Written by JC Team
Catch genre-bending performances and international talent at this annual festival in Kyoto. It’s all in the name.
What happens?
The Kyoto Experiment Festival brings contemporary performing arts to Japan’s cultural capital.
This annual event, running since 2010, features a wide range of experimental performances and installations. Expect international and local artists to push the boundaries of theater, dance, and visual art across multiple venues. Workshops and discussions also lend an interactive element.
Schedule 2025
The festival has a different theme each year. This year’s is “nameless leaf clings to the matsutake mushroom”, which borrows from a haiku by influential poet Matsuo Bashō. It’s meant to evoke encounters with the strange and unfamiliar, and look for answers on how to coexist with them.
There are three main programs. The first is Kansai Studies, which focuses on the Kansai region. Shows presents experimental performing arts and exhibitions from around the world. Finally, Super Knowledge for the Future refers, collectively, to talks and workshops linking the arts with diverse fields.
Highlights 2025
Browse the complete list of programs here. Here’s just a few to give you an idea of what to expect:
- Sound artist Takuro Oshima collects ultrasonic and electromagnetic sounds to explore Kyoto as perceived by animals and machines. He shares his findings online and at a Kyoto Art Center exhibition.
- Tania El Khoury and historian Ziad Abu-Rish turn Lebanon’s decades-long electricity crisis into an interactive lecture-performance. Set during a blackout, the work invites participants to handle archival documents exposing the political manoeuvres, colonial entanglements, and financial schemes behind the nation’s stuttering power supply. The performance doubles as a banquet and investigative mystery.
- Cruising: Traveling Tongues brings together four artists from Taiwan, Japan, and the Philippines in a multilingual “kitchen-cum-stage,” mixing stories of food, language, and identity into a sensory performance.
Past editions
Last year’s edition revolved around the key phrase “ētto ētto“, a common Japanese expression akin to “um” or “er” in English. This symbolized the festival’s aim of exploring new perspectives in experimental performing arts.
Tickets
Purchase tickets online through the official website starting August 8 at noon. Ticket prices vary by performance. There are some free events, too.
