12.20 WED

Art that inspires innovation

How do artists who inspire creativity and stimulate diverse intractions through art, technology, and design spur on innovation? Conversely, what sort of impact does social innovation have on art? In this talk we explore the relationship between art and innovation with a range of guests active on the frontlines of their respective fields.

【 Date & Time 】
December 20 [Wed], 5:30pm-7:00pm
【 Speakers 】
Asako Tomura (Sony Group Corporation)
Hanna Saito (Contemporary Artist)
Seiichi Saito (Panoramatiks Principal)
Hideaki Ogawa (Creative Director of CCBT/ Co-Director of Ars Electronica Futurelab)

Asako Tomura

General Manager, Content Technology & Alliance Group, Corporate Technology Strategy Div. Sony Group Corporation

After earning a master's degree in chemistry and media arts, she began her career at Shiseido in advertising. She joined Sony Corporation in 2001 and oversaw the launch of the digital content distribution business for film and animation at Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) and Aniplex, Inc. She then served as Head of CSR Innovation at Sony headquarters, where she worked with international NGOs on projects leveraging technology to tackle social issues. Since 2016, she has overseen advanced content development, Sci & Tech communication, and sustainability technology strategy. since 2017. In addition, she served as planning director for Ars Electronica 2021 Garden TOKYO, and as a jury member for the European Commission STARTS Prize 2022. Since 2021, she has been Visiting Researcher at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo.

Hanna Saito

Contemporary Artist

She graduated from Tama Art University (Craft Department, Glass Course) with a bachelor's degree in Fine Art. After graduating, she joined metaPhorest (biological / bio-media art platform) in the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Network & Biomedia Art, at Waseda University as an artist and visiting researcher. Since 2021, she enrolled in the Doctoral Program in the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo (Yasuaki Kakehi Lab.) She’s creating artworks using scientific glass production techniques, organisms, organic matter, image analysis, etc.. She’s main themes are to reconsider the borders of nature/society, human/non-human, and the indivisibility of the expresser and the object of the expression at the interdisciplinary viewpoint.

Seiichi Saito

Panoramatiks Principal

Born in 1975, Seiichi Saito studied architectural design at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and started working in New York from 2000. In 2006, he founded Rhizomatiks Co., Ltd. (today, Abstract Engine Co., Ltd.). He leads the company’s architecture division, Panoramatiks, and undertakes numerous projects for corporations and governments as a planning and implementation advisor. Saito is the chairman of the jury for the Good Design Award 2023, and is the EXPO Co-Creation Program Director for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.

Hideaki Ogawa

Creative Director of CCBT / Co-Director of Ars Electronica Futurelab

Based in Linz, Austria since 2007, where he has worked with Ars Electronica, a world-renowned cultural institution for art and technology, as an artist, curator, and researcher. He is currently co-director of the Ars Electronica Futurelab, the research and development arm of the group. He is involved in a number of cross-disciplinary international projects, including innovative projects that use art as a catalyst to prototype the future, the creation of citizen-engaged communities, and the implementation of next-generation cultural and educational programs.