Newsom & Smog, NOON, Osaka, Japan●
- Enban Jamboree, Shibuya O-Nest, Tokyo, Japan○
2004
- festival communimusica 04 “Experimental Intersound”, Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM), Yamaguchi, Japan○
- 8th Festival Beyond Innocence, BRIDGE, Osaka, Japan (join in 2002-2007) ○
Performance at Festivals
- KUNSTENFESTIVALDESARTS (Brussels)
- Theater Spektakel (Zürich)
- LIVEWORKS (Sydney)
- Noorderzon The Noorderkerk (Groningen)
- FUSE BOX (Austin)
- TSONAMI (Valparaiso)
- Festival Bo:m (Seoul)
- Blurrr (Tel Aviv)
- Sonic Protest (Paris)
- MUSIQUES VOLANTES (Metz)
- Unlimited (Wels)
- OUR MASTERS (Gwangju)
- Out of Place,Out of Time,Out of Performance (Yongin)
- Festival DENSITE’S (Fresnes-en-Woëvre)
- festival for other music (Stockholm)
- SEND + RECIEVE (Winnipeg)
- Instal (Glasgow)
- Festival Beyond Innosence (Osaka)
- minus20degree Art & Architecture Winter Biennale (Flachau)
- REAL DEAL (Vienna)
- Taktung (Zürich)
- DA & C (Penang)
- Sound Pocket (HongKong)
As a guest performer
- REYKJAVÍK DANCE FESTIVAL w.contact Gonzo (Reykjavík )
- festival bit-teatergarasjen w.Heine Avdal & Yukiko Shinozaki (Bergen)
Publishing
- 0 Tai, T&M Press, 2021
- On the origin of voices, Fukuoka Art Museum, 2019
- New Fune, 7 ships organizing committee, 2018
Discography
- Horio Kanta + Umeda Tetsuya – viewKoma2
- DVD video, 2011
- Tetsuya Umeda – DEADSTOCK
- LABORATRY, DVD video, 2010
- Tetsuya Umeda – ○, ton-2-001
- ton-2 record, DVD video and audio CD, 2009
- Tetsuya Umeda – ocket, IMJ-701
- Improvised Music from Japan 2005, IMFJ, audio CD, 2005
- 10inch analogue record – Waves in a Cave
- Plasticine
- Saya, Ueno, Umeda, Ikuro – MOERE, mk-31
- majikick 2008, audio CD, 2008
- Kasumi Trio, Tsunashi, mk-33
- majikick 2009, audio CD, 2008