2026.01.29
Report on “the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts,” Selected for the FY2025 Term I Artist Support Program
The National Center for Art Research (NCAR) supported the participation and production of a new work by the Japanese artist Yasura Takeshi in the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, held in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, from June to October 2025.
Founded in 1955, the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts has been held continuously for seventy years. Originally focused on printmaking and graphic arts, it has since evolved into an internationally acclaimed exhibition platform presenting diverse practices in contemporary art. The 36th edition was curated by the Spanish curator Chus Martínez, who has worked extensively with leading institutions and exhibitions worldwide, and was held under the theme “The Oracle: On Fantasy and Freedom.”
At one of the main venues, City Art Gallery Ljubljana, Yasura presented a new installation, distilled (2025). The work, a large-scale installation occupying an entire gallery, combines materials such as glass, stone, soil, and natural pigments collected by the artist in Slovenia, Japan, and elsewhere. Rooted in a sensibility informed by Japanese views of nature and animistic thought, Yasura’s practice does not propose finished forms or fixed meanings. Instead, it invites viewers to attend closely to the inherent qualities and behaviors of materials and environments, and to perceive the relationships that emerge from them. In this way, the work resonated strongly with the exhibition’s central concept of “the oracle as a site of interpretation and questioning,” attracting considerable interest from international art professionals and visitors alike.
After returning from Slovenia, Yasura presented another new installation during the autumn session of the Setouchi Triennale 2025, inspired by a rain-invocation ritual passed down on one of the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. In February 2026, he is also scheduled to hold a solo exhibition, organized by BankART1929, at a municipal wastewater treatment facility in Yokohama, continuing to expand the scope of his activities both in Japan and internationally. In conjunction with this exhibition, NCAR is planning to produce an interview with the artist as part of its Artist Talk Series, thereby continuing its support beyond the biennale to include the documentation and dissemination of the artist’s ongoing practice through a sustained and multi-layered approach.
Founded in 1955, the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts has been held continuously for seventy years. Originally focused on printmaking and graphic arts, it has since evolved into an internationally acclaimed exhibition platform presenting diverse practices in contemporary art. The 36th edition was curated by the Spanish curator Chus Martínez, who has worked extensively with leading institutions and exhibitions worldwide, and was held under the theme “The Oracle: On Fantasy and Freedom.”
At one of the main venues, City Art Gallery Ljubljana, Yasura presented a new installation, distilled (2025). The work, a large-scale installation occupying an entire gallery, combines materials such as glass, stone, soil, and natural pigments collected by the artist in Slovenia, Japan, and elsewhere. Rooted in a sensibility informed by Japanese views of nature and animistic thought, Yasura’s practice does not propose finished forms or fixed meanings. Instead, it invites viewers to attend closely to the inherent qualities and behaviors of materials and environments, and to perceive the relationships that emerge from them. In this way, the work resonated strongly with the exhibition’s central concept of “the oracle as a site of interpretation and questioning,” attracting considerable interest from international art professionals and visitors alike.
After returning from Slovenia, Yasura presented another new installation during the autumn session of the Setouchi Triennale 2025, inspired by a rain-invocation ritual passed down on one of the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. In February 2026, he is also scheduled to hold a solo exhibition, organized by BankART1929, at a municipal wastewater treatment facility in Yokohama, continuing to expand the scope of his activities both in Japan and internationally. In conjunction with this exhibition, NCAR is planning to produce an interview with the artist as part of its Artist Talk Series, thereby continuing its support beyond the biennale to include the documentation and dissemination of the artist’s ongoing practice through a sustained and multi-layered approach.
Yasura Takeshi, distilled, 2025, City Art Gallery Ljubljana. Jaka Babnik. ©MGLC Archive
