ARTLOGUE Inc. (Headquarters: Kita-ku, Osaka City; Representative Director and CEO: Suzuki Daisuke), together with the 2025 Japan World Exposition Association (Public Interest Incorporated Association), the Japan Arts Council (Japan Arts Council), and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, hosted the online talk event "EXPO PLL Talks Art & Impact: Thinking about the world after Expo with innovators" as part of the "Study: Osaka-Kansai International Arts Festival." The event was streamed on the official YouTube channel on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

This time, for the 16th time, we welcomed as our guest Mr. Hiroshi Sugiyama (CEO of Shinryokai Inc. / Art+Tech Producer), who is the planning director of the Signature Pavilion "Proof of Life" at the Osaka-Kansai Expo. Mr. Sugiyama, who has been involved in the launch of facilities such as "TeamLab Borderless" and "TOKYO NODE", aims to create a completely new art experience at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, based on the theme of urban memory and human dialogue.

You can watch the event on the official YouTube channel.
Viewing URL: https://youtu.be/PRx4FaWf7Oc

<Archive video>
Hiroshi Sugiyama EXPO PLL Talks "Art & Impact: Thinking about the world after the Expo with innovators" vol.16

◼︎What is "EXPO PLL Talks Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators"?

EXPO PLL Talks "Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators" is a talk event co-hosted by Art Rogue Inc., together with the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, the Japan Arts Council, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs, in preparation for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, based on the concept of realizing the theme of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, "Designing a Future Society Where Life Shines."

We will explore new possibilities for art and business through a dialogue between moderator Daisuke Suzuki (Study: General Producer of the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival) and guests active in a variety of genres regarding the questions posed about art at the Osaka Kansai International Art Festival.

[Osaka-Kansai Expo Official Channel: EXPO PLL Talks]
https://www.expo2025.or.jp/overview/expo_pll_talks/

■What is the Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025?

Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025 is an international contemporary art festival that will be held mainly in Osaka and the Kansai region from Friday, April 11th to Monday, October 13th, 2025. This year, the fourth festival will be held at the same time as the Osaka-Kansai Expo, and the venues will be symbolic locations in Osaka, such as the Osaka-Kansai Expo site (Yumeshima), Osaka Culturarium Tempozan designed by Tadao Ando, ​​Osaka Prefectural International Conference Center (Nakanoshima) designed by Kisho Kurokawa, and the Nishinari-Senba area. Taking the Osaka-Kansai Expo as an opportunity, we will create a place for new dialogue and discovery as an "art festival that studies the relationship between art, people, and society" through domestic and international art projects.

Tickets are on sale on this page
https://osaka-kansai.art/pages/ticket

◼︎Contents of Vol.16 of "EXPO PLL Talks Art & Impact: Thinking about the Post-Expo World with Innovators"

This time, for the 16th time, we welcomed as our guest Hiroshi Sugiyama (CEO of Shinryokai Inc. / Art+Tech Producer), who is the planning director of the Signature Pavilion "Proof of Life" at the Osaka-Kansai Expo. Mr. Sugiyama, who has been involved in the launch of facilities such as "TeamLab Borderless" and "TOKYO NODE", aims to create a completely new art experience at the Osaka-Kansai Expo, based on the theme of urban memory and human dialogue.

<Excerpts from the talk at the event>
・Setting up art in the city - Mori Building's challenge and its perspective as an "ally of artists"
Sugiyama's career has been consistent in creating "experiential art" in the city. As a student, he was deeply interested in the relationship between urban space and people, and was immersed in creating works that combined art and technology, such as performing guerrilla art expressions in the city.
After that, he joined Mori Building and was involved in urban development projects such as Roppongi Hills and Toranomon Hills, focusing on designing points of contact between artists and cities. In particular, he led the planning of the Mori Building Digital Art Museum: EPSON teamLab Borderless together with teamLab, the world's largest experiential art facility.
Sugiyama has always considered himself an ally of artists and has worked hard to create an environment where artists can use the city freely. He creates spaces that are not just "places to display artworks," but "where the space itself becomes a work of art." His unique approach, which involves "experience design" that allows viewers to actively immerse themselves in the experience, transcends the boundaries of art, entertainment, and urban development.

・"Dialogue and Memory" at the Expo ~ "Proof of Life" pavilion renovated from an old school building ~
At the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, Sugiyama will be involved in the overall design of the architecture and experiences at the signature pavilion "Testimony of Life," produced by Naomi Kawase, as the planning director.
Rather than building a new building from scratch, this pavilion was created by dismantling and relocating a closed wooden school building. The design allows visitors to immerse themselves in a "space filled with memories," allowing them to experience emotions and nostalgia that transcend time and space.
Inside, an installation will be set up in which the audience will have a 10-minute conversation with "someone" through a screen. In a situation where you don't know who the other person is or where they are, this will visualize the pure connection between people. Through Naomi Kawase's "unscripted film"-like direction, the structure will highlight the "humanness" and "relationships" that cannot be replaced by AI or VR.
Sugiyama describes the pavilion as "art created by everyone," proposing that the experience of inheriting memories and fostering dialogue is what creates new value in art.

Viewing URL
https://youtu.be/PRx4FaWf7Oc

■Speaker Profile

Hiroshi Sugiyama

Shingen Co., Ltd. CEO / Art+Tech Producer
After serving as director of the "MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: EPSON teamLab Borderless" in 2018, he will serve as planning manager for "TOKYO NODE" at Toranomon Hills in 2023, where he will work on successive experiential exhibitions with Rhizomatiks and Mika Ninagawa.
He will be the planning director for the Signature Pavilion "Testimony of Life" at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, and the thematic business hall and exhibition director for the 2027 Yokohama International Horticultural Expo, where he will create new experiences and produce facilities.
Born into a family of cultural figures, his grandfathers were the Japanese painter Yasushi Sugiyama, who was awarded the Order of Culture, and the architect Yoshiro Taniguchi. His uncles were the architect Yoshio Taniguchi and the novelist Yukio Mishima.

Daisuke Suzuki, Founder and General Producer of the Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival

Born on Culture Day, November 3, 1977. After participating in a research project at the Global COE of the Osaka City University Urban Research Plaza, he started his own company. He won the Good Design Award in 2014, was a finalist in the 2015 Kyoto University GTEP Program (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), and won the OIH Award for global innovation at the 2016 Miraino Pitch (business contest: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Kinki Regional Bureau of Telecommunications).
On July 7, 2017, he founded Artlogue Inc. with the vision of "Arts for Human and Planet" and became its CEO.
"Study: Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival" will be held in January and February 2022, with the aim of establishing the world's largest "Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival" to coincide with the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.
An art innovator who aims to create a better society through the use of art.

■ List of past speakers

"EXPO PLL Talks" has invited guests active in a variety of fields, as listed below, to explore new possibilities in art and business from their respective perspectives.

vol.1: Nanjo Fumio (Special Advisor, Mori Art Museum), Hirata Oriza (Playwright and Director)
https://youtu.be/x_wEYV-IxI0?si=CGhcl1N4aShJhyym
vol.2: Takeo Obayashi (Chairman and CEO of Obayashi Corporation)
https://youtu.be/wea0OXPJ08g?si=R5tyq_ympoeruSb1
vol.3: Michiko Ogawa (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
https://youtu.be/QU3NyL9Uamo?si=vM33Rr53YUE0Gau0
vol.4: Yoichi Ochiai (media artist)
https://youtu.be/ayO0dY1g37Y?si=-kAsXCUf4KCcSSBM
vol.5: Tomoko Ukishima (Member of the House of Representatives)
https://youtu.be/a_rLbcL9qWw?si=HsZm4Bli2dID-K2g
vol.6: Hirohisa Sato (CEO of Balnivani Co., Ltd.)
https://youtu.be/5nUynWR9K70?si=fasNPjBacXGxWWLV
vol.7: Akira Tatehata (art critic/poet)
https://youtu.be/7leuPdCO624?si=g4sUfLtdo7dzfKpM
vol.8: Ussouby Sacho (President of Kyoto Seika University)
https://youtu.be/jmMSwKfaKVM?si=4s3CGITYeDTgHIHJ
vol.9: Naomi Kawase (Film Director)
https://youtu.be/Oe4YS5hnHN8?si=pwfHVsBAbhga4ehr
vol.10: Yuko Hasegawa (Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art)
(※Preparation for release in progress)
vol.11: Ousby Sakho (President of Kyoto Seika University, Vice Chairman of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo), Takayuki Sakakida (Chairman of the Kyoto Shinkin Bank)
https://youtu.be/h12z7X9kR2E?si=4Z4SnDSJ0YrX6efg
vol.12 Takahiro Miura (CEO, The Breakthrough Company GO)
https://youtu.be/nkNZMCzAjyg?si=THY0MuAxfTckJKRE
vol.13: Masamichi Toyama (CEO of Smiles Co., Ltd./CEO of The Chain Museum Co., Ltd.)
https://youtu.be/6NkNaZsTCNk?si=opSCQg-EOyBYCdqe
vol.14: Terumi Yamaguchi (Mayor of Minato Ward, Osaka City)
https://youtu.be/U_QKbS3C-wI?si=C2pBrT3Sh8n9BIQ_
vol.15: Kenji Kohashi (Producer of the Osaka-Kansai Expo)
https://youtu.be/muvqr8hdiBs?si=rSAY_94ktYXEeqp8

 

We will continue to hold talk events with a variety of guests to build momentum for the Expo.

■Company Profile

"Study: Osaka Kansai International Arts Festival 2025"
Official website: https://osaka-kansai.art/

ARTLOGUE Inc.
・Representative: Artlogue Inc. CEO Daisuke Suzuki ・Head office location: Kita-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture ・Established: July 7, 2017 ・Business operations: Planning and management of "Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival" / Planning and management of web media "ARTLOGUE" and "Art Tourism"

■ Contact Information

Study: Osaka Kansai International Art Festival Public Relations Office
study-pr@artlogue.org