JOSHIBI AIR 2025

M. Benito Piriz

Born in Basque Country in 1992.  Graduated with an MA in Research and Artistic Creation from the University of the Basque Country (EHU/UPV).

Currently holds a biannual production grant by the Bilbaoarte Foundation, where they works with formal and visual solutions for “thrust and restraint” in sculpture. A laboratory for forces: those exerted outward and those contained within.

Most of the practice is based on sculpture, but they also embraces text, audio, and video though. They poetry recital “The Most Dramatic Panda EVER” has been featured on programs such as Harriak, Gutun Zuria, Una Fiesta Salvaje, and others. Among they publications it’s worth to mention “M1 C4R4 N0 P3G4 C0N L4S N0T4S D3L M0VIL” (MY FACE DOESN’T MATCH WITH THE NOTES ON MY PHONE) published by Azkuna Zentroa during the Babestu residency in 2022.

Recent exhibitions: “Travieso” (Naughty) at the Montehermoso Cultural Center in Vitoria, Spain, 2024, “Pikete Tuning” (Swag Tuning) at Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain, 2022, Second prize at the Ertibil 2024 Itinerating Art Exhibition with “Abrazo” (Embrace). First prize at Getxoarte 2019 with “Mochilas” (Backpacks); and third prize at La Rioja Young Art, Exhibition with “Transformación de poesía” (Poetry Transformation) in 2017.

Nidiya Kusmaya

Born in Sukabumi, in 1991. Nidiya Kusmaya is a visual artist based in Indonesia whose interdisciplinary practice bridges craft, art, and science. With a background in Textile Craft and Design from the Bandung Institute of Technology (BA & MA), she explores alternative pigment sources using waste materials such as food scraps, agricultural by-products, construction debris, mining residues, and microorganisms. Her work responds to the environmental impact of synthetic colourant, particularly their contribution to water pollution, by developing sustainable, natural pigments for use on paper and textiles. Through material experimentation and research, Nidiya reimagines the value of discarded matter while honouring the ecological and cultural narratives embedded within it. 

Her recent exhibitions include “Intermix Cycle 3,” Ad Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, 2024, “Koganecho Bazaar,” Yokohama, 2024, “Rumpang.Rimpang.Rampung,” Indonesia Contemporary Art GalleryTMII, Indonesia, 2024, “Indonesia Contemporary Art and Design-ICAD13: Feel Good Lab,” 2023, “Women in Contemporary Art,” ISA Art Gallery, Jakarta, 2023.
 

Mikuu Yoshida

Born in Kanagawa in 1993. Graduated with an MFA in Oil Painting from Joshibi University of Art and Design in 2018. She is currently working as an Adjunct Research Associate in the Field of Art and Design for Spatial Experience at Joshibi University of Art and Design.

In addition to composing songs inspired by everyday life at her part-time job at a convenience store and the mysterious customers she encounters there, she also produces works that explore the concept of the creator through the enlargement of marionettes she originally made as a child with her father, a ball jointed doll artist. In recent years, She has focused on issues of feminism and identity, creating artworks that address the social realities of women through motifs drawn from her mother and grandmother.

Recent exhibitions: “Three lives of women,” art & river bank, Tokyo, 2022, “The 10th 500m Museum Award Finalist Exhibition,” Sapporo Odori 500-m Underground Walkway Gallery, Sapporo, 2023, “I Can See Ghosts,” nando/gallery DEN5, Tokyo, 2024.