BiG-i Art Project

Osaka Prefecture The 7th Open Contest for the "Project to Discover New Stars in the World of Modern Art"

Call for Entries 2017

Musical Score of ‘Time’

Melody You Play

Organizer: Osaka Prefectural Government / BiG-i (International Communication Center for Persons with Disabilities)

■ What is the BiG-i Art Project?

Art has the power to connect people. The BiG-i Art Project leverages this power to encourage communication between people, both with and without disabilities, and to cultivate new talent that will shine in the art world. To help people with disabilities discover and fulfill their potential, the BiG-i Art Project is conducted with the following three objectives:

- To offer people with disabilities opportunities to engage in artistic activities

- To unearth and nurture artistic talent

- To support and publicize the activities of artists with disabilities

■ Entry and Selection Procedures

Original works will be judged to ensure that their true appeal is not lost in or misrepresented by photographs.

*The exhibition of BiG-i Art Project 2016 Selected Works is scheduled to tour the following venues:

[Tokyo] Bunkamura Box Gallery from April 29, (Sat, Holiday)to May 7 (Sun)in 2017

[Yokohama] Yokohama Rapport from May 10 (Wed) to May 15 (Mon) in 2017

[Osaka] The venue is currently being arranged.

■ BiG-i Art Project Opens the Door to the World

Entering this competition can open the door to a brand new stage! BiG-i Art Project brings art created by people with disabilities to a wider audience, thereby promoting interaction between people, whether or not they have disabilities, across nations, ethnicity & language, and challenging the market. Who knows, perhaps your artwork can end up touring the world!

[Major international exchange events so far]

- Participation in the 3rd Korea-China-Japan Joint Exhibition for Disabled Artists (Korea)

- Participation in ESCO Very Special Peace Art Festival 2013 in Batticaloa (Sri Lanka)

- Participation in 〓 Seminario Internacional de ARTE INCLUSIVO 2014(Spain)

- Art consignment agreement with Cavin-Morris Gallery (New York)

- Exhibition of Selected Works “Resonating Resonance” in Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

* From 2017, this becomes a joint project with Osaka Prefecture The 7th Open Contest for the "Project to Discover New Stars in the World of Modern Art".

■ Guidelines for Overseas Entries

[Applicants shortlisted for the final selection]

Please send the original work (actual, physical item) to BiG-i for the final selection, following the instructions below.

[Applications and Inquiries]

BiG-i Art Project

International Communication Center for Persons with Disabilities (BiG-i)

Address: 1-8-1 Chayamadai, Minami-ku, Sakai City, Osaka 590-0115 Japan

Phone: 072-290-0962 Fax: 072-290-0972

Email: museum@big-i.jp

■ Judging Panel (Japanese alphabetical order by surname)

Yuji Akimoto

Professor and Director, The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts. Art Critic

Born in Tokyo in 1955 and graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he studied painting at the fine arts department. Involved in the Benesse Art Site Naoshima project since 1991. Appointed to the posts of director of Chichu Art Museum and artistic director of Benesse Art Site Naoshima in 2004. Director of 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa from 2007 to March of 2017, where he has been responsible for organizing Kanazawa Art Platform 2008, International Triennale of Kogei in Kanazawa, and Art Crafting Towards the Future, among others. Visiting professor at Akita University of Art from April, 2013 to March, 2017. Visiting professor at Tokyo University of the Arts from April 2013 to March 2015. Professor and Director of The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts since 2015. Visiting Senior Professor at the School of Art, JOSHIBI University of Art and Design since September, 2016.

Baron Ueda

Active internationally in the fields of advertising, publishing, games, and other media, Baron Ueda is known for his forceful illustrations, characterized by bold lines and figures with distinctive eyes. Major works to date include a Google Chrome artist theme, artwork for pop groups EXILE and Perfume, mascot designs for FM802, character designs for interactive psychological game Jin-Rou, and the Fujin (god of wind) and Raijin (god of lightening) created to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Rinpa (Rimpa) School, which were exhibited at Toraya Kyoto Gallery. He has also been involved in stage animation for the London and New York gigs of Tomoyasu Hotei, and is a Red Bull Ignition guest artist. Ranked 3^rd in the World Stage of LIMITS Digital Art Battle.

Edward M. Gómez

Edward M. Gómez is an arts journalist, critic and graphic designer. He is the senior editor of the London-based outsider-art magazine Raw Vision and the New York correspondent of the American magazine Art & Antiques. He has written and provided photography for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, Art + Auction, Metropolis (U.S.A.) Folk Art Magazine, Hyperallergic, the Japan Times (Tokyo), Reforma (Mexico City), the Jamaica Observer (Kingston) and many other publications. He is the author or co-author of numerous books and exhibition catalogs, including, among others, Dictionnaire de la civilisation japonaise (Hazan Éditions, 1998), Yes: Yoko Ono (Abrams, 2000), The Art of Adolf Wölfli: St. Adolf-Giant-Creation (American Folk Art Museum/Princeton University Press, 2003), Hans Krüsi (Iconofolio/Outsiders, 2006) and La Wilson: Five Decades (John Davis Gallery, 2013). His new book of stories (fiction), As Things Appear, will be published in the near future. He is based in New York and London. Advisory Council Member of Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne of Swiss since 2016.

Akira Tatehata

President of Tama Art University. Director of The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. Being an expert of modern art, he organized a various international art exhibitions and engaged in a number of event planning around Asian modern art. Commissioner of Japan Pavilion at Venice Biennale (1990 & 1993). Art Director of The 1^st Yokohama Triennale 2001. Art Director of Aichi Triennale 2010. He is also a poet.

Hiroaki Nakatsugawa

Mr. Nakatsugawa is an artist and an art director. Under the theme “Memory, vestiges, and deficits,” he creates and publishes large drawings and paintings, mainly using lines in blue violet, both in Japan and abroad.

He is also the art director of Kobo Syu, and served as the art director of the Exhibition of Art by the Disabled, Saitama in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. He has also served as a director of Odawara Art de Vivre, the curator of the exhibition “Taro Okamoto and L’Art Brut” at the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, a director of Art de Vivre and Able Art Japan, and a member of the selection committee for 2015 and 2016 Tohoku Open-Call Exhibition of Art by the Disabled, etc. He is engaged in organizing various events for diverse people, disabled or not, including art workshops, lectures, and live painting sessions, around Japan, including the disaster-affected areas in Tohoku.

Ikko Nagano

Member of Japanese Professional Photographers Society (JPS). Representative for Kyoto Yomiuri Photo Club. Judge of photo contests, etc. Born in Kyoto in 1945. Became a freelance photographer after working in the planning department of a printing company. Based in Kyoto and has provided photographs of fine arts and antiques, architecture, food, traditional crafts, and people for numerous publications and magazines.

Yohei Nishimura

Born in Kyoto in 1947 and graduated from the Sculpture Course, Department of Fine Arts, Faculty of Education, Tokyo University of Education. Taught arts and crafts at the Chiba Prefectural School for the Visually Impaired from 1975 to 1998. A practicing artist who also teaches art to visually impaired children. Major awards include the Minister of Foreign Affairs Award at the 1977 Japan Ceramic Art Exhibition. Works are in permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum London, Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris, and other museums in Japan and abroad.

Kyoshu Mochizuki

Calligrapher. Born in Himeji City in 1949. Graduated in calligraphy from Niigata University Faculty of Education. Currently lecturer at Himeji Municipal Koko Gakuen Daigakuko. Serves as executive committee member of the Kansai Exhibition of the Mainichi Shodo Exhibition after serving as a steering committee member and Grand Prize selection committee member of the Mainichi Shodo Exhibition. Has also served as representative of the Kinki branch of Dokuritsu Shojindan Foundation, steering committee member of Himeji Bijutsu Kyokai, and chair of Kyosyu Shohokai. Awards include the Mainichi Shodo Exhibition Grand Prize and Dokuritsu Shojindan Foundation Member Award. A calligraphy artist and commentator, Mochizuki lectures extensively on rinsho as well as creative calligraphy, and continues to develop his unique calligraphy theory through research compilation etc. Author of books including Kotsu ga wakareba daredemo kakeru.