The Hong Kong House in 2026 will host a special exhibition “STiTCH OUR iNNER LAND（艹 田 人）” by two artists, Toby Crispy and Mire Yu.
“艹” is the radical for grass and plants, “田” represents land, and “人” signifies people. Together, their forms resemble stitches — a metaphor for inviting everyone to reconnect humans and nature through the practice of slow-stitching.
The bustling rhythm of Hong Kong and the serene cadence of Tsunan, separated by thousands of miles, differ in climate, land and way of life. Placing “people” at the core, the artists travelled between the two places, gathering forty-nine stories about land, memories and daily life. They wove together urban and rural voices from the past and present, and cross-regional collective memories that transcend geography. Additionally, they transformed often-overlooked scents of nature, such as wild grasses and foraged plants, into an artistic installation, inviting viewers to engage in a dialogue with nature.
Please come and join the artwork!
Visitors are invited to take a strip of washi thread and stitch a “人” onto the mesh installed in the exhibition, allowing your mark to join the collective creation!
Author Profile
Toby Crispy
As a Time Tailor, Toby Crispy works at the seam where textiles hold memory. Since 2013, she has devoted herself to upcycling as a form of quiet resistance to overconsumption. Through repair, redesign and re-experience, she explores “Time in Textiles” — reconnecting people, hands and stories, while awakening the traces that garments carry. Since 2020, her ongoing project SLOW STiTCH NOMAD has gathered over three hundred authentic stories and nearly two thousand participants, forming a living archive stitched together by community hands. In 2024, SLOW STiTCH NOMAD @ Oi!, received the A’ Design Bronze Award in Italy, recognising its revival of the emotional and cultural significance of material mindfulness.
Mire Yu
As a Botanical Interpreter, Mire Yu is deeply influenced by Ikebana and traditional Japanese culture. She graduated from Kyoto University of Art and Design (now Kyoto University of the Arts) in 2014. Using natural materials as her medium, she creates works that eschew intentional design, emerging spontaneously through the breath of the materials and the rhythm of her hands. For Mire, creation is a process of connecting the beauty of nature with cultural spirit, revealing the most authentic, serene essence of the natural world through a resonance with organic elements.
Hong Kong House
A residency and gallery space built as a platform for continuous cultural exchange between Hong Kong and Echigo-Tsumari. Designed by a winner of the open competition, Yip Chun Hang and Team who has risen their profile through their participation in Venice Biennale in 2012. In co-operation with universities in Hong Kong, Cultural Institutions and local governments, Hong Kong House organises and hosts various exchange programmes throughout the year as well as provides residency space for artists, performers and writers who will have been chosen through open competitions to stay, create and present their works. Click ≫Hong Kong House
Photo by Nakamura Osamu
Summary
| Date and time | July 18 (Sat) – August 30 (Sun), 2026 (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays), and September 5 (Mon) – November 8 (Sun), 2026 (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays) |
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| Venue |
Hong Kong House (29-4 Miyanohara, Kamigo, Tsunan town, Nakauonuma District, Niigata Prefecture) |
| Admission |
Individual admission: Adults 600 yen / Elementary and junior high school students 300 yen (valid at both Kamigo Cloveza and Hong Kong House), or a Common Ticket
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Official Tours / Itineraries
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