Master’s Degree → Experimental Workshop
Experimental Workshop
Open
Interdisciplinary
Challenge
Starting in 2020, the interdisciplinary program “Experimental Workshop (EWS)” was established for graduate students. Incorporating and embodying the term “Experimental”, through this ongoing, complex, international program, students take the initiative to work beyond the framework of their own department or major. As specially appointed professors, we have welcomed film director and artist Professor Apichatpong Weerasethakul, artist Professor Chiharu Shiota, and from 2025, performance artist Professor Melati Suryodarmo. This is an open, cross-disciplinary project open to all graduate students of Tama Art University.
The 3 Components of EWS
Intensive Workshops
The Intensive Workshops are conducted by EWS specially appointed professors and run for 10 days to 2 weeks, both on and off campus. The workshops are bilingual, in English and Japanese.
Lecture Series
Special guest lecturers are invited from outside and within the university. Lectures are open to all students of the university.
Open Seminar
A weekly seminar class by the EWS Chief Professor and Assistant Professor. Includes advanced research for the Intensive Workshops, support for artwork production, and archiving of the Intensive Workshops and Lecture Series. The Seminar is intended for participants of the Intensive Workshops, but is open to other interested students.
EWS Specially Appointed Professors
Photo by Courtesy of Kick the Machine Films
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Born in Bangkok in 1970, grew up in Khon Kaen in Northeastern Thailand and lives in Chiang Mai. Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a leading Thai film director and artist. He was the recipient of the 2010 Cannes Film Festivalʼs highest award (Palm dʼOr) for the feature film “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”.
http://www.kickthemachine.com/
Berlin, 2020, Photo by Sunhi Mang
Chiharu Shiota
Born in Osaka in 1972 and lives and works in Berlin. Chiharu Shiota confronts fundamental issues of the human condition such as life and death through a variety of works, exploring questions on the very nature of life and existence. In 2008, she received the Art Encouragement Prize from the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In 2015, she was selected to represent Japan at the 56th Venice Biennale, and in 2019 her most comprehensive solo exhibition “The Soul Trembles” was exhibited at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.
https://www.chiharu-shiota.com/
Melati Suryodarmo
Melati Suryodarmo (b. 1969, Solo, Indonesia) is a leading performance artist known for her powerful durational works exploring endurance, memory, and identity. Her practice, rooted in rigorous bodily research, extends into photography, choreography, video, and live performance. Engaging themes of displacement, transformation and collective history, she has exhibited worldwide, including at Kiasma, MMCA Seoul, Bonnefanten Museum, and QAGOMA. Founder of Studio Plesungan in Solo, she fosters experimental art practices. Suryodarmo served as Artistic Director of the 17th Jakarta Biennale (2017) and, since 2022, has led Indonesia Bertutur, a festival celebrating cultural heritage and performance.
EWS Faculty & Management
- EWS Manager
- Prof. Hiroaki Matsuura (Dean of the Graduate School of Art and Design)
- EWS Chief Professor
- Prof. Akihiro Kubota
- EWS Deputy Manager
- Prof. Yutaka Nakamura (Graduate School of Art and Design)
- EWS Co-ordinator
- Suzanne Mooney (Associate Professor)
For further information contact
Tama Art University Graduate School Research Office
ews@tamabi.ac.jp
