About the artwork

In 2003, while creating art in the community of Koyamaru, the artist saw in this place the embodiment of his ideal of cooperative living. The film’s setting of Koyamaru, a community of four homes and thirteen residents, is representative of the modern phenomenon of depopulated aging rural communities. Over more than two years, the artist made periodic visits to Japan in order to film the figures of the rural people cultivating the land of their ancestors, the rhythm of the seasons, the rice planting and festivals, the means of transportation and shopping and more. The residents, says its creator, will live long lives until the film becomes famous. First shown in France and Germany in 2009, Koyamaru, Winter and Spring is scheduled for release worldwide.