Naoko Uchima – Okinawan curator in residence

Naoko Uchima is an art curator and coordinator from Okinawa. She came to Wrocław and other cities in Poland for a study visit as part of a grant received from the Okinawa Arts Council. The purpose of her trip was to establish contacts and build collaborations in the field of art and cultural exchange between Okinawa and Poland.

‘This was my second visit to Wrocław, during which I attended the New Horizons International Film Festival and visited exhibitions in Wrocław, Krakow and Warsaw. The purpose of my stay was to do more research on the history and art scene and to establish contacts for future cooperation between Okinawa (Japan) and Poland,’ says the resident.

In Warsaw, Naoko Uchima visited the Zachęta National Gallery of Art and met with curator Maria Brewińska and artists Aleksandra Nowysz, Anja Franczak and Agnieszka Brzeżańska. She visited Raster Gallery, POLIN Museum and the National Museum. She travelled to Krakow with the director of BWA Wrocław, Maciej Bujko. There, together with curators and employees of cultural institutions, they visited galleries and museums: Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology (with curator Katarzyna Nowak), MuFo Rakowicka Museum of Photography in Krakow (with curator Agnieszka Olszewska), as well as MOCAK and Bunkier Sztuki.

In Wrocław, the Okinawan curator visited exhibitions connected with the mBank New Horizons Festival: KROKI / STEPS at Studio BWA, Entropia Gallery and Krupa Gallery, as well as Norman Leto’s exhibition at 66P. She met the director of New Horizons Cinema, Daniel Ratuszniak, and attended the festival. At the WRO Art Centre, she met with artistic director Piotr Krajewski as well as Paweł Janicki and Dominika Kluszczyk. She met the curators of all the BWA Wrocław galleries and had many meetings with artists and people from the cultural world, including Jakub Jan Robaszewski, Łukasz Rusznica and a curator from the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Opole, Magda Wolnicka, who has been to Okinawa several times during the Ricca Ricca festival.

The knowledge and contacts gained during the residency in Wrocław and other cities in Poland will serve as the basis for an artistic residency programme for Polish and Japanese artists.

NAOKO UCHIMA – independent curator, coordinator and researcher. Born 1974 in Okinawa, Japan. She lived in the U.K. from 1997 to 2011, where she studied photography and fine art at Westminster Kingsway College. In London she founded the “London Okinawa Day” culture festival that started in 2009. After working for photographer Mao Ishikawa and print artist Woodblock Bokunen Naka, in 2013 she started working at OCVB Okinawa Film Office where she was responsible for overseas promotion. In 2016, she become a freelance curator and representative of ESM Okinawa. She has co-curated and produced a number of international art and culture projects. In 2020, she co-founded AIO (Art Initiative Okinawa) together with Titus Spree, Associate Professor of Art in Education Faculty, University of the Ryukyus. She is currently the managing director of AIO.

The residency was supported by Okinawa Prefectural Government, Okinawa Prefectural Foundation for Cultural Promotion – The Project to Support the Creation and Sharing of Okinawan Culture and Arts in FY2024. The aim of the program is to create future collaboration and cultural exchange through an overseas residency programme.