Shiga Future Thinking Week in Japan invited visitors to explore the potential of a water-centric society through artworks and projects – ranging from multi-modal installations based on the memories of villagers and examinations on Lake Biwa’s many impacts on local life to a data-based menu experience.
A new Data Art & Science Center in the Japanese prefecture Shiga is envisioned to bring greater care and attention to the region. As a preview of the possibilities, Shiga Future Thinking Week was held in March 2025.
Data Art & Science (DAS) is a new interdisciplinary field that incorporates artistic perspectives on future transformations based on data science. Established in 2023, the collaborative project between Toyota Coniq and the Ars Electronica Futurelab in 2025 continues to focus on local revitalization of the Shiga prefecture in Japan.
“Flock Of” by bit.studio @ Shiga Future Thinking Week; photo: Nicolas Naveau, Johannes Pöll
“Memories for Futures” by Ars Electronica Futurelab @ Shiga Future Thinking Week; photo: Nicolas Naveau, Johannes Pöll
“Neural Network Training” by Ars Electronica Futurelab @ Shiga Future Thinking Week; photo: Nicolas Naveau, Johannes Pöll
Setup for live sounds by Futurelab artists at the DAS Restaurant @ Shiga Future Thinking Week; photo: Nicolas Naveau, Johannes Pöll
Data Art & Science Center
Shiga that borders Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan, is known for its natural beauty, historical sites, and cultural heritage. However, Shiga is facing challenges like depopulation, an aging society, vacant housing, flood risks and landslides. To bring care and attention to the region, Toyota Coniq, Shiga University, and other local stakeholders aim to open a Data Art & Science (DAS) Center in the town of Hikone in Shiga. This Center would promote community building through civic participation and DAS artworks based on locally sourced data, ultimately bringing new perspectives and reflections on the region’s challenges.
Shiga Future Thinking Week
As a preview of the possibilities of a DAS Center, the Ars Electronica Futurelab helped devise and realize the Shiga Future Thinking Week in the town of Hikone, held at the end of March 2025 in a former bank building. Artworks, installations, workshops, talks, and projects from all over Shiga that relate to data science and art invited participants to jointly explore the past, present, and future of the region. The goal of the week was to engage local stakeholders in the realization of the Center and actively start local discussion and reflections about the future of Shiga under the theme of “Water-Centric”.
Highlights included
- Futurelab’s Memories for Futures, a multidata platform of creative expressions by residents of the village of Azusakawachi;
- the installation Flock Of by Thailand’s bit.studio featuring autonomous, sensor-equipped fish-shaped balloons floating in the air;
- Underwater Journey Map, a visualization of groundwater flow by Tomita Shuzo in Nagahama;
- Data Anatomy of a Fisherman, which explores the life of a Nishiotsu fisherman through data,
- Biwako Blue Project, a new idea of a future financial product for water protection,
- discussions on transforming Takashima into a future-oriented experimental city;
- as well as AI booths and workshops that invited children to use artificial intelligence as a creative tool.
Data, art, and science as a dining experience
In addition, Shiga Future Thinking Week included a special experience – likely the first of its kind: Over two days, a nearby restaurant was transformed into a DAS Restaurant, offering a unique dining experience themed around the waters of the Echi River in Omihachiman City. Invited guests tasted dishes made with local ingredients and water sourced from the river’s upstream and downstream points, each accompanied by data slips detailing water properties like nitrogen levels and transparency, served in bowls displaying happiness charts. The immersive event aimed to engage all senses and explore new ways of understanding the world through data, further enhanced by live background music performed by Ars Electronica Futurelab members: Artists Nicolas Naveau and Johannes Poell mixed the natural sounds of Lake Biwa’s water with the rhythmic dropping of its stones.
This project is part of the Open Futurelab at the Ars Electronica Festival 2025.
Credits
Ars Electronica Futurelab: Manuel Dobusch, Nicolas Naveau, Hideaki Ogawa, Johannes Pöll, Cyntha Wieringa
Ars Electronica Ambassador: Kyoko Kunoh
PARTNER: Toyota Coniq