About the Commission Project

As a new program of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum within the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions, the Commission Project was launched at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023 with the aim of fostering international communication and new cultural values.
Utilizing the domestic and international networks forged by the festival to date, winners are selected from among up-and-coming artists based in Japan. The selected artists are commissioned to create and exhibit moving-image works as products of the new festival. By introducing these works at cultural facilities and institutions in and outside Japan, the project aspires to become a scheme that supports the creative endeavors of artists.

Selection of Artists

Japan-based artists considered to have the experience and ability suitable for producing commissioned works for the project will be selected through the existing network of the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions among others, as well as through a survey and research conducted by the curators of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. As in the previous edition, artists were recommended by the curators of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 Commission Project Office.

Conditions for Selection of Artists

1. Artists who are able to expand the network that has been accumulated by the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions and the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.
2. Artists who are able to take on various challenges not only in terms of new techniques and methods of expression, but also in terms of their respective life stages.
3. Artists must currently reside and work in Japan.

Screening of Artists and Works

A jury composed of domestic and international experts who are familiar with trends in the field of moving images will conduct a first screening to select artists from among the candidates. The selected artists will be commissioned to create works and the completed works will be shown at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions. A second screening will be held to select the winner of a Special Prize from among the commissioned works.

Selection Criteria for Commissioned Artists

1. The proposed moving-image work must be highly original and show all-round excellence in terms of planning, content and technique, while also demonstrating the potential for realization in the exhibition of the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions.
2. The work must not only employ new techniques and methods of expression but also expand the concept of moving images as an expressive form, while also possessing the potential to position itself within the history of the moving-image medium.
3. The work itself must possess a uniqueness and connectivity that enables it to be transmitted overseas.

Production of Commissioned Works

The commissioned artist will create a new and unpublished work. There are no restrictions on the final form, i.e. as exhibited work, screening, online viewing, etc. The artist awarded the Special Prize in the second screening will hold a special exhibition and screening featuring the commissioned work at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions in the following year. From Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 onwards, the period for the first screening and the artists’ production period will be extended, while the exhibition of the Special Prize winner from the previous edition will be held concurrently with the first screening during the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions.