
©︎Bastian Thiery
Sayaka Katsumoto (b. 1984) is an artist, filmmaker, and anthropologist based in Berlin, Germany. She earned a BA in Photography from Osaka University of Arts in 2006. She moved to Berlin in 2013, received an MA in Visual and Media Anthropology from Freie Universität Berlin in 2018 and an MA in Art in Context from Universität der Künste Berlin in 2024.
Most of her artistic practice involves video, sound installation, performance and sculptures, based on anthropological research on hidden cultures and minority communities in her native Japan as well as broader East Asian culture and history. Utilizing contemporary new media and technologies, such as virtual sound spaces with binaural audio, aesthetics in social networks, and 3D avatars, she combines anthropological research with artistic practice, exploring new, contemporary interpretations and the expressive possibilities that certain emotions and sensations evoke, through the incorporation of the method of sensory ethnography.
Exhibition, Screening
2025
Performance “Stadt findet Kunst” / BücherZelle, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition “Shu Ha Ri” / Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition "An Experimental Ecology. An Experimental Ecology. Kunstpraxis im Dialog der Disziplinen an der UdK Berlin" / UNI.T, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition "ARE YOU FOR REAL Phase 2" ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) / online
Performance “Stadt findet Kunst” / BücherZelle, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition “Shu Ha Ri” / Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition "An Experimental Ecology. An Experimental Ecology. Kunstpraxis im Dialog der Disziplinen an der UdK Berlin" / UNI.T, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition "ARE YOU FOR REAL Phase 2" ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) / online
2024
Group Exhibition for the Shortlist of the Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium des Landes Berlin (NaFöG) / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition “Institut für Kunst im Kontext: Master-Ausstellung” / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition “OUT OF CONTEXT” / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition for the Shortlist of the Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium des Landes Berlin (NaFöG) / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition “Institut für Kunst im Kontext: Master-Ausstellung” / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition “OUT OF CONTEXT” / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2023
Group Exhibition, Rundgang / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition, Rundgang / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2022
Group Exhibition "GROUP SHOW Room 252" / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Screening, Burnt Experimental Video Art and Film Festival / online
Screening, Short Movie Club Film Festival "NEFILTRAVANAE KINO" / Minsk, Belarus
Group Exhibition "GROUP SHOW Room 252" / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Screening, Burnt Experimental Video Art and Film Festival / online
Screening, Short Movie Club Film Festival "NEFILTRAVANAE KINO" / Minsk, Belarus
2021
Group Exhibition, Rundgang / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition, ARE YOU FOR REAL, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) / online
Screening, ASMRKitten and the Boston Collective Film Festival / online
Screening, Kinesthesia / Middlesex University, London, UK
Group Exhibition, DECONTEXTS / Millepiani, Rome, Italy
Group Exhibition, Rundgang / UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition, ARE YOU FOR REAL, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) / online
Screening, ASMRKitten and the Boston Collective Film Festival / online
Screening, Kinesthesia / Middlesex University, London, UK
Group Exhibition, DECONTEXTS / Millepiani, Rome, Italy
2020
Screening, Ongezien Kort / Cinema Cartoon's, Antwerp, Belgium
Screening, Ongezien Kort / Cinema Cartoon's, Antwerp, Belgium
2018
Group Exhibition "Malleable Borders, Shifting Identities" / Flutgraben e.V., Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition "Malleable Borders, Shifting Identities" / Flutgraben e.V., Berlin, Germany
2017
Group Exhibition and Forum “Farocki Now: A Temporary Academy” / HKW & silent green, Berlin, Germany
Group Exhibition and Forum “Farocki Now: A Temporary Academy” / HKW & silent green, Berlin, Germany
2016
Screening, British Shorts Film Festival / SPUTNIK KINO, Berlin, Germany
Screening, British Shorts Film Festival / SPUTNIK KINO, Berlin, Germany
2014
Solo Exhibition "In Stock" / Gallery Antenna, Kyoto, Japan
Solo Exhibition "In Stock" / Gallery Antenna, Kyoto, Japan
2013
Portfolio Review, Düsseldorf Photo Weekend / Kraut Magazin, Düsseldorf, Germany
Portfolio Review, Düsseldorf Photo Weekend / Kraut Magazin, Düsseldorf, Germany
Scholarship, Funding
2025
BESD III-Programm 2025 / Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Berlin
BESD III-Programm 2025 / Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Berlin
2024
Projektförderung / interflugs
Projektförderung / interflugs
2023
Projektförderung / interflugs
Projektförderung / interflugs
2020
Studienabschlussstipendien für internationale Studierende (STIBET I) / DAAD
Studienabschlussstipendien für internationale Studierende (STIBET I) / DAAD
Publication
2022
eigenart #96 / AStA der Universität der Künste Berlin / online
ZEIT Germany Study & Research 2022-2023
eigenart #96 / AStA der Universität der Künste Berlin / online
ZEIT Germany Study & Research 2022-2023
Education
2019–2024
Masterstudiengang Art in Context, Universität der Künste Berlin
Masterstudiengang Art in Context, Universität der Künste Berlin
2016–2018
MA Visual and Media Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin
MA Visual and Media Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin
2002–2006
Diploma, Department of Photography, Faculty of Arts, Osaka University of Arts
Diploma, Department of Photography, Faculty of Arts, Osaka University of Arts