In 2026, the festival will be in its 12th year and will embrace a wider range of groups, professions and genres. Formerly known as the Kanna Art Festival, the Onishi Art Festival connects people and places within its cultural sphere, forging new relationships and spaces. Drawing inspiration from the town's heritage and the legend of a stone-throwing demon, we looking forward to create artistic content that enriches everyday life. The festival will take place throughout most of the year, with the main events occurring in September and October.

For the curated exhibition **Beyond the Pale**, we are looking for artworks that evoke mystery, explore the unknown, and stimulate curiosity. Other than a white cube gallery, we will transform a former sake brewery into a lounge and lively atmosphere for people to explore and get engaged with the artworks. An ambience of mystery with sound installations, moments of meditation and culinary retreats. We envision the project as a dynamic and collaborative experiment, where authors, dancer, visual artists, musician, and the public collectively evolve the spatial setting over the course of time.

To overcome our blindness to the unfamiliar, we are looking for fantasies that act as laboratories in which artists explore social and existential possibilities beyond entrenched conventions.

Up to five selected artists will be invited to stay in the town free of charge for a couple of days around the opening.  Artists presenting original artwork will receive a small participation fee.

**Exhibition Schedule: Between September 28 – October 12, 2026**

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