Japan

  BOOT AIR is the name of an artist-in-residence program located in the town of Nishiaizu in Fukushima, Japan. Located in the north west corner of the prefecture, Nishiaizu is surrounded by a vast landscape of mountains, rivers, and farmland. The artist-in-residence program is part of the Nishiaizu International Art Village; a half-century old wooden school building that has been transformed into a gallery, workshop, and cultural gathering space. All types of artists (visual artists, designers, musicians, performers, cooks, architects, engineers, etc…) are welcomed to apply for the program regardless of stature (professional, amateur, student). The program’s key concepts involve: (1) sustainable community, (2) learning from traditional environmental culture, (3) recreating an environmental symbiosis lifestyle, and (4) revitalizing the depopulated community through cultural exchange. It is for this reason that we ask applicants to submit a short proposal of what they wish to work on and how it can relate to the community of Nishiaizu. Nishiaizu is ideal for artists who would like a quiet and natural atmosphere to concentrate and create while being open to learning and inspiration from the rich culture, customs, and people of a local rural community in Japan.  

One Stay, One Art PARADISE AIR is an artist-in-residence program located in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, conveniently close to yet comfortably removed from the bustle of central Tokyo. The program is held on the vacant floors of a former hotel, a setting afforded to us by the Rakuen pachinko parlor (a pinball-gambling establishment) that occupies the bottom floors of this building owned by Hamatomo Corporation. We launched the program in 2013, naming ourselves PARADISE AIR after this “Rakuen” – “paradise” in English – combined with “AIR,” the acronym for “artist-in-residence.” Artist-in-residence programs provide artists a place to stay and create art for a given period, supporting their travel and artistic activities. Situated along the old Mito Road, Matsudo thrived during the Edo Period (1603–1868) as one of the route’s “post towns”– stop-off points punctuating major roads – where travelers would stay on their journey between Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Mito. Countless travelers came and went past where Matsudo station stands today, including artists – poets, painters, calligraphers and the like – who would sometimes leave pieces of their own art as payment for lodging. Some of these works can still be found today, preserved in local residents’ homes. In the spirit […]

VIDEOART CENTER Tokyo/VCT was founded in 2001 as an association dedicated to videoart and other time based arts in Japan. The aim of VCT is to form an international alternative network for those arts and develop the situation. VCT is managed independently as a Non-Profit Organization by videoartists and the staffs who consider it’s necessary to establish a critical role of the videoart of the present against the society of spectacle. As recent activities, VCT took part in “50th Anniversary of Video Art / Les Instant Video2013” (2013, Marseiile, France), and worked on a documentary video project with oral history of early video artists in Japan, “Kikai de Mirukoto=Eye Machine/To See by Chance -the Pioneers of Japanese Videoarts-“(2012, 82min.), series of screening event; “Video Reflexive” (2014-2016) included “Ko NAKAJIMA Video Vicissitudes”(2014, UPLINK, Tokyo). VCT focused on the open air video art show in urban spaces, as “Video Art Promenade in ASAGAYA/ Wall to Wall”(2015, Tokyo), “Video Art Promenade in Kagurazaka”(2015, Tokyo).  

Youkobo Art Space manages an Artist-In-Residence Program (AIR) providing accommodation and studio space to artists for a set period of time, and a non-profit studio and gallery for creating and the presentation of new work by Tokyo-based artists, while also promoting community engagement through art and culture. As a ‘studio (‘kobo’) for ‘you’ (‘you’ in Youkobo meaning ‘play’ in Japanese), Youkobo aims to create a space which gives many people the opportunity to experience art and culture on a more familiar level by supporting the autonomous activities of artists. To date, over 300 overseas artists from 40 countries have been welcomed to Youkobo, and exhibitions of over 150 Japan-based artists have been held in what has become a place for rich cultural exchange. (As of March, 2018)