Kiri

PRESS RELEASE TO THE PRESS 21,November,2019 Public Relations Secretariat International KOGEI Award in Toyama Inviting “hand works” from all over the world and proposing a new craft movement from Toyama Prefecture! Application for International KOGEI Award in Toyama now open! 〜Application Deadline: January 27, 2020〜 Toyama Prefecture holds the International KOGEI Award in Toyama for people who are 50 years of age or younger and engaged in craft makings, such as artists, craftspeople, and designers. This award is newly held based on the achievement of the U-50 INTERNATIONAL HOKURIKU KOGEI (artisan crafts) AWARDS (https:// kogeisummit.jp/) which was held as part of the International Hokuriku Crafts Summit in Toyama Prefecture in 2017. This will be implemented according to the three-year plan starting from this fiscal year. This award is for works rich in expressiveness and originality created by using traditional techniques and materials of crafts from around the world, as well as works that include handwork(s) in their production processes. Our three-year plan is as follows: in 2019, application entry and the first round of jurying are conducted; in 2020, the second round of jurying is performed, and the exhibition of award-winning works and award ceremony are held, as well as the exchange program for award winners with local craftspeople and companies in Toyama; based on the result of the exchange program in the previous year, the collaborative production program is conducted in 2021. This Award aims: ✴To comprehensively evaluate and encourage not only crafts, expressions and techniques, but also the ideas and efforts, strategies and practices, and future vision of each craftsperson. ✴To reconsider the fixed concept of traditional crafts once from an unbiased perspective, capturing the global trends in crafts world that are becoming borderless and cross-disciplinary more and more, and create international networks and collaboration opportunities, which will enable us to draw a future vision of crafts. ✴To provide opportunities for many people to learn about the situation surrounding crafts and new trends of crafts through this award. We are looking forward to many entries from craftspeople who are practicing novel KOGEI (artisan crafts), introducing the art created only by KOGEI which consists of inextricably connected two elements, tradition, and ◆ Outline 1.Application period October 1, 2019 – January 27, 2020 2.Prize: Grand Prize (1 individual/group) 2,000,000 JPY / Excellence Award (1 individual/group) 500,000 JPY / Honorable Mention Award (4 individuals/groups) 300,000 JPY / Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Special Prize (1 individual/group) 300,000 JPY 3.Privilege The Grand Prize-winning work will be added to the collection of the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design. And, award-winners will be invited to the exchange program and collaborative production program with the local craftspeople and companies in Toyama in or after 2021. 4.Application method Web entry on the website (https://kogeiaward.jp/en/index.html) Press Contact: ※Promotional Photos ；https://bit.ly/34t8uW0 Epiphany Works, Ltd. Contact persons: Ms. Ogino / Ms. Hayashiguchi ・Tel. +81-766-54-6210 ・E-mail [email protected]（Ms.Ogino）,[email protected]（Ms.Hayashiguchi）  PRESS RELEASE ◆ Application Requirements 1. Eligibility: (1) Must be 50 years of age or younger (as of January 10, 2020, deadline for the first-round of jurying) (2) No restrictions on nationality, (3) An individual or group engaged in craft-making (e.g. artist, artisan, designer) 2. Works eligible to apply: (1) Works rich in originality and expressiveness, utilizing techniques and materials that have been cultivated and cherished by each region’s craft in the world. (2) Works produced through processes that include hand-work. (3) Works produced on or after January 10, 2015, which have never been exhibited or submitted to other prizes/awards. (4) Works made with techniques and materials as follows: metal, lacquer, wood, paper, textile, ceramics, glass, leather, and more, or combinations thereof. (5) 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional work.Total measures of three dimensions: 300 cm or less.Total weight: 20kg or less (including length and weight of work’s frame, stand or holder, etc.) (6) Application limit: Maximum one work per individual (or group) 3. Schedule -First round of jurying: middle February 2020 -Finalists are selected. (Exhibition of the award-winning works is held at the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design.) -Second-round of jurying: late May 2020 Award winners are determined. -Exhibition: late May – early July 2020 (Exhibition period: about for two months) at the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design -Award ceremony: late June 2020 4.Contact Information for Application: Secretariat International KOGEI Award in Toyama (in PCO, Ltd.) Tel. +81-76-461-3288 E-mail. kogei-toyama＠pcojapan.jp ※For more information, please visit our website https://kogeiaward.jp/en/application.html ◆ Jury Members ●Jury Committee Chair (jurying both the 1st & 2nd rounds) 青柳 正規（Masanori Aoayagi） Chairman of Board of Directors of Tama Art University / Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo / Former Commissioner for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Government Doctor of Literature with a doctorate from the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo. He is Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, Member of The Japan Academy of Sciences, Director of the National Museum of Western Art, and President of the National Museum of Art (Independent Administrative Institution). ●Jury Members ・＜1st&2nd＞Ms. Reiko Sudo Textile designer / Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Zokei University ・＜1st&2nd＞Mr. Koji Hatakeyama Metal artist / Professor at Kanazawa College of Art ・＜1st>Ms. Motomi Kawakami Designer / Chair of Japan Institute of Design Promotion ・＜1st＞Mr. Yoshihiko Takahashi Glass artist / Professor at Tama Art University ・＜1st＞Ms. Etsuko Tashima Ceramic artist / Professor at Osaka University of Arts ・＜2nd＞Mr. Koji Yukiyama Director of the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design ・＜2nd＞Ms.Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere Professor of Japanese Arts at the University of East Anglia / Curator of Japanese Art at the Department of Asia, British Museum / Research Director at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures ・＜2nd＞【China】 Mr.Chao Ying Wang Cultural Researcher / Traditional craft artist / President of PAOSNET ・＜2nd＞【Italy】 Mr. Mario Trimarchi Architect, Designer  PRESS RELEASE ◆ Summary of the last award: U-50 INTERNATIONAL HOKURIKU KOGEI (artisan crafts) AWARDS ●Held as a part of the International Hokuriku Kogei Summit in 2017 International Hokuriku Kogei Summit is a wide-area event in five successive years to promote attractive features of Kogei (artisan crafts) in Hokuriku area, cooperated by Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and three prefectures of Hokuriku area (Toyama, Fukui, Ishikawa). In the first year, it was held in Toyama prefecture. Among the event, U-50 INTERNATIONAL HOKURIKU KOGEI (artisan crafts) AWARDS was held as a main program for young artisans: artists, craftsmen and designers under the age of 50. There were 403 entries from 35 countries including Japan, within and without Toyama prefecture. Through the first round and the second round of jurying, 6 people were chosen as finalists. They made their final presentations towards the judging committee, in which Hidetoshi Nakata, a former Japanese National soccer team player, took part. As a result, “Continuation of non-continuation” by Takakuni Kawahara, a washi Japanese traditional paper maker who lived in Tateyama town, Toyama prefecture, won the grand prize. Not only he inherited the tradition, but also he kept trying new techniques. His TOP: Six finalists and one special prize winner in front of the Butsuden (Buddhist hall) at National Treasure attitude and originality were highly appreciated. Zuiryuji Temple (award ceremony venue), Takaoka city. BOTTOM: Grand prize winner. 33 pieces of thinnest paper are overlaid and shifted. Four symbols (Black tortoise, Azure dragon, Vermillion bird and White tiger) emerge by watermark. ●The Collaborative Creation Program The Collaborative Creation Program is a special program for 6 finalists of U-50 INTERNATIONAL HOKURIKU KOGEI (artisan crafts) AWARDS to create new works in collaboration with hosts (companies, workshops, artisans, etc.) in the artisan crafts’ environment of Hokuriku area. Each finalists tried new skills in and out of their professions to create new works. For example, Takakuni Kawabata (grand prize winner), a washi Japanese traditional paper maker, co-worked with Sanshiba Glass Co., Limited (Tonami city, Toyama prefecture) to make an artwork which has a piece of paper between glass plates. The artwork was intended to develop new expressions and purposes which were born from crossing different materials. Otherwise, a willow basket maker Esmē Hofman (Honorable Mention winner) worked together with Chifuyu Enomoto, a bamboo craft maker who lives in Kanazawa city, Ishikawa prefecture. Through the experience of feeling Japanese traditional materials for elaborate weaving works, a new creation with full of inspirations was TOP: Esmē Hofman and Chifuyu Enomoto completed. making their collaboration work. A completed In a similar way, collaborative works for this year’s finalists with work is on the bottom right. artists and companies in Toyama prefecture will be carried out from BOTTOM LEFT: Grand prize winner Takakuni the next fiscal year. Kawahara’s collaborative creation. Press Contact: ※Promotional Photos ；https://bit.ly/34t8uW0 Epiphany Works, Ltd. Contact persons: Ms. Ogino / Ms. Hayashiguchi ・Tel. +81-766-54-6210 ・E-mail [email protected]（Ms.Ogino）,[email protected]（Ms.Hayashiguchi） From: Kylie Clark <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 16, 2019 8:15 AM To: KUL min <[email protected]> Subject: Open call: new international craft awards in Japan Dear Estonian Ministry of Culture We are hoping you will help spread awareness of a new international craft award in Japan. We would love to receive some entries from Estonia! Entry to the International Kogei Award in Toyama is free and offers an exciting opportunity for makers to not only win monetary awards, but also have their work exhibited in Japan and be invited to collaborate with artists, craftspeople and designers in Japan. It would be greatly appreciated if you would share this opportunity via the Estonian Ministry of Culture website and social media channels and directly with any makers you know who might be interested in entering. The awards are supported by the Japanese Government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. The awards are in their first year. So far awareness is relatively low. Applications close on 27 January 2020 and are open to international and Japanese craftspeople. Full detail are below and here is a link to download images https://we.tl/t-G2W5UVOHzk. Also, a full press release is attached. Calling craftspeople and artists around the world: International Kogei Award in Toyama offering €33,000* in awards + the opportunity to collaborate with craftspeople in Japan Applications close 27 January 2020 Toyama Prefecture in Japan has launched the International Kogei Award in Toyama to create opportunities for networking and collaboration with craftspeople and makers across the world, and from there, to paint a new future vision for the world of craft. The awards are open to artists, craftspeople and designers aged 50 and under. It offers a prize pool of €33,000*, the opportunity to have work exhibited in Japan and to be invited to the exchange program and collaborative production program with local craftspeople and companies in Toyama in or after 2021.