Eikoh Tanaka

CEO, Qe to Hare Inc. / Artist

Born in Kyoto in 1981. Completed his MFA at Kyoto City University of Arts in 2007. Since 2002, he has been active as part of the artist collective Antenna, presenting works at more than 60 museums, galleries, and art festivals across 45 cities in 12 countries. In 2017, he was dispatched to Basel through the TOKAS International Exchange Program, and in 2019 he founded Qe to Hare Inc., developing unique business initiatives from an artist’s perspective.

Currently based in Kameoka, Kyoto, Tanaka runs a hotel and café while also engaging in various regional revitalization projects.

His major exhibitions include “Power, Where Does the Beauty Lie” (SOMA Museum, Korea), “Roppongi Art Night” (Tokyo Midtown, Japan), and “VIDEONALE 11” (Bonner Kunstverein, Germany).

In recent years, his notable projects include designing the Kyoto University IMS educational program, directing the “Awakening Art Program” with CyberAgent, and contributing to the Venice Architecture Biennale by producing an installation with Toyo Ito.

He is also the author of “L.L.A. BOOK – 10 Lessons for Acquiring Art Thinking.”

Instagram / @eikoh_qe
X / @TANAKA_EKH
Artist Site / http://eikoh-tanaka.net/

The 3 Keywords of Qe to Hare

Hare to Qe

Hare to Qe is a coined term that reverses Hare to Ke—the traditional Japanese worldview on time and ritual articulated by folklorist Kunio Yanagita. It represents the core concept that has guided artist Eikoh Tanaka since the early 2000s: to awaken our gaze toward the everyday (Ke) and to unlock the latent potential within each individual.

We See What the Mind Sees

“We see what the mind sees”—also the title of one of Tanaka’s works—encapsulates this philosophy. To transform the world we perceive, our consciousness itself must undergo transformation. Drawing from a Japanese worldview, his artistic practice has consistently sought to create moments that catalyze such shifts in awareness.

Good Business is the Best Art

Taking Andy Warhol’s famous words—“Good business is the best art”—out of their original Pop Art context and reinterpreting them for today, Tanaka founded Qe to Hare Inc. as a new framework for art. The company blurs the boundaries between art and business, creating spaces where individuals can expand their potential and collectively generate greater social impact.

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2018 Editing Acts, TOKAS Residency 2018 Results Exhibition, Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2017 Open Studio Atelier Mondial, Atelier Mondial, Basel, Switzerland
  • 2016 Going Beyond, a.r.t.e.s. Kunstfenster, Cologne, Germany
  • 2015 MOVING 2015, Kyoto, Japan
    　Beppu Contemporary Art Festival 2015 “Mixed Bathing World”, Wakuwaku Mixed Bath Department, Beppu, Japan
  • 2014 Mt. Fuji Biennale 2014, Shizuoka, Japan
    　egØ – Questioning the “Subject”, Studio Punto, Kyoto, Japan
    　Work in Memory, Horikawa Housing Complex, Kyoto, Japan
    　We Within Me, Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art, Okayama, Japan
    　Changwon Sculpture Biennale 2014, Changwon, Korea
  • 2013 KAWAII, CAMP, Contemporary Art Meeting Point, Athens, Greece
    　Audiovisioni Digitali/Scicli #1, Arts Centre of Multimedia Applied Researches, Scicli, Italy
    　International Videoart Festival Magmart VIII, Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, Naples, Italy
    　KYOTO STUDIO, Kyoto City University of Arts Gallery @KCUA, Kyoto, Japan
    　88 Seoul Olympic 25th Anniversary Exhibition: Power, Where Does the Beauty Lie?, SOMA Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
    　HANARART 2013 Co-a Aida-Karada Exhibition, Nara, Japan
    　The 4th Kamigamo Shrine Art Project, Kamigamo Shrine, Kyoto, Japan
  • 2012 Konosaki Project Artist in Residence, Tottori, Japan
    　Japan Media Arts Festival in Hong Kong 2012 “PARADE”, Hong Kong
    　Sapporo Art Stage 2012, Underground Passageway, Sapporo, Japan
    　Wakuwaku Hot Spring Tour, Funayado Hikariso, Oita, Japan
    　Art Line Kashiwa 2012, Sogo Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
    　Roppongi Art Night 2012, Roppongi/Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2011 8 Japanese Contemporary Artists, The Japan Foundation, New Delhi, India
    　Videonale on Tour Taiwan, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
    　Invisibleness is Visibleness, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwan
  • 2010 Biwa Lake Biennale 2010, Omihachiman, Shiga, Japan
    　Kofu Machi Art Festival 2010, Yamanashi, Japan
    　Rak-Raku Festival, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto, Japan
    　Co-existence, Kyoto City University of Arts Gallery @KCUA, Kyoto, Japan
  • 2009 Hiroshima Art Project 2009, Hiroshima, Japan
    　Art Taipei 2009: Nichijo Jihen – Live by Play, Taipei, Taiwan
    　Beppu Contemporary Art Festival “Mixed Bathing World”, Oita, Japan
  • 2008 Hiroshima Art Project 2008, Hiroshima, Japan
    　Art and Capital: Spiritual Odyssey, Gallery LOOP, Seoul, Korea
  • 2007 National Highway No.1, Gyeonggido Museum of Art, Ansan, Korea
    　Art in Daegu, Daegu, Korea
    　Opening Exhibition, De NWE Vorst, Tilburg, Netherlands
    　Collector’s Choice: Collection 2, Daelim Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
    　VIDEONALE 11, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany
    　OBIRA2 – Open Video Library, ZAIM, Yokohama, Japan
  • 2006 Toride Art Project 2006, Ibaraki, Japan
    　The Boehm TradeCenter, Germany
    　Video Festival in Pusan, Gallery Bandee, Busan, Korea
    　L’image Movement Sarajevo-Kyoto, Galerija 10m², Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • 2003 NEW-GENERATION 3, Kaigan-dori Gallery CASO, Osaka, Japan

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2015 Ourself inside Myself, Nhà Sàn Collective, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 2014 We Within Me, Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art, Okayama, Japan
  • 2010 Infinite Void in Space, AAS, Kyoto, Japan
    　Banquet of the Other World, Plaza North, Saitama, Japan
  • 2009 Reflections of the White World, TSCA Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
  • 2006 Jappy’s Advent, TSCA Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan

Screenings

  • 2008 onedotzero, London, UK
    　Videonale 11 on Tour, ARTos Cultural and Research Foundation, Cyprus/Greece
    　Videonale 11 on Tour, Goethe-Institut Bangalore, India
  • 2007 audiovisuales, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
  • 2006 RESFEST, Japan/Korea
    　Visionaria International Film Festival 2006, Palazzo Appiani, Santa Maria della Scala, Italy
  • 2005 DOTMOV Festival 2005, Hokkaido, Japan

Artist-in-Residence Programs

  • 2017 Atelier Mondial, Basel, Switzerland (Bilateral Exchange Program with Tokyo Wonder Site)

Awards

  • 2009
    　Selected, Tokyo Wonder Wall 2009, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan
  • 2007
    　Selected, The 11th Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art, Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Japan
    　Selected, AMUSE ARTJAM, The Museum of Kyoto, Japan
  • 2006
    　Graduate School Mayor’s Award, Graduation Exhibition, Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
    　Special Prize (Video Category), eAT Kanazawa ’06, Japan
    　Selected, The 10th Taro Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art, Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Japan
    　Grand Prize, Kenji Yanobe “Let’s Meet in the Forest” 2nd Contemporary Art Competition, Osaka Prefectural Contemporary Art Center, Japan
  • 2005
    　Honorable Mention, Sendai Art Annual 2005, Sendai Mediatheque, Japan
    　Grand Prix, Student Short Film Category, 1st Asia Oceanian Film Festival, Japan
  • 2003
    　DESIGN PREMIO Award, Designers’ Week Video Award, Japan

Selected Media Features & Appearances

  • 2012
    　The Japan Times – Culture section
    　NHK Tottori – Regional information program, special feature
  • 2010
    　Kyoto Shimbun – Culture section, special feature
  • 2009
    　TOKYO VISUALIST, DD WAVE Co., Ltd.
    　AERA (February issue), Asahi Shimbun Publishing
  • 2007
    　Web-Tama, special feature, TV Tokyo
  • 2008
    　100 Japanese Video Artists 2008 Edition (Publication)
  • 2006
    　Ruga-Magazine, DVD Magazine, Audiovisual Barcelona, Spain
  • 2005
    　Digital Stadium, NHK Japan (TV appearance)
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