As a new program of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, the “Commission Project” is launched at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023, with the aim to foster and communicate new cultural values on the international stage.
Utilizing the international network that the festival has built up to now, four artists based in Japan will be selected and commissioned to create and exhibit image-based works as products of the “New Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions.” In the long term, these will also be presented at other cultural facilities and institutions in and outside Japan, as part of a newly established scheme to support the creative endeavors of artists.

About the selection of artists

Selected for this project were artists based in Japan, whose skills and experience make them suitable for the commission of artworks, judging by the TOP Museum curators’ previous investigations and research, and based on the network that has been established around the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions. The artists were recommended by the curators and the Commission Project Secretariat of the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023.

Selection Conditions

1. Artists who are able to expand the network that has been accumulated by the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions and the TOP Museum.
2. Artists who are able to take on various challenges including new techniques and methods of expression at the respective stages in their life stages.
3. Artists must currently reside and work in Japan.

About the examination of artists/artworks

In the first screening, an international jury of experts regarding trends in film and video art selected artists to be commissioned from among the candidates. From the works these artists are going to unveil at the Festival, a Special Award winner will be chosen after a second screening.

Selection criteria for commissioned artists:

1. Submitted image-based works should display originality and all-round excellence in terms of planning, content and technique, as well as potential for exhibition at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions.
2. Works should not only employ new techniques and methods of expression, but should be positioned within the history of film media, while at once pushing the boundaries of visual expression.
3. Works should possess qualities of uniqueness and connectivity that can be communicated to audiences overseas.

About the production of commissioned works

The commissioned artists will create new and previously unpublished works. As presentation formats are not specified, the results may be unveiled in exhibitions, screenings, or online. The artist whose work is selected for a Special Award, will showcase his or her work in a special exhibition or screening at next year’s Festival, revolving around the commissioned work produced this year.