About Us
LT-JP ART is artist's network based in LITHUANIA and JAPAN
Network is initiated by Nishi-Aizu International Art Village managed by BOOT incorporated association (representatives Yoshihiro Yabe and Kaori Yamaguch, MMLAB (representatives Rusnė Kregždaitė and Agnė Matulevičiūtė), individual artists Tomoo Nagai and Renata Valčik, with support form Gabija Čepulionytė, the cultural attaché of Lithuania in Japan.
The development of LT–JP ART is carried out in close collaboration with key institutional partners, including the Lithuanian Cultural Attaché in Japan, the EU Delegation in Japan, the Japan–Lithuania Friendship Association, the Embassy of Japan in Lithuania, Vilnius City Municipality, and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Rusnė KREGŽDAITĖ
ルスニャ クラグジュデイタ
Rusnė completed her bachelor's and master's studies in economic analysis at Vilnius University, and also obtained a bachelor's degree in theatre management (at LMTA). In 2017, she defended her doctoral dissertation on the topic 'Modeling the Evaluation of Culture and Creative Industries in European Union Countries'. She is a researcher in cultural economics, a lecturer, and a manager of theatre and cultural education projects. She is the founder and director of the Arts and Science Laboratory
LT-JP ART Founder, Co-Representartive
Producer, MMLAB, Lithuania リトアニア
Agnė MATULEVIČIŪTĖ
アグニャ マトリヴィチュータ
A sound artist and composer, with a particular focus on music for theatre and film. Media and interdisciplinary art contexts, musical performances, experiments based on sonic expression are her field of activity. She is currently studying PhD at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where she is researching and developing the concept of "after-sound" in contemporary music. Since 2014 she has been actively participating in group exhibitions, art and contemporary music festivals, artist residencies in Lithuania and abroad. Her music written for cinema has been recognised with a national award. She has also composed music for more than 30 productions in the biggest Lithuanian theatres (twice nominated in national theatre awards). Her works were presented not only in Lithuania, but also in Austria, Czech republic, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Pakistan.
LT-JP ART Founder
Sound Artist, Composer, MMLAB, Lithuania リトアニア
Renata VALČIK
レナタ ヴァルチック
Born and lives in Vilnius. Studied at Vilnius Academy of Arts (scenography), Düsseldorf Kunstakademie (video art/performance), Prague Academy of Performing Arts (theatre faculty). Member of the Union of Lithuanian artists. Participant of international and others exhibitions since 1995. Since 1999 creates stage, light and costume designs for theater and film in Lithuania and abroad. Associate professor at Lithuanian Music and Theater Academy.
LT-JP ART Founder
Artist, Lithuania リトアニア
NAGAI Tomoo
ナガイ トモオ
Born in 1975 in Shizuoka, Japan. Completed graduate studies at Tokyo University of the Arts.
As a percussionist, he discovers unique sounds from materials encountered around the world, guided by his own artistic concepts, and transforms them into musical instruments that become part of his compositions.
Active in the fields of jazz, improvisation, and contemporary music, he also performs genre-crossing sessions and solo live shows.
His compositional work includes music design for films, television, radio, stage productions, and public facilities.
He has developed numerous projects across Europe and currently divides his time between Japan and Lithuania, contributing to cultural exchange between the two countries.
Since 2022, he has been working on Kinon, a sound sculpture composed entirely of instruments made from materials sourced in Hachioji, a project planned over a ten-year period.
LT-JP ART Founder
Musician, Percussionist, Comporser, JAPAN 日本
YAMAGUCHI Kaori
ヤマグチ カオリ
Artist, Art Director, and Spatial Designer based in Nishiaizu, originally from Nagoya, Japan.
Specializing in contemporary art with a focus on installations, she explores the structure of the world through direct experience. Alongside her artistic practice, she has engaged in a wide range of occupations—from participating in traditional life rituals such as weddings and funerals to factory work, moving services, department store management, entrepreneurial support, and rural revitalization efforts.
Since 2009, she has organized and led a group exhibition that ran for 13 years (until 2020). Her work spans multiple genres, including advertising, interior design, costume creation, and event planning.
She began working with the Nishiaizu International Art Village as a member of the art collective “KOTOTOKA,” and after regular residency activities, she relocated to Nishiaizu. While deeply appreciating traditional Japanese culture and sensibilities, she brings a seamless perspective that transcends time and borders, creating a “new sense of place” by curating the unseen qualities—the shitsurai (atmosphere or arrangement)—of a space.
LT-JP ART Founder
Art Director, Artist, NIAV-Nishiaizu International Art Village JAPAN 日本
YABE Yoshihiro
ヤベ ヨシヒロ
Born in 1978 in Nishiaizu, Fukushima Prefecture.
After studying sustainable village landscapes at the graduate school of Nagaoka Institute of Design, he began his career at Ryoko Kamiyama Landscape Design Laboratory. He later pursued graduate studies in Canada, earning a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Manitoba, graduating at the top of his class.
Although initially aiming for an international career, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake inspired him to return to his home region. From Canada, via Shanghai, he eventually made his way back to Japan and inherited Narayama Village—a settlement with a 360-year history in Nishiaizu—as its 19th-generation successor.
As a landscape architect, he seeks to understand the world through a fractal lens—starting from the smallest unit of community, the village—and founded NARAYAMA PLANETARY VILLAGE L.A.B., a platform for exploring and practicing a sustainable, timeless-yet-new ecosystem of climate, lifestyle, and local economy.
LT-JP ART Founder, Co-Representative
Director, Designer, NIAV-Nishiaizu International Art Village, JAPAN 日本
SPECIAL ADVISOR
Gabija Čepulionytėthe
ガビヤ チェプリオニーテ
The cultural attaché of Lithuania in Japan