Sai-No-Kuni Visual Plaza

Japanese Media Arts Festival in SKIP CITY

Japanese Media Arts Festival in SKIP CITY

This fiscal year will welcome the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival, held annually to promote the newest realm of artistic expression - "media arts." At the 12th exhibition of the festival's award-winning works held in February at The National Art Center, Tokyo, the outstanding works selected from among 2,146 entries from 44 countries and regions around the world were exhibited, attracting over 55,000 visitors to the exhibition.

On top of that, KATO Kunio's The House of Small Cubes, which received the Grand Prize in the festival's Animation Division, later won Hollywood's Academy Award for best animated short film, the first time a Japanese animation film maker has won this coveted award.

Up to now the Visual Museum has continuously introduced cutting-edge visual and media art and the works of young creators. At this current visual arts exhibition, we are presenting 31 works selected from among the huge number of outstanding entries to the Japan Media Arts Festival.

KATO Kunio / NOMURA Tatsutoshi

The Diary of Tortov Roddle A red fruit (KATO Kunio, 9th Jury Recommended Work, Animation Division / Short Animation)

© ROBOT

R (KATO Kunio, 10th Jury Recommended Work, Animation Division / Short Animation)

© ROBOT / BUDDIEZ

The House of Small Cubes (KATO Kunio, 12th Grand Prize, Animation Division)

© ROBOT

Jam the HOUSENAIL (NOMURA Tatsutoshi, 9th Jury Recommended Work, Animation Division / Short Animation)

© NHK, NEP, ROBOT

Prize-Winning Works at 11th Festival

  • Jean-Gabriel PERIOT, nijuman no borei (200000 Phantoms) (Grand Prize, Art Division)
  • MASAHIKO SATO + EUPHRATES, ISSEY MIYAKE A-POC INSIDE. (Excellence Prize, Art Division)
  • Effie WU, Super Smile (Encouragement Prize, Art Division)
  • TANAKA Hideo, Have you seen it? (Excellence Prize, Entertainment Division)
  • ICHINOSE Hiroco, ushi-nichi (Encouragement Prize, Animation Division)

© Envie de Tempête Productions

Prize-Winning Works at 12th Festival

  • TAGUCHI Yukihiro, Moment-performative wandering (Excellence Prize, Art Division)
  • Matt CHANDLER representing the Carbon Footprint development team, Carbon Footprint (Excellence Prize, Entertainment Division)
  • KATO Kunio, The House of Small Cubes (Grand Prize, Animation Division)
  • ARAI Chie, DREAMS (Excellence Prize, Animation Division)
  • KIMURA Taku, KUDAN (Excellence Prize, Animation Division)
  • YAMAMURA Koji, A Child's Metaphysics (Excellence Prize, Animation Division)
  • OKAMOTO Noriaki, ALGOL (Encouragement Prize, Animation Division)

© asitanonki

Jury Recommended Works in the Animation Division / Short Animation at the 12th Festival

  • JOKO Tomoyoshi, BUILDINGS
  • HASHIMOTO Daisuke, CHRISTIAN BAUER-Tree of Life
  • MIZUE Mirai, DEVOUR DINNER
  • YAGI Tomoko, shift
  • Eric SCHOCKMEL, Syscapes # Interlude
  • MISUMI Yoshiko, A Tale of Carefree King 3
  • OKUDA Masaki / OGAWA Yutaro / OKAWARA Ryo, Orchestra
  • NAGAI Katsumi, LITTLE BIRD IN GINGHAM
  • YAMAMURA Koji, Man and Whale
  • NAKATA Ayaka, Cornelis
  • HIRAYAMA Shiho, swimming
  • TAKEUCHI Ryohei / SASAKI Daisuke / TAKAHASHI Kotono, Sketchbook hanayayahei story
  • LI Jie, advices
  • ITO Yuichi, Knyacki! Heaven and Hell
  • OKAMOTO Masanori, mending a puncture
  • IWAISAWA Kenji, Man in the tunnel-alley

© Misumi Yoshiko, NHK, NEP

© LiJie

About the Japan Media Arts Festival

The Japan Media Arts Festival seeks to exhibit highly original works of media art that have broken new ground in techniques for visual and audio expression and to honor the artists who have made them, as well as to support these creative works and introduce them to the wider public. At the annual exhibitions of the award-winning works, the public can get a close look at the many outstanding works representative of that year - including visual images, still images, web works, installations, commercials, music videos, short and long animations, and manga - selected from entries submitted from around the world.
(Sponsor: Japan Media Arts Festival Executive Committee)
http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/festival/

Dates September 5th (Sat) - December 13th (Sun) 2009
Time 9:30 - 17:00 (Admission until 16:30)
Closed Mondays (If Monday is a national holiday, then closed the following day.)
Admission fee 500 yen (Adults) / 250 yen (Junior high school / Primary school students)
(Allows admission to permanent exhibitions)
Contact Visual Museum 048-265-2500
Sponsored by :  Saitama Prefecture
Co-Sponsor by :  Japan Media Arts Festival Executive Committee (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
Support by :  Saitama Prefectural Board of Education / Kawaguchi City / Kawaguchi City Board of Education
Planning by :  Digital SKIP Station Corporation