©︎Bastian Thiery
Sayaka Katsumoto (b. 1984, she/her) is an artist and researcher 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 interdisciplinary artistic research projects involves video, sound installation, performance, and sculpture, focusing on hidden histories, cultures, minority communities, and marginalized voices in her native Japan and across East Asia. With a background in visual anthropology, she employs contemporary media and new technologies to merge anthropological research with artistic practice, blurring the boundaries between them. Incorporating methods of sensory ethnography and artistic research, she explores ways of embodying the voices of marginalized people while investigating the expressive possibilities of evoking emotions and sensations. Recently, she has also become active in performance projects in collaboration with individuals from non-artistic backgrounds, seeking to open dialogues between marginalized groups and society.
Solo Exhibitions
2026
KUNSTRAUM 53, Hildesheim, Germany (upcoming)
2014
In Stock, Gallery Antenna, Kyoto, Japan
KUNSTRAUM 53, Hildesheim, Germany (upcoming)
2014
In Stock, Gallery Antenna, Kyoto, Japan
Duo Exhibitions
2026
Grain, Static, Flesh (with Jane Hwang), HELMUT, Leipzig, Germany
Under the Palms Covering the Skies (with Jane Hwang), Saarländisches Künstlerhaus, Saarbrücken, Germany
Grain, Static, Flesh (with Jane Hwang), HELMUT, Leipzig, Germany
Under the Palms Covering the Skies (with Jane Hwang), Saarländisches Künstlerhaus, Saarbrücken, Germany
Group Exhibitions
2025
Root Unseen, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
tRaum, Projektraum Galerie M, Berlin, Germany
Shu Ha Ri, Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
An Experimental Ecology. Kunstpraxis im Dialog der Disziplinen an der UdK Berlin, UNI.T, Berlin, Germany
ARE YOU FOR REAL Phase 2, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), online
Root Unseen, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
tRaum, Projektraum Galerie M, Berlin, Germany
Shu Ha Ri, Japanisch-Deutsches Zentrum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
An Experimental Ecology. Kunstpraxis im Dialog der Disziplinen an der UdK Berlin, UNI.T, Berlin, Germany
ARE YOU FOR REAL Phase 2, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), online
2024
Shortlist of the Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium des Landes Berlin (NaFöG), UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Institut für Kunst im Kontext: Master-Ausstellung, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
OUT OF CONTEXT, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Shortlist of the Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium des Landes Berlin (NaFöG), UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Institut für Kunst im Kontext: Master-Ausstellung, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
OUT OF CONTEXT, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2023
Rundgang, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Rundgang, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2022
GROUP SHOW Room 252, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
GROUP SHOW Room 252, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2021
Rundgang, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
ARE YOU FOR REAL, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), online
DECONTEXTS, Millepiani, Rome, Italy
Rundgang, UdK Berlin, Berlin, Germany
ARE YOU FOR REAL, ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), online
DECONTEXTS, Millepiani, Rome, Italy
2018
Malleable Borders, Shifting Identities, Flutgraben e.V., Berlin, Germany
Malleable Borders, Shifting Identities, Flutgraben e.V., Berlin, Germany
2017
Farocki Now: A Temporary Academy (Exhibition and Forum), HKW & silent green, Berlin, Germany
Farocki Now: A Temporary Academy (Exhibition and Forum), HKW & silent green, Berlin, Germany
Screenings
2022
Burnt Experimental Video Art and Film Festival, online
Short Movie Club Film Festival, NEFILTRAVANAE KINO, Minsk, Belarus
Burnt Experimental Video Art and Film Festival, online
Short Movie Club Film Festival, NEFILTRAVANAE KINO, Minsk, Belarus
2021
ASMRKitten and the Boston Collective Film Festival, online
Kinesthesia, Middlesex University, London, UK
ASMRKitten and the Boston Collective Film Festival, online
Kinesthesia, Middlesex University, London, UK
2020
Ongezien Kort, Cinema Cartoon's, Antwerp, Belgium
Ongezien Kort, Cinema Cartoon's, Antwerp, Belgium
2016
British Shorts Film Festival, SPUTNIK KINO, Berlin, Germany
British Shorts Film Festival, SPUTNIK KINO, Berlin, Germany
Public Performances
2025
The Sacrament of Penance III, Stadt findet Kunst, BücherZelle, Berlin, Germany
The Sacrament of Penance III, Stadt findet Kunst, BücherZelle, Berlin, Germany
Scholarships and 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
Studienabschlussstipendium für internationale Studierende (STIBET I), DAAD
Studienabschlussstipendium für internationale Studierende (STIBET I), DAAD
Publications
2026
Under the Palms Covering the Skies, Duo-Exhibition Catalog, Saarländisches Künstlerhaus, ISBN 978-3-910608-25-2, Saarbrücken, Germany ->
Under the Palms Covering the Skies, Duo-Exhibition Catalog, Saarländisches Künstlerhaus, ISBN 978-3-910608-25-2, Saarbrücken, Germany ->
2025
Embodying the Pain of Others: An Essay on ‘Pain’ as Addressed by Anthropology/Ethnology and Art. Pájaros #6, Research Group on Ethnography and Fiction, Kyoto: Kyoto Prefectural University ->
Embodying the Pain of Others: An Essay on ‘Pain’ as Addressed by Anthropology/Ethnology and Art. Pájaros #6, Research Group on Ethnography and Fiction, Kyoto: Kyoto Prefectural University ->
2022
eigenart #96, AStA der Universität der Künste Berlin ->
ZEIT Germany Study & Research 2022-2023
eigenart #96, AStA der Universität der Künste Berlin ->
ZEIT Germany Study & Research 2022-2023
Lectures
2025 Embodying the Pain of Others: An Essay on ‘Pain’ as Addressed by Anthropology/Ethnology and Art, 11th Research Forum, Research Group on Ethnography and Fiction, Kyoto, Japan
Education
2019–2024
MA in Art in Context, Universität der Künste Berlin
MA in Art in Context, Universität der Künste Berlin
2016–2018
MA in Visual and Media Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin
MA in Visual and Media Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin
2002–2006
BFA in Photography, Osaka University of Arts
BFA in Photography, Osaka University of Arts