ENGEKI QUEST

2026
EDITION

Engeki Quest is a flâneur-style walking project that invites you to explore a city in a completely new way. Alone, you follow instructions from an Adventure Book, stepping into the perspective of a fictional tourist, student, or other characters, and discover hidden stories, streets, and social layers. 

Because the text comes alive only in response to the actual place, it must be experienced on site. Walking alone allows for a deeply personal encounter, where your own gaze blends with the character’s thoughts, revealing the city from fresh perspectives. 

Bibliotheek Utrecht Neude is the starting point of this adventure. Since 2014, Engeki Quest has been created in Yokohama, Tokyo, Kinosaki, Takatsuki, Myoko, Ota (Japan), Ansan, Macau, Hong Kong, Manila, Bangkok, Makhanda, Düsseldorf, Lausanne, Milan, and Bilbao. Each version has its own unique story and structure, and the Utrecht version is a completely new work.

The official launch of Engeki Quest will take place at Bibliotheek Utrecht Neude on 15 May, 1pm. The guides will continue to be available from 15-23 May for Festival pass-holders to partake in this immersive experience of the city of Utrecht. 

Purchase your full-festival pass (passe-partouts) and day passes here. Individual event tickets available here. Follow our social media channels for updates and more!

Admission: €19/€16 

Discover the full AECFest programme.

orangcosong is an art collective founded by Chikara Fujiwara and Minori Sumiyoshiyama, based in Yokohama / Kochi / Osaka (Japan), and active transnationally. Drawing on their experience in the performing arts and their travels, they create projects in close collaboration with local people, exploring themes of human mobility and gravity. In their flagship work, Engeki Quest, they conduct long-term, site-based research and stayed in Utrecht for a total of seven weeks across 2024 and 2025. For this edition of SPRING Festival, they present two projects: Engeki Quest and IsLand Bar. -- Chikara is an artist based in Yokohama. After studying political science at university, he worked as a magazine editor and theater critic. In 2014, he initiated Engeki Quest, a walk-based performance project realized in numerous cities worldwide. In 2017, he co-developed IsLand Bar with multinational artists at ADAM Artist Lab in Taipei. He has also created video works Stay Home Labyrinth (2020) and Maya/Dolores (2024). His practice centers on themes such as the “invisible walls” that generate prejudice and discrimination, and concepts of “mobility and gravity” related to migratory movement. He was a Saison Fellow of The Saison Foundation (2017–2020) and a Cultural Envoy of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan (2017). -- After studying architecture in Kyoto and beginning her career as a contemporary dancer, Minori now works as a transdisciplinary artist. Since 2017, she has presented Hitsudankai – From now/here, Silence, a performance in which participants communicate solely through handwritten notes in complete silence, across cities in Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2020, she co-founded 2x2 WindowS, an online international project with multimedia composer Tam Thi Pham. In recent years, her practice has extended across both analog and digital realms, including video, graphic design, handicraft, cooking, and workshops exploring generative AI.
orangcosong is an art collective founded by Chikara Fujiwara and Minori Sumiyoshiyama, based in Yokohama / Kochi / Osaka (Japan), and active transnationally. Drawing on their experience in the performing arts and their travels, they create projects in close collaboration with local people, exploring themes of human mobility and gravity. In their flagship work, Engeki Quest, they conduct long-term, site-based research and stayed in Utrecht for a total of seven weeks across 2024 and 2025. For this edition of SPRING Festival, they present two projects: Engeki Quest and IsLand Bar. -- Chikara is an artist based in Yokohama. After studying political science at university, he worked as a magazine editor and theater critic. In 2014, he initiated Engeki Quest, a walk-based performance project realized in numerous cities worldwide. In 2017, he co-developed IsLand Bar with multinational artists at ADAM Artist Lab in Taipei. He has also created video works Stay Home Labyrinth (2020) and Maya/Dolores (2024). His practice centers on themes such as the “invisible walls” that generate prejudice and discrimination, and concepts of “mobility and gravity” related to migratory movement. He was a Saison Fellow of The Saison Foundation (2017–2020) and a Cultural Envoy of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan (2017). -- After studying architecture in Kyoto and beginning her career as a contemporary dancer, Minori now works as a transdisciplinary artist. Since 2017, she has presented Hitsudankai – From now/here, Silence, a performance in which participants communicate solely through handwritten notes in complete silence, across cities in Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2020, she co-founded 2x2 WindowS, an online international project with multimedia composer Tam Thi Pham. In recent years, her practice has extended across both analog and digital realms, including video, graphic design, handicraft, cooking, and workshops exploring generative AI.

Artistic Direction, Writing, Illustration, Editing, Book design: orangcosong (Chikara Fujiwara 藤原ちから＋Minori Sumiyoshiyama 住吉山実里)
Translation: Niek Span
Producer: Stéphane Noël (Materialise)