Ruijters is an artist who focusses on the phenomenology of intimacy and identity. His work explores how contemporaneity shifts and morphs these phenomena. Through his art he intends to establish new levels of understanding—and perhaps some form of ‘peacemaking’—with these morphed bonds. The context of his work is rooted in his research on ‘Aesthetics of Intimacy’. By crossing boundaries of inner space and outer public space, his goal is also to challenge notions of intimacy. In the form of his work, he aims for a synthesis between the poetic, conceptual and technological. He has obtained a PhD in Intermedia Art at Tokyo University of the Arts.
Past exhibitions include solo exhibitions ‘Selintas Selalu’ (Gudskul, ID), ‘Cave Inside The Body of Shadows’ (CAVE-AYUMIGALLERY, JP) and ‘Breathing IN/EX-terior’ (Komagome SOKO gallery, JP). Group exhibitions include ‘Noor Riyadh’ (Riyadh, SA), ‘Nandur Srawung’ (Taman Budaya, ID), ‘Roppongi Art Night’ (Tokyo Midtown, JP), 1.5 Celsius (MSU Museum, USA) and ‘Ars Electronica’.
Curatorial activities include ‘Mimicry of Hollows’ (The 5th Floor, JP) and ‘To Defeat the Purpose: Guerilla Tactics in Latin American Art’ (Aoyama Meguro Gallery, JP). Awards include Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) and the Prins Berhard Culture fund Scholarship.
Solo Exhitibions
2026 Crimson Gilt, The National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam, NL
2026 Crimson Gilt, Maritime Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta, ID
2025 Crimson Gilt, Hirado Dutch Trading Post Museum, Hirado, JP
2024 Selintas Selalu, Gudskul, Jakarta, ID. Curator: Evelyn Huang.
2023 Cave Inside the Body of Shadows, Cave-Ayumi Gallery, Tokyo, JP
2019 Breathing IN/EX-terior, Komagome SOKO gallery, Tokyo, JP. Guest curator: Seiha Kurosawa, supervision: Yuko Hasegawa.
Duo Exhibition
Group Exhibitions (selection)
2025 Unapologetically Asian, Amsterdam City Archives, Amsterdam, NL
2024 Noor Riyadh: Light Years Apart, KSA
2024 Nandur Srawung #11 “WASIAT: Legacy, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, ID
2023 Roppongi Art Night, Tokyo Midtown, JP
2022 1.5 Celsius, MSU Museum, USA
2022 TEI 2022 : International Conference on Tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology, Daejeon, KOR (Online)
2022 Data Art for Climate Action, Singing Waves Gallery, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, HK
2021 Ars Electronica ‘Artificial Intentionalities: Art in the Cloud’ (Online), HK
2021 SDGs x ARTs, The University Museum Tokyo Univ. of the Arts, Tokyo, JP
2021 Mimicry of Hollows, The 5th Floor, Tokyo, JP
2021 Constructing Contexts: Art Machines 2 Art Gallery, Singing Waves Gallery, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, HK
2020 Tougenkyo Art Festival, Tenshin Memorial Museum of Art, Ibaraki, JP
2019 Tokyo University of the Arts Doctoral Program Final Exhibition, The University Museum, Tokyo, JP
2018 Radical Observers, Akibatamabi21 gallery, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, JP
2017 Substantial Visions, Tama Art University Graduate School Information Design Course Artwork Exhibition 2017, YCC Yokohama Creativecity Center, JP
Performances Directed
2023 Shadowplay, Telematic Performance, Roppongi Art Night, Tokyo
2023 Shadowplay, Telematic Performance, Cave-Ayumi Gallery, Tokyo
2023 Shadowplay, Telematic Performance, Broedplaats Contact, Amsterdam
2015 3rd Skin, live-painting performance, Paint Your Teeth, Tokyo
2015 Triangle Tribes, live-painting performance, Bar Rosso198, Tokyo
Residencies
2025 Studio for Narrative Spaces, School of Creative Media, City-U HK, HK
2024 Gudskul, Jakarta, ID
2024 House of Natural Fibers, Yogyakarta, ID
Curational Activities
2022 Curator, ‘Kenji Hirasawa: Thermomacy’, Shibuya Fashion Week, Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, JP
2021 Co-curator, ‘Mimicry of Hollows’, The 5th Floor, Tokyo, JP
2020 Co-curator, To defeat the purpose: guerilla tactics in Latin American Art, Aoyama Meguro Gallery, Tokyo, JP
Grants & Awards
2025 Mondriaan Fund, Cultural Grant, NL
2025 Creative Industry Fund, Cultural Grant, NL
2025 Contribution ‘Crimson Gilt’, Embassy of The Netherlands in Indonesia
2023 Mondriaan Fund, Cultural Grant, NL
2023 International Heritage Cooperation, Cultural Grant, NL
2023 Arts Council Tokyo Grant, JP
2023 Contribution ‘Cave Inside The Body of Shadows’, Embassy of The Netherlands in Japan
2022 Netherlands-America Fund, Cultural Grant, NL
2022 Creative Industry Fund, Digital Culture Grant, NL
2021 Contribution ‘Mimicry of Hollows’, Embassy of The Netherlands in Japan
2019 Contribution ‘Breathing IN/EX-terior’, Embassy of The Netherlands in Japan
2021 Geidai I Love U Grant, JP
2019 Arts Council Tokyo Grant, JP
2015 Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho: MEXT) Scholarship, JP
2015 Prins Bernhard Culture Fund Scholarship, NL
Press & Publications
Sudiono, T. (2026). Twee Chinees-Indonesische kunstenaars tonen in Buro Stedelijk hoe een deel van hun identiteit werd uitgewist’. NRC.
Bianpoen, C. (2026). ‘Names in our Veins’: Two generations, one inherited history. The Jakarta Post.
De Wolf, J. (2026). Inkt in de regen. De Groene Amsterdammer.
Guest speaker, The Art of Reading Maritime Traces (Bincang Spesial), Sin Po TV, Indonesia (television broadcast).
Kakino (2025) Expressing the Light and Shadow of International Trade. Nagasaki Newspaper
Alturki, N. (2024). Dutch artist Vincent Ruijter’s exploration of heritage and ethnicity on show at Noor Riyadh. Arab News
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Ruijters, Vincent. SORGA
bersama Vincent Ruijters (podcast). RURUradio, 23 July 2024. |
Iwata, T., Takagi, Y. (2023, May). Mimicry of Hollows, 2021αΩ|The 5th Floor
Annual Book“Roppongi Future Talks” Roppongi Street
Theater" 2nd Project Report ‘The Possibility of an Installation that Transforms Space’, 2023/08/09
2022 LC, RAY, and Vincent Ruijters. “CHIKYUCHI: In-Person/Remote Game Exhibition for Climate Change Influence.” Sixteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction, Association for Computing Machinery, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1145/3490149.3507784.
2021 Ruijters, V., & LC, R. (2021). Chikyuchi. In Art Machines 2: International Symposium on Machine Learning and Art 2021 Proceedings (pp.269–269). Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong; School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.
“Interactive Storytelling” Climate Influence: Implicit Game-Based Interactive Storytelling for Climate Action Purpose, Springer 2021/12/07
“The Curtain” Vincent Ruijters, Blurring Roles Between Artist and Curator, 2021/10/07
“Brutus Magazine” July issue, How Young Latin American Artists use Guerrilla Tactics to express themelves, 2020/7/1
“Bijutsu Techo Magazine” June Issue, Artist Pickup: Vincent Ruijters 2019/7/5
Education
2020 PhD Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo, JP
2017 MSc, Media Art, Tama Art University, Tokyo, JP
2014 Japanese Language, Tokyo Central Japanese Language School, Tokyo, JP
2014 Japanese Language, The Yamasa Institute, Okazaki, JP
2011 MA Creative Design for Digital Cultures, Utrecht School of the Arts, NL
2011 BA Art and Technology, Digital Media Design, Utrecht School of the Arts, NL
Lectures and Teaching
2025 Lecture ‘Haunting Shadows: Physical Computing, Light, and Textile in Poetic Installation Art‘, School of Creative Media, City University Hong Kong, HK
2025 Lecture ‘Haunting Shadows: Identity, Heritage and Creation Across Borders, Dep. BA Digital Games, Osaka Electro Communications University, JP
2025 Lecture ‘Haunting Shadows: Identity, Heritage and Creation Across Borders, Dep. MA Experimental Workshop, Tama Art University, JP
2024 Lecture ‘Peranakan Identity: from an artistic perspective’, annual lecture Chinese-Indonesian Heritage Center, Leiden University, NL
2024 Lecture ‘Creative Process of Installation Art Making’, Nandur Srawung, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, ID
2022 Panel Discussion ‘Art and Performance’, TEI 2022 : International Conference on Tangible, embedded, and embodied interaction, Korea Advanced Institute for Science and Technology, Dae jeon, KOR
2021 Panel Discussion ’How Online Shapes Art?, Ars Electronica 2021 Garden Hong Kong, Panel Participant
2020 Visiting Lecturer, Deparment of Creative Innovation Musashino Art University, Tokyo
2017 Symposium 'Fine Art & The PhD - Art and Language' Korean Cultural Center, Tokyo
2017 Senior Tutor, Intermedia Art Course, Tokyo University of the Arts, JP
2016 Lecture 'The Bizarre Life of a Young Artist in Tokyo', Japanmuseum Sieboldhuis, Leiden, NL
2015 Graduate teaching assistant, Media Art Course, Tama Art University, Tokyo, JP
2015 Lecture 'Japanese Contemporary Art', Museon Museuom of Education, The Hague, NL
Advisory Board
2025 Advisory Board, National Knowledge Development Programme on the History of the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia – Wereldmuseum & Museum Sophiahof