Workshops
Current Workshops
At Space Department, we are continuously working to connect with the local community and support its creative ecosystem. All of our teachers are working artists from Nara, hand-picked for their practice and creativity. They share their work, process, and inspiration directly with residents, offering insight into how art and life intersect in daily practice.
These workshops are designed as spaces for connection and exchange. By learning directly from local artists, residents explore new practices while building friendships that open doors to a deeper understanding of Nara’s culture and way of life.
Learning and collaborating with Nara-based artists helps sustain their practice while fostering genuine cultural exchange.
In short, these workshops are part of our residency philosophy: slowing down, exploring together, and discovering culture, creativity, and connection through real relationships—sparking inspiration that carries forward into your future work and life.
Butoh
$10usd/ 1500jpy- Every Wednesday & Friday 8pm-10:30pm
Butoh is not simply dance—it is a return to the body as a source of memory, imagination, and truth.
Born in postwar Japan as a radical artistic movement, Butoh explores the space between stillness and transformation. It invites artists to move beyond technique and, importantly, to put aside the ego—allowing movement to arise from pure sensation, breath, and presence rather than self-conscious control.
Led by one of Japan’s renowned Butoh practitioners, Seiji Tanaka, these weekly sessions offer a focused yet open environment for embodied exploration. Through guided exercises and subtle improvisation, participants investigate slowness, tension, vulnerability, and ego dissolution—while becoming attentive to subtle vibrations within and around the body: light, sound, air, and the presence of others. From this heightened awareness, movement begins to emerge from inner landscapes rather than external form.
In Nara, a place shaped by ancient temples, forest paths, and quiet expanses, this practice takes on special depth. The surrounding stillness supports an inward gaze. The body becomes a bridge between nature, memory, and artistic expression.
For any artist—whether working in visual art, performance, music, writing, or other creative work—Butoh sharpens perception and expands creative range. It reconnects the act of making with the living body itself, revealing new textures and impulses that can profoundly inform your creative work.
Ikebana Experience
$150usd /person 2Hrs including flowers
Ikebana Experience
$150usd /person 2Hrs including flowers
Ikebana is the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement, developed over centuries as a refined expression of harmony between nature and human sensitivity. More than decoration, it is a practice of observation, balance, and intention.
In this workshop, you will learn the fundamental principles of Ikebana through hands-on practice, with a focus on the Nara-based Yamamura (Mountain Village) Goryu style. Rooted in the natural landscape and spiritual atmosphere of the region, this style is known for its refined simplicity and deep harmony with nature, embodying both restraint and quiet sophistication.
Led by a fourth-generation teacher—the great-grandson of the founder—you will explore line, space, asymmetry, and seasonal awareness. Rather than creating elaborate arrangements, the emphasis is placed on clarity, sensitivity, and the relationship between each element.
By the end of the session, you will complete your own arrangement and gain insight into a practice that sharpens perception and cultivates a deeper awareness of nature and form.
The Art of Kintsuji
3 Session- $150usd /person 2Hrs per session
(Subject to Teacher`s Availability- Please get in touch)
The Art of Kintsuji
3 Session- $150usd /person 2Hrs per session
(Subject to Teacher`s Availability- Please get in touch)
'Kintesugi' The Art of Repairing one's soul
Kintsugi, meaning “golden joinery,” is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using lacquer mixed with gold powder. Rather than concealing damage, Kintsugi highlights cracks and fractures, transforming them into part of the object’s history and beauty.
In a world of mass production and disposal, Kintsugi offers a powerful alternative philosophy: embracing imperfection and honoring the life of an object.
In this hands-on workshop, you will learn the foundational techniques of Kintsugi from a local artist whose work celebrates impermanence and resilience. Through the careful process of repair, you will create a renewed piece that embodies the beauty of transformation.
Washi Paper Making Experience
$100 per person | 4 hours | All materials included A4 10pages. Sketchbook binding (different day) + $20binding different day + $10usd +20 frame making
Washi is traditional Japanese handmade paper, crafted through centuries-old techniques that transform natural plant fibers into delicate yet remarkably strong sheets. More than a material, washi embodies patience, rhythm, and a deep respect for nature.
In this immersive workshop, you will learn the fundamental process of traditional washi-making—from preparing fibers to forming, pressing, and drying your own sheets by hand. The session is guided by a practicing artist who frequently incorporates washi into her contemporary work, offering insight into both its traditional foundations and its creative possibilities.
Participants will create up to 10 sheets of handmade washi in A4 size. During the papermaking process, you may embed natural elements such as seeds, leaves, or other organic materials into the pulp—transforming each sheet into a unique work that reflects your artistic sensibility and connection to nature.
Washi has long been used in calligraphy, printmaking, book arts, and architectural design. Its subtle textures and organic character ensure that no two sheets are ever identical.
At the end of the workshop, you will take home your handmade papers as finished works or as material for future artistic exploration.
Optional:
Bookbinding on a separate day is available for an additional $20, allowing you to bind your handmade sheets into a personalized art book.
Botanical Dye (Kusaki-Zome)
$100/person 5Hrs Including Materials
Kusaki-zome is the traditional Japanese practice of dyeing textiles with colors derived from plants, roots, bark, and flowers. For centuries, artisans have drawn pigments directly from the natural landscape, creating subtle, living colors that shift with the seasons.
In this workshop, participants will explore the process of botanical dyeing using seasonal plants and natural materials. Guided by a Nara-based artist, you will learn how leaves, bark, and flowers are transformed into dye, and how textiles absorb these organic pigments through careful preparation and immersion.
In Nara—where forests, mountains, and temple gardens shape the rhythm of daily life—the practice of plant dyeing takes on a special resonance. The colors drawn from seasonal plants reflect the landscape itself, connecting the act of making with the surrounding environment.
As colors slowly emerge from leaves and bark, the process reveals the quiet relationship between nature, material, and time. Each piece develops its own tone and character—shaped by the plants used, the water, and the rhythm of the dyeing process.
Rather than striving for perfect uniformity, Kusaki-zome embraces subtle variation and the beauty of natural color. By the end of the session, you will take home your own hand-dyed textile along with insight into a traditional craft that connects art, ecology, and the living colors of the Nara landscape.
Shodō—“the Way of Writing”—is far more than calligraphy. It is a meditative discipline that unites body, breath, and spirit through brush and ink. Practiced throughout Japan from childhood into adulthood, Shodō remains deeply embedded in daily life and artistic culture.
In this workshop, you will learn the foundational brush techniques, posture, and philosophy behind this timeless art form. Guided by an experienced instructor, you will explore how intention and movement shape each stroke.
Participants are invited to choose and express a kanji character that holds personal meaning—transforming language into a visual reflection of inner thought and presence.
Japanese Caligraphy (Shodo)
$100/person 2Hrs Caligraphy Lesson
Japanese (stone) Stamp Making
$100/person 2Hrs Traditional Carving your personalized seal (Hanko) including material
Tenkoku is the traditional art of carving personal seals in classical script. Using stone and specialized carving tools, participants create a hanko engraved in tensho (seal script), a style rooted in ancient calligraphic tradition.
In Japan, a seal is more than a signature. It represents identity, intention, and responsibility, and is used throughout one’s life—from signing artwork to formal documents and important milestones.
In this workshop, you will learn the fundamentals of traditional seal carving under the guidance of a Nara-based artist. You will design and carve your own personalized stone seal, carefully shaping each character in classical script. The process requires focus and patience, offering a quiet, meditative experience that connects calligraphy, design, and craftsmanship.
By the end of the session, you will leave with your own hand-carved seal—an object that carries both cultural meaning and your personal mark as an artist.
