From left: Landscape Design Director KUTSUNA Hiroki; Asahi Group Japan, Ltd. CEO and President HAMADA Kenji; Theme Producer MIYATA Hiroaki; Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition Deputy Secretary General TAKASHINA Jun; Expo Site Design Producer FUJIMOTO Sou
/
At Expo 2025, Osaka, Kansai, Japan (hereinafter referred to as “the Expo”), which will open in April 2025, the “Forest of Tranquillity Installation” will be installed at the venue as part of the “Art Expo,” part of the “Future Society Showcase Project.” Prior to the event, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Expo held a press conference on Wednesday, 12 March, 2025, with Theme Producer MIYATA Hiroaki and others to announce the details.
The Forest of Tranquillity is located at the centre of the Expo site as a symbol of the Expo’s theme, “Designing Future Society for our Lives” and visitors can freely stroll through it. Around 1,500 trees, including ones thinned from Expo’70 Commemorative Park and other parks around Osaka Prefecture, surround a central pond with a diameter of about 20 m. The space symbolises co-creation with eco-systems by revitalising the dying life of nearby forests. The forest also represents diversity with its variety of naturally grown trees and serves to connect the various Pavilions at the Expo site. The design was handled by Expo Site Producer and architect FUJIMOTO Sou and Landscape Design Director KUTSUNA Hiroki. The project is sponsored by Asahi Group Japan Ltd.
The Forest of Tranquillity will provide an art experience that coexists with the forest based on the seven themes of the Expo’s Theme Weeks. The exhibition will feature works by five world-renowned artists curated by Producer MIYATA and HASEGAWA Yuko and will be available to view and experience in the tranquil forest where new life sprouts. The featured artists are ONO Yoko, Leandro ERLICH, Tomás SARACENO, Pierre HUYGHE, Stefano MANCUSO and PNAT. Through the symbolism of the forest and art works, visitors will be able to experience how humans can combine nature, technology, and culture and feel the “brilliance of life” at the Expo site. We propose that the Expo be redefined not as a simple showcase for technology, but as a place that asks the fundamental question, “How do we shape the future amidst the rhythms of life?”
In addition, in conjunction with the Theme Weeks held during the Expo, there will be a dialogue event between Expo staff, Producer MIYATA, and other theme producers, as well as a food event with world-class chefs.
Forest of Tranquillity Installation – Art that co-exists with nature and the theme of the Expo, “Designing Future Society for our Lives”
/
■ About The Forest of Tranquillity
The Forest of Tranquillity is located at the centre of the Expo site and was designed to be a quiet and relaxing place amid the hustle and bustle of the site. The forest was created by transplanting trees scheduled for thinning from Expo ‘70 Commemoration Park and other parks in Osaka Prefecture. When the site opens, over 1,500 trees will have sprouted, welcoming visitors amidst the fresh greenery.
・Area: About 2.3 ha
・Number of trees: About 1,500
・Waterscape facilities: 1 pond, 3 water basins
・Species of trees: Japanese blue oak, Japanese maple, and Japanese snowbell, sawtooth oak, jolcham oak, camellia, and others
・Parks the trees came from: Expo 70’ Commemorative Park, Hattori Ryokuchi Park, Kyuhoji Ryokuchi Park, Oizumi, Ryokuchi Park, Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park, Osaka Castle Park and others
■ Forest of Tranquillity Installation
Set in a tranquil forest, artists create art experiences and events based on the seven themes of the Expo’s Theme Weeks: “Peace, Human Security and Dignity,” “Co-creating Cultures for the Future,” “The Future of Community and Mobility,” “Necessities of Life: Food, Clothing and Shelter,” “Health and Well-Being,” “Learning and Playing,” and “The Future of Earth and Biodiversity.” The project will be overseen by Theme Producer MIYATA Hiroaki, Expo Site Design Producer FUJIMOTO Sou, Landscape Design Director KUTSUNA Hiroki, and Co-curator HASEGAWA Yuko. In this quiet forest where new life is sprouting away from the hustle and bustle, visitors will be able to reflect on the “life” of the Earth and themselves through various experiences themed around “life.”
・Supervising Producers
Theme Producer MIYATA Hiroaki – Planning, Supervision, and Co-Curation
Expo Site Design Producer FUJIMOTO Sou – Planning and Supervision
・Participating Members
KUTSUNA Hiroki – Landscape Designer
HASEGAWA Yuko – Art Director and Co-curator
KWANA Isao – Creative Director
OTA Yukari – “Forest Feast” Coordinator
FUKUTAKE Hideaki – Art Advisor
・Art Experience Theme: Artist (Work Title)
The Future of Community and Mobility: Tomás SARACENO (Conviviality)
Health and Well-Being: Leandro ERLICH (Infinite Garden – The Joy of diversity)
Learning and Playing: Pierre HUYGHE (Idiom) (La Déraison)
Peace, Human Security and Dignity: ONO Yoko (Cloud Piece)
The Future of Earth and Biodiversity: Stefano MANCUSO and PNAT (The Hidden Plant Community)
・Event Experience Theme: Event Theme
Co-creating Cultures for the Future: Dialogue for Co-innovation
Necessities of Life: Food, Clothing and Shelter: An experience that connects people through food
An art experience based on five themes created by five world-renowned artists
/
■ The Future of Community and Mobility: Tomás SARACENO (Conviviality)
This work evokes the diversity of life by floating multiple cloud-like and birdhouse-like objects in the forest. The objects, suspended in space by delicate wires, are the base of an ecosystem that resonates with the forest, and function as an organic platform where diverse life forms including birds and insects come and go. Through the experience of looking up at the floating birdhouses in the intersecting light and wind, visitors can expand their own existence on earth into the context of a vaster ecosystem and have the opportunity to reconsider the state of the world.
Artist Profile
Tomás SARACENO is an Argentine-born, Berlin-based artist. His projects engage in dialogue with life forms and life formations, encouraging a rethinking of dominant knowledge in the Capitalocene. For more than 20 years, he has led open-source, collective and interdisciplinary projects for environmental social justice, such as Museo Aero Solar (2007-) and Aerocene Foundation (2015-). Arachnophilia (2018-) is a work that develops a decade of research to transcend arachnophobia and the Capitalocene. Saraceno collaborates with communities, researchers and institutions in pursuit of a more equal balance between human, techno and biodiversity. He has held residencies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNES) and the Goethe-Institut, and has conducted interventions at COP20, COP21 and COP26. His work has been exhibited in major institutions around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Palais de Tokyo and the Serpentine Gallery.
■ Health and Well-Being: Leandro ERLICH (Infinite Garden – The Joy of diversity)
A variety of plants grow in the cylindrical space, and when viewed from above, it looks like a whole cake cut into a cross. As you walk along the passageway that forms the cut, the mirrors on both sides reflect yourself, the sky, and the forest, creating the illusion of an infinite expanse. If you go around to the outside and stand at a 45-degree angle, the mirrors in front of you also become a mirror, giving you the feeling that you are blended into the diverse plants. ERLICH’s unique “visual tricks using mirrors and structures” create a sense of unity with diversity and nature, inviting people to have a new cognitive experience. By experiencing the “sense of continuing infinitely into the sky” and the “sense of surrendering yourself to diversity,” people become aware of “new ways of seeing” and are given the opportunity to think more deeply about physical, mental, and social well-being.
Artist Profile
Born in Argentina in 1973, he is based in Paris and Buenos Aires. Over the past 20 years, his work has been exhibited internationally and is included in many collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Through the experience of his work, he questions the perceptual basis of reality and the worldview that we unconsciously take for granted through visual frameworks. He seeks to close the distance between the space of the museum or gallery and everyday experience, as well as to create a dialogue between what we believe and what we see.
/
■ Learning and Playing: Pierre HUYGHE (Idiom) (La Déraison)
While “La Déraison” looks like an ordinary sculpture at first glance, it is made of a special material that has the warmth of human skin, and by covering it with moss, the work itself coexists with the forest. In addition, in the same exhibition space, a performance will be held using a mask-shaped three-dimensional work called “Idiom.” The masked performers are clearly living people, but they also look like lifeless objects. In this experience in a space, the general division between “living” and “non-living” becomes even more ambiguous, providing an opportunity to deeply question how we usually perceive “life.” This sense of incongruity and uncertainty can be said to be the core of HUYGHE’s work.
Artist Profile Born in Paris, France in 1962, he is currently based in Santiago. His work is internationally known and has been featured in various exhibitions around the world. His recent major solo exhibitions include “Liminal” Punta della Dogana, Venice (2024) / Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (2025), “UUmwelt” Serpentine Gallery, London (2018), and “Sototamashii” Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine (2017). He has also worked on a number of large-scale projects, including the 2017 Münster Sculpture Project “After a Life Ahead”, the 2015 Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden Project, and “Untiled” dOCUMENTA (13) in 2012. In 2019, he was appointed artistic director of “Okayama Art Summit 2019 Moshihebi ga”. His works are held in the collections of the Centre Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.
■ Peace, Human Security and Dignity: ONO Yoko (Cloud Piece)
This work has a poetic concept of reflecting the sky by installing a mirror at the bottom of the bucket, as if collecting drops of water from the sky. The work is installed at two locations at the four-way intersection leading to the spring in the Silent Forest within the venue. By gazing at the “sky,” a “shared landscape” open to all people, the work creates an experience that makes you think about peace by raising your awareness of connections that transcend society and borders.
Artist Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1933, ONO is an influential artist, musician, and activist. By 1960, she had become a key figure in the New York art scene, producing pioneering works such as “Cut Peace” and “Grapefruit.” In 1968, she began collaborating with her husband, John Lennon, in art, music, and activism. ONO has released numerous albums, including the Grammy Award-winning “Double Fantasy,” and her work has been exhibited in venues such as MoMA and Tate Modern. With a career spanning more than seven decades, her work as an artist and activist remains uniquely relevant and continues to challenge the boundaries between artist and audience.
■ The Future of Earth and Biodiversity: Stefano MANCUSO and PNAT (The Hidden Plant Community)
This is a sound and light artwork that converts the sound of sap flowing through the trunk into scientific sound wave data. It mimics the function of the stomata that regulate oxygen and carbon dioxide in trees, and the kinetic opening and closing emphasizes the effects of light and shadow. It is a unique experience to see the world from a plant’s perspective and allows you to intuitively feel what it means to “live as a plant.” By experiencing this art and listening closely to the mechanisms of plants, you will be able to question your anthropocentric view of the world and grasp the world from a broader perspective on life and time.
Artist Profile
PNAT is an interdisciplinary team led by Stefano MANCUSO that fuses art, science and technology to create innovative installations. Focused on sustainability and ecological awareness, PNAT’s work explores the intersection between nature and advanced technology. It also develops innovative projects that stimulate reflection on environmental issues and the future of the planet. By combining cutting-edge technology with natural elements, PNAT deepens our understanding of our connection to the world that surrounds us. At Expo 2020 Osaka, Kansai, Japan PNAT presents its vision of a harmonious relationship between nature, science and human creativity, immersing visitors in a thought-provoking, immersive experience.
Events Featuring Top Artists
■ Co-creating Cultures for the Future: Dialogue for Co-innovation
We are planning to hold dialogue events in conjunction with the theme week with Miyata Hiroaki and other theme project producers and other people involved in the Expo.
■ Necessities of Life: Food, Clothing and Shelter: An experience that connects people through food
We will hold food session events with world-class chefs on five themes. Talk events and projects based on each theme will be experiences that connect people through food.
/
Supervising Producer Profiles
■ MIYATA Hiroaki – Planning, Supervision, and Co-Curation
In 2003, he completed his Master’s degree in Health Science and Nursing at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine. He received his PhD in Health Science (thesis) in the same field. In April 2009, he became an associate professor at the Department of Health Quality Assessment at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, and in April 2014, he became a professor (part-time from May 2015). Since May 2015, he has been a professor at the Department of Health Policy and Management at Keio University School of Medicine. He uses data science and other sciences to challenge social change and conducts research activities with a focus on contributing to improving reality. He is involved in various practices outside of the medical field, such as the National Clinical Database, which is in collaboration with the specialist system and involves 5,000 hospitals, and the COVID-19 nationwide survey by LINE and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. At the same time, he works with various stakeholders, including not only academia but also government, economic organizations, NPOs, and companies, to create a new vision for society. One of MIYATA’s visions for co-creating a society is a “resonating society” in which life resonates together to create a diverse society, where each individual shines as they experience that world together.
■ FUJIMOTO Sou – Planning and Supervision
FUJIMOTO Sou was born in Hokkaido in 1971. After graduating from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, he established Sou Fujimoto Architects in 2000. Following the 2014 Montpellier International Design Competition Grand Prize (L’Arbre Blanc), he has also won top prizes in international design competitions in Europe in 2015, 2017, and 2018. In Japan, he has been appointed as the venue design producer for Expo 2025, Osaka, Kansai, Japan. In 2024, he has been selected as the basic designer for the “(tentative name) International Center Station North Area Complex Facility Basic Design Contract.”
His major works include House of Music in Budapest (2021), Maruhon Maki Art Terrace, Ishinomaki City Cultural Complex (2021), Shiraiya Hotel (2020), L’Arbre Blanc (2019), Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013 in London (2013), House NA (2011), and Musashino Art University. These include Art Museum and Library (2010) and House N (2008).
Participating Members Profiles
■ KUTSUNA Hiroki – Landscape Designer
KUTSUNA is a landscape designer and the CEO of E-DESIGN Co., Ltd. By utilizing the techniques of landscape and environmental design of parks, plazas, roads, and rivers, mastering the use of the space, and simultaneously planning and implementing the sustainable management and system creation, he aims to realize a new public and create attractive public spaces, and has worked on numerous projects. He is also active in the field of landscape design for universities, hospitals, schools, commercial facilities, and housing both domestically and internationally. He has edited and co-authored “Illustrated Public Space Creation Method” (2021). He is currently serving as the landscape design director for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. His notable works include “Kindai University Senshin Garden” (2009 Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture Encouragement Award), “Urban Development of the Water City of Osaka” (2016 joint winner of the Ishikawa Prize from the City Planning Institute of Japan), “Kusatsu River Site Park (Section 5)” (2017 Urban Park Competition Special Theme Category Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award), “Tokotoko Dandan” (2018 GOOD DESIGN Award, Gold Award: Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award / 2019 Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture Award), “Osaka Prefectural Enokojima Cultural Arts Creation Center” (2019 Regional Creation Award, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award), “Daito City Public-Private Partnership Hojo Urban Development Project Morineki” (2024 joint winner of the Architectural Institute of Japan Award), and “Sea Path Park” (2024 Urban Park Competition, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Director-General’s Award, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Urban Affairs Bureau Award / Land Utilization Model Grand Prize, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award).
■ HASEGAWA Yuko – Co-curator
HASEGAWA is a curator of modern and contemporary art history.
She graduated from the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University and completed her masters at Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts.
Currently, she serves as Director of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Director of the department of Art and Design at International House of Japan and is Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts. She has previously served as Chief Curator and Artistic Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Chief Curator and Counsellor at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, visiting curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as Curator at the Setagaya Art Museum and Art Tower Mito.
[Silent Forest Installation]
◇ Gold Partner: Asahi Group Japan Co., Ltd.