In Japan, the hot days continue into October, but the mornings and evenings have started to cool off and we’re finally getting a taste of fall in the air. Most Japanese consider autumn to be a time to enjoy delicious food, but it’s a season that’s packed with cultural activities as well, like curling up with a good book.

By the way, did you know that this year marks the hundredth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Poland? It’s an important milestone, and the two countries have been celebrating all year with events featuring the art and culture of Poland in various parts of Japan. The range of artistic works is broad—from music and film to theater, dance, painting, sculpture, and modern art—but all of the events are designed to showcase the friendship between the two countries.

See: https://instytut-polski.org/100th/

The Adam Mickiewicz Institute (AMI) is a national cultural institute in Poland that has been heavily involved in promoting these cultural projects. It was established in 2000 under the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage with the mission to build and communicate the cultural dimension of the Poland brand through active participation in international cultural exchange.

Knowledge Capital signed an MOU for mutual cooperation with AMI in 2017, and has been participating in cultural and information exchanges with the organization ever since.
Last November, a virtual reality film experience produced by the Koncept Kultura Foundation, making full use of cutting-edge technology and art to present Poland’s history and culture, was exhibited for the general public at The Lab. The world’s best laboratory for everyone by everyone. A Polish international filmmaker also visited Japan in conjunction with the event to host a screening of a documentary on one of Poland’s leading cultural anthropologists, Bronisław Piłsudski.

See: https://kc-i.jp/information/987/


More recently, AMI hosted the Digital Cultures international conference in the Polish capital of Warsaw, and Knowledge Capital was invited to participate.
The theme of two-day event was “Living Archives”, and it included presentations and workshops by experts in culture, digital technology, and more. Numerous fascinating projects were featured, among them cultural communications and the preservation of cultural archives, both powered by the latest technology.


The keynote address was delivered by Gerfried Stocker, the artistic director of the creative and cultural institute Ars Electronica, located in Linz, Austria. Stocker also serves as a panel judge for the Knowledge Capital Awards program.
Stocker talked about the ways that digital technology impacts the formation of culture today, given that we are “living in archives” on a daily basis even as we continue to create those archives as part of our everyday lives.


Knowledge Capital also gave a presentation at the international conference on its past collaborative projects with AMI as well as its ambitions for the future. We were the only participants from Asia at the event, drawing attention from cultural experts who hoped to work with us on future projects as our activities were highly compatible with the cultural and human development fields. We also received many positive comments from participating artists who listened to our presentations, including those who hoped to display their work at Knowledge Capital.
We’re continuing our collaborative work with AMI and are in the process of discussing an exhibit of new projects in Poland at Knowledge Capital. Stay tuned for more on our exciting work together!