Date: 13 Jun 2026 - 13 Jun 2026
Date: Saturday, 13 June, 2026
Time: 3:00–4:00 p.m.
Venue: Drake Gallery, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, HKU, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Language: Japanese (with interpretation in Cantonese)
Please click here to register.
Speaker
Toshio Iwai (media artist, children’s book author)
Born in 1962 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. During childhood, his mother told him she would no longer buy him toys—a moment that sparked his lifelong interest in making and creating things. He graduated from the Graduate School of Art at the University of Tsukuba in 1987 and went on to become a pioneer of media art. His work spans a wide range of fields, with notable works including the television program Ugo Ugo Ruuga, Totoro’s Bouncing exhibit at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, the Nintendo DS game Electroplankton, and the electronic musical instrument TENORI-ON, developed in collaboration with Yamaha. In 1996, his collaborative performance with Ryuichi Sakamoto won the Golden Nica at the Prix Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. From the 2000s onward, inspired by making handcrafted toys together with his daughter, he turned to picture books. His The House of 100 Stories series became hugely popular in Japan and has been translated and published in multiple languages.
This lecture, focused on the creative journey behind The House of 100 Stories, invites Toshio Iwai to share his cross-disciplinary artistic vision. As a media artist, he uses interactivity and sound to inspire storytelling; as a father, he nurtures his creativity through a childlike spirit and the warmth of companionship; as a picture book author, he builds layered worlds through delicate imagination. The lecture will explore how these three identities interweave, offering audiences a glimpse into the technology, aesthetics, and familial bonds behind his work— and illuminating the unique path his practice has taken, extending from media art into picture books, opening up new ways of experiencing his art.