Yoko Nakata Biwako Biennale, Japan


Yoko Nakata

The artist was born in 1957 in Kyoto and grew up in Otsu city Shiga prefecture. In 1980 she graduated from Kwansei Gakuin University. In 1980 she entered Art Student League in New York and in 1981 transferred to Columbia University Art Department (where studied stone carving under the professor Minoru Niizuma). In 1985-1995 she stayed in Manila, Philippines, in 1995-2017 – lived in Saint-Germain-En-Laye, France, and raised two children.

In 2000 she established Energy Field Organization in Shiga. In 2001 she held first BIWAKO BIENNALE (later in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). The activities are not limited in Shiga but extend to all over Japan and also abroad. Also organized lot of cultural activities, like the concerts, symposiums, children's workshops and tea ceremonies, etc. In 2017 she moved back to Japan and now lives in Moriyama city. In 2012 she got the award of Visitor’s Bureau „Best tourist product”, in 2013 – „Cultivate Shiga with culture! Award” and in 2018 – „Regional Revitalization Grand Prize Excellence Award”.