Etsuko Ichihara
ACAO FOREST 
Dystopian unexplored region - Atami Branch
An installation of a secret hideout of a fictional organization that controls a dystopian world on the hills of ACAO FOREST.
The base will appear only for a limited time, imprinting the new values of future society into the subconscious of visitors to Atami.
Artist / fantasy inventor.
Etsuko Ichihara is Japanese artist. Born 1988 in Aichi. Graduated in Studies of Media, Body and Image from the School of Culture, Media and Society, Waseda University. She has been creating artworks that interpret Japanese culture, customs and beliefs from a unique point of view, and present new, technology-based approaches. Thanks to their strong impact, these works have been introduced across a wide range of media all over the world, such as newspapers and TV programs, radio programs, and magazines.
Ichihara’s works were included in the Excellence Award at the 20th Japan Media Arts Festival, Entertainment Division in 2017, and in 2016, chosen for the INNOvation program from The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. She won Honorary Mention (Interactive Art＋) in PRIX Ars Electronica 2018 and received a STARTS Prize Nomination in the same year recently.
She has recently presented her works in exhibitions such as ‘Digital Shamanism: Japanese Funeral and Festivity’ at NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], ‘Cyber Arts Exhibition 2018’ at Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Japan Media Arts Festival, ʻMediating Asiaʼ at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, ʻRoppongi Crossing 2022ʼ at the Mori Art Museum.
