March 17 (Tue) – April 19 (Sun), 2026
Opening hours: 11:00–19:00 (last entry 18:45)
Closed: Mondays
＜Exhibition Outline＞
This exhibition presents MIYAJIMA Ryotaro’s contemporary practice and aesthetics based on pinscreen, an animation apparatus originally invented in the 1930s.
The program features a screening of REST, a film created using this French-invented device, alongside a display of the actual instrument used in its production. It also introduces the development of a new apparatus constructed with needles manufactured in Hiroshima.
《REST》 2025, Pinscreen Animation
When immersed in the contours swelling and waning in the forest of needles, the mundane world drifts away, and we only live to breathe.
©MIYAJIMA FILM
＜Artist’s Statement＞
Pinscreen, a unique animation device developed in the 1930s, is often described as an entity existing between the analog and the digital, its myriad standing pins likened to pixels.
In an era where mainstream animation is dominated by the division of labor and efficient digital production, the potential of pinscreen depends entirely on the sensibilities of those who engage with the apparatus.
This exhibition presents pinscreen not as a completed classical technique of the past, but as a medium in a constant state of flux. Through actual film production and the development of a new Japanese model, the artist demonstrates that pinscreen is still evolving.
＜Artist Biography＞
MIYAJIMA Ryotaro
Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Intermedia Art in 2015. In 2017, MIYAJIMA completed the animation major at the same university. In 2025, he received a doctorate in film from the same university.
The works RADIO WAVE, AEON, CASTLE, and others have won 20 awards and have been selected for over 150 film festivals.
Website: http://miyajimaryotaro.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MiyajimaRyotaro
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miyajimaryotaro
X: https://x.com/MiyajimaRyotaro
＜Past Exhibition＞
2025 Los Angeles Animation Festival, Silver Award – International Experimental Short, Los Angeles, USA (Film: REST)
2020 Japan Media Arts Festival, Jury Selection, Tokyo, Japan (Film: CASTLE)
2020 International Animation Festival in Japan – HIROSHIMA, Best of the World Program, Hiroshima, Japan (Film: CASTLE)
2019 New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner’s Award, Hokkaido, Japan (Film: CASTLE)
2017 Animafest Zagreb, Official Selection, Zagreb, Croatia (Film: AEON)
2016 Bucheon International Animation Festival, DHL Diversity Prize, Bucheon, South Korea (Film: RADIO WAVE)
＜Past works＞
《CASTLE》 2019, Drawing on paper with Japanese ink
Synopsis: During the Sengoku (Warring States) period, many lives were lost. A castle architect discovers how a tea room can serve as a place for warriors to regain humanity.
©MIYAJIMA ANIMATION
《AEON》 2017, Drawing on paper with Japanese ink
©2017 MIYAJIMA Ryotaro / Tokyo University of the Arts
《RADIO WAVE》 2016, Drawing on paper with Japanese ink
Synopsis: Encoded broadcasts were prominently used during the Cold War. While tuning a radio in the snowy mountains, a boy happens to pick up a shortwave of codes.
©2016 MIYAJIMA Ryotaro / Tokyo University of the Arts
