Artist
Statement
As an artist, I explore local cultures of remembrance within a global context. By “globality," I do not mean a dominant or single standard, but rather a collective of regional historical narratives. My interdisciplinary artistic practice utilizes various media, including two-dimensional works, small objects, installations, public art, and more. Research is essential to all of my work, and archival materials gathered through this process are used as motifs. Through mutual understanding and empathy between different cultures, my practice aims to foster a shared view of history.
I engage in this topic because it is connected to the stories of two members of my family. The first is my grandfather, who served as a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army in China in the 1940s. Although he was not directly involved in combat, he was taken prisoner by the Soviet Union after the war. After returning to Japan, he seemed to suffer from the feeling that his deceased comrades resented him for surviving. The second story is about my brother, who took his own life at a young age. Through this experience, I came to understand that life and death are not opposing concepts and that death is part of life. I was also confronted with a fundamental question about the culture of remembrance: How should the living relate to the dead?
Having an interest in one’s own existence and identity is a normal human need. However, my artistic practice does not aim to recount my personal history. Rather, it aims to raise awareness that everyone has such a story, which allows us to understand one another. I hope my artistic practice contributes to breaking down the barriers between the self and the other, as these barriers are the main reason people have harmed each other throughout history and continue to do so today.
Education
2021 — Master of Fine Arts in Theory and Praxis, Institute for Art in Context, Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
2019 — Meisterschüler of Prof. Albrecht Schäfer, Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany
2017 — Diplom in Fine Arts (equivalent to MFA), Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany
2015 — Bachelor of Fine Arts in Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2014 — Exchange Semester in Fine Arts, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle an der Saale, Germany
Solo
Exhibitions
2026 — Upcoming solo exhibition (title forthcoming), Kunstraum München, Germany
2024 — Remembered Images, Imagined (Hi)Stories – Japan, East Asia and I, Museum of Asian Art, Berlin State Museums, Germany
2023 — Wie die „Statue“ entstanden ist (How the “Statue” Was Created), PG berlin, Germany
2022 — Die Erinnerung (The Memory), Gallery Irrgang, Leipzig, Germany
2022 — 1945–1989–2022, SOMA Art Space, Berlin, Germany
2021 — systemrelevant, SOMA Art Space, Berlin, Germany
2020 — They Are Lying, Kunstraum Potsdamer Straße, Berlin, Germany
Selected
Group
Exhibitions
2025 — Up Close – Goldrausch 2025, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany
2025 — Utoro Art Festival, Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa/Utoro Peace Memorial Museum, Kyoto, Japan
2024 — The 3rd Two – From Postwar Feminism to Post-Feminism in East Asia, Galerie der Künstler*innen, Munich, Germany
2024 — Beyond Borders, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany
2022 — Ambivalent Landscapes: More than Representations, Museum of Asian Art, Berlin State Museums, Germany
2021 — Master Exhibition of the Institute Art in Context, Concert Hall, Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
2020 — EINE LETZTE SACHE NOCH (ONE LAST THING), Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig, Germany
2020 — What History Teaches Us, OPEN WHITE GALLEY@Bark Berlin Gallery, Germany
2019 — Perfekte Zustände (Perfect Conditions), X LANE, Berlin, Germany
2019 — 40 Jahre Kunst im Kontext (40 Years of Art in Context), neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
2017 — Edge.Piraeus, Kastela Art Center, Piraeus, Greece
2016 — KUNST + PROJEKTE Sindelfingen – ZEITKAPSEL (ART + PROJECTS Sindelfingen - TIME CAPSULE), Stadtmuseum Sindelfingen, Germany
2016 — In’ei Raisan, Japanese-German Center Berlin, Germany
Residencies
2025 — Artist in Residence Munich, Germany
2023 — Residency at the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin State Museums, Germany
Awards/
Grants
2025 — Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt, Germany
2023 — Förderung zeitgeschichtlicher und erinnerungskultureller Projekte (Funding for Contemporary History and Memory Culture Projects), Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, Germany
2022 — Project Funding, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Germany
2022 — Elsa Neumann Scholarship, State of Berlin, Germany
2020 — Study Completion Grants for International Students, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
2020 — Project Funding, Kommission für künstlerische und wissenschaftliche Vorhaben (Commission for Artistic and Academic Projects) of Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
2020 — Grant for Overseas Study by Young Artists, Pola Art Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
2018 — Honorarium for project realization and exhibition, Art in the Underground 2018: Making posters political, neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Publications/
Press
2025 — Mio Okido in conversation with Asato Ikeda, “Remembered Images, Imagined (Hi)stories—Japan, East Asia, and I,” Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, online, USA
2025 — Gegen die Gewohnheit #8 Mio Okido, CoMuse – The Collaborative Museum, online (Podcast), Berlin, Germany
2024 — Rückeroberung des Körpers,Süddeutsche Zeitung, online, Munich, Germany
Lectures/
Panels
2024 — Symposium: “New Strategies for Freedom of Expression,” in Global Memory Work Amidst Postcolonial and Postmigrant Shifts, Leipzig University, Germany
2024 — Lecture: “Finger weg! Wie Japan vergisst, erinnert und sich selbst zensiert (Hands Off! How Japan Forgets, Remembers, and Censors Itself),” Nippon Connection, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2023 — Lecture: “Exploring Japanese Imperialism and Memory from an
Artist’s Viewpoint”, the third Conference of the European Association for Asian Art
and Archaeology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
2023 — Lecture: “Die andere Hälfte der Geschichte (The Other Half of History),” Berlin Asia Arts Club, Berlin, Germany
Collections
Berlin State Museums, Germany
Artist
Statement
As an artist, I explore local cultures of remembrance within a global context. By “globality," I do not mean a dominant or single standard, but rather a collective of regional historical narratives. My interdisciplinary artistic practice utilizes various media, including two-dimensional works, small objects, installations, public art, and more. Research is essential to all of my work, and archival materials gathered through this process are used as motifs. Through mutual understanding and empathy between different cultures, my practice aims to foster a shared view of history.
I engage in this topic because it is connected to the stories of two members of my family. The first is my grandfather, who served as a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army in China in the 1940s. Although he was not directly involved in combat, he was taken prisoner by the Soviet Union after the war. After returning to Japan, he seemed to suffer from the feeling that his deceased comrades resented him for surviving. The second story is about my brother, who took his own life at a young age. Through this experience, I came to understand that life and death are not opposing concepts and that death is part of life. I was also confronted with a fundamental question about the culture of remembrance: How should the living relate to the dead?
Having an interest in one’s own existence and identity is a normal human need. However, my artistic practice does not aim to recount my personal history. Rather, it aims to raise awareness that everyone has such a story, which allows us to understand one another. I hope my artistic practice contributes to breaking down the barriers between the self and the other, as these barriers are the main reason people have harmed each other throughout history and continue to do so today.
Education
2021 — Master of Fine Arts in Theory and Praxis, Institute for Art in Context, Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
2019 — Meisterschüler of Prof. Albrecht Schäfer, Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany
2017 — Diplom in Fine Arts (equivalent to MFA), Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany
2015 — Bachelor of Fine Arts in Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan
2014 — Exchange Semester in Fine Arts, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design, Halle an der Saale, Germany
Solo
Exhibitions
2026 — Upcoming solo exhibition (title forthcoming), Kunstraum München, Germany
2024 — Remembered Images, Imagined (Hi)Stories – Japan, East Asia and I, Museum of Asian Art, Berlin State Museums, Germany
2023 — Wie die „Statue“ entstanden ist (How the “Statue” Was Created), PG berlin, Germany
2022 — Die Erinnerung (The Memory), Gallery Irrgang, Leipzig, Germany
2022 — 1945–1989–2022, SOMA Art Space, Berlin, Germany
2021 — systemrelevant, SOMA Art Space, Berlin, Germany
2020 — They Are Lying, Kunstraum Potsdamer Straße, Berlin, Germany
Selected
Group
Exhibitions
2025 — Up Close – Goldrausch 2025, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany
2025 — Utoro Art Festival, Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa/Utoro Peace Memorial Museum, Kyoto, Japan
2024 — The 3rd Two – From Postwar Feminism to Post-Feminism in East Asia, Galerie der Künstler*innen, Munich, Germany
2024 — Beyond Borders, Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany
2022 — Ambivalent Landscapes: More than Representations, Museum of Asian Art, Berlin State Museums, Germany
2021 — Master Exhibition of the Institute Art in Context, Concert Hall, Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
2020 — EINE LETZTE SACHE NOCH (ONE LAST THING), Alte Handelsschule, Leipzig, Germany
2020 — What History Teaches Us, OPEN WHITE GALLEY@Bark Berlin Gallery, Germany
2019 — Perfekte Zustände (Perfect Conditions), X LANE, Berlin, Germany
2019 — 40 Jahre Kunst im Kontext (40 Years of Art in Context), neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
2017 — Edge.Piraeus, Kastela Art Center, Piraeus, Greece
2016 — KUNST + PROJEKTE Sindelfingen – ZEITKAPSEL (ART + PROJECTS Sindelfingen - TIME CAPSULE), Stadtmuseum Sindelfingen, Germany
2016 — In’ei Raisan, Japanese-German Center Berlin, Germany
Residencies
2026 — Artist in Residence Munich, Germany
2023 — Residency at the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin State Museums, Germany
Awards/
Grants
2025 — Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt, Germany
2023 — Förderung zeitgeschichtlicher und erinnerungskultureller Projekte (Funding for Contemporary History and Memory Culture Projects), Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, Germany
2022 — Project Funding, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Germany
2022 — Elsa Neumann Scholarship, State of Berlin, Germany
2020 — Study Completion Grants for International Students, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)
2020 — Project Funding, Kommission für künstlerische und wissenschaftliche Vorhaben (Commission for Artistic and Academic Projects) of Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
2020 — Grant for Overseas Study by Young Artists, Pola Art Foundation, Tokyo, Japan
2018 — Honorarium for project realization and exhibition, Art in the Underground 2018: Making posters political, neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
Publications/
Press
2025 — Mio Okido in conversation with Asato Ikeda, “Remembered Images, Imagined (Hi)stories—Japan, East Asia, and I,” Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, online, USA
2025 — Gegen die Gewohnheit #8 Mio Okido, CoMuse – The Collaborative Museum, online (Podcast), Berlin, Germany
2024 — Rückeroberung des Körpers,Süddeutsche Zeitung, online, Munich, Germany
Lectures/
Panels
2024 — Symposium: “New Strategies for Freedom of Expression,” in Global Memory Work Amidst Postcolonial and Postmigrant Shifts, Leipzig University, Germany
2024 — Lecture: “Finger weg! Wie Japan vergisst, erinnert und sich selbst zensiert (Hands Off! How Japan Forgets, Remembers, and Censors Itself),” Nippon Connection, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2023 — Lecture: “Exploring Japanese Imperialism and Memory from an
Artist’s Viewpoint”, the third Conference of the European Association for Asian Art
and Archaeology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
2023 — Lecture: “Die andere Hälfte der Geschichte (The Other Half of History),” Berlin Asia Arts Club, Berlin, Germany
Collections
Berlin State Museums, Germany
