SHIBUYA PARCO ART DAYS is kicking off again this year! From an exhibition by the artist duo MES to a video work that delves into Godard’s vast personal archive, it promises to be an intense five days.

"Shibuya Parco" isn't just a building that sells fashion. It showcases a wide range of content—from the local culture and creators to outdoor activities and art—without limiting itself to any specific genre.

I just received an announcement for an event that really made me think about that again, so I’d like to share it with you.

"SHIBUYA PARCO ART DAYS" will be held for five days starting Wednesday, November 4. This marks the event’s sixth year, and the program is said to be even more substantial than in previous years. With contemporary art as its starting point, a diverse array of artistic expressions—including music, video, and performance—will be showcased throughout the building.

There are plenty of topics to cover, but here we’ll highlight the ones that particularly caught our editorial team’s attention.

management information system (MES)

It’s no exaggeration to say that the artist duo “MES” is one of this year’s standout acts. The duo consists of Ken Arai and Kanae Tanigawa, who have been collaborating on creative projects based in Tokyo since 2015. Specifically, they create installations and performances that utilize light and heat, drifting between club culture and contemporary art.

To help liven up “SHIBUYA PARCO ART DAYS,” they will be appearing at “Shibuya PARCO” in various forms. At “PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO” on the 4th floor, they will hold a solo exhibition titled “REI/RE-I,” which will primarily feature video installations and durational performances.

On Wednesday, November 4, as part of Art Week Tokyo’s official partnership program, MES will host the main party, featuring DJs, VJs, and performers they’ve curated. It’s sure to be a night that reexamines existing ideas and systems from a fresh perspective. Be sure to check it out.

Yoon Won

Yun Yuan is an up-and-coming artist from Shanghai, China. Focusing on the theme of “unconscious actions and the passive body,” she creates interdisciplinary works centered on performative installations.

The group will present their new performance, “It’ll Work Out,” at Shibuya Parco. The show will take place on Saturday, November 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. at “PBOX STND” on the 10th floor. The chosen theme is “horses.” Starting from the history of how the role of horses—once a source of “strength” supporting labor and warfare—changed with modernization, the performance gathers up representations of horses scattered throughout everyday life. Come see for yourself what emerges from this exploration.

Soundwalk Collective

Starting at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, there will also be a screening of a film by the New York- and Berlin-based “Soundwalk Collective.” The title of the film is *What We Leave Behind / Jean-Luc Godard Archives*.

This highly anticipated project involves filming and recording the vast personal archive—including films, notes, and books—that has been lying dormant in the warehouse of cinema master Jean-Luc Godard, and reconstructing it into a unique visual and audio experience.

Be sure to explore the depths of Godard’s work that can’t be fully captured by his films alone.

Tetsuya Nagato

Finally, regarding the key visual for “SHIBUYA PARCO ART DAYS”: Created by artist Tetsuya Nagato, it captures a new landscape where the city and art converge in a single image.

In addition, “ZERO GATE B1F NONLECTURE books/arts” will host a pop-up store featuring the 26 WINTER COLLECTION “Knowledge” from Nagato’s “RAREMETAL” project. The event will feature new apparel, publications from the zine label “IRUBOOKS,” and new collage works created under the theme of “Composition (Incompletion and Improvisation).”

Those are the main topics. As always—and perhaps even more so this year—the lineup is a chaotic mix of countries, genres, and themes. Be sure to check out this year’s “SHIBUYA PARCO ART DAYS.”