Open Call submission period has now ended. 
Thank you to all who submitted. 

The three artists were selected after an initial selection by local stakeholders and a strong screening by a Selection Committee consisting of art experts. 

Guidelines for applicants 

Call for entries residencies 

We call for artists who will come to and reside in Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, from mid-January to the end of February to create shohekiga (障壁画, large paintings on fusuma/sliding doors (襖絵, fusuma-é), or on byobu/Japanese folding screens (屏風絵, byōbu-é)) inspired by local nature, history, culture and landscape of Takehara. 

Takehara’s preserved historical townscape area flourished during the Edo period (1603-1867) due to saké brewing and salt production.  The area's main streetway is lined by traditional buildings, and the area is known as one of the Little Kyoto (小京都) towns. 

Related websites 

Takehara | Travel Japan (Japan National Tourism Organization) 

Shohekiga - Kyoto | IS JAPAN COOL?-Travel and Culture Guide (ana-cooljapan.com) 

Byōbu - Wikipedia 

Who can apply 

• Young artists who are 39-years-old or younger at the time of application (including students/graduate students of art universities, graduate schools and art vocational schools). 
• Residents of Japan (We also welcome overseas artists; however, the secretariat will only provide the local travel expenses in Japan.) 
• Genres are not limited to Japanese traditional paintings. We welcome applications from various art fields. 

Period of application 

Monday, 28th August, 2023 ▶ Monday, 16th October, 2023 19:00 (JST) 

Working visa is required to reside and create paintings in Takehara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.  For details, please ask the embassies. 

Selection procedures 

An initial review will be carried out by the stakeholders of Takehara City.  After that, the Judging Committee will judge the entries, and select three artists. The secretariat will directly notify selected artists of the results.  

Announcement 

The results will be released on this website and other media in early November 2023. 

Application fee 

Free 

Venue and period for producing shohekiga 

A studio will be prepared in a facility located in Takehara townscape preservation area. We will also provide accommodation near the studio. 

Production of art pieces 

A 4-panel fusuma-é (paintings on 4-panel sliding doors) or a 4-panel byōbu-é (paintings on a 4-panel folding screens) inspired by Takehara's local nature, history, culture and landscape will be created by each artist within a period of about a month.  As shown in the figures and photos below, fusuma and byōbu are like large canvases. 

At the end, a total of 12 paintings on sliding doors and folding screens will be completed by three artists. 

Schedule 

• Application period: Monday, 28th August, 2023 ▶ Monday, 16th October, 2023 19:00 (JST) 
• Initial review: mid- to late-October 2023 
• Final selection by the Selection Committee: late October 2023 
• Notification of the selection results: early November 2023 

• Period of artist-in-residence: from 15th January to 29th February 2024 

Before starting to create the paintings, we will conduct a few day-tours for the artists to familiarize them with the nature and culture of Takehara. 

The period of creating paintings is from 15th January to 19th February, 2024.  The artists are required to complete the art picies before the exhibition.  The period of stay is from 15th January to 29th February 2024, including the period of the exhibition. 

• Open studio: 1st to 6th February, 2024 

During the period of producing shohekiga, a curator, an artist and an art producer will visit the studio and exchange opinions with the artists.  This will be an opportunity for the artists to expand their possibilities. 

The working process will be open to the public as well.  This will provide opportunities for the artists to interact with visitors through the process of producing the art pieces. 

• 1st Exhibition (Limited Exhibition): 21st -26th February 2024 

Prior to a general public exhibition, the art pieces will limitedly be presented to tourists at the historic buildings including a municipally important cultural property located in Takehara townscape preservation area. 

• 2nd Exhibition (Public Exhibition): 27th February -14th March 2024 

-After the limited exhibition, we will hold an open exhibition for the public. 

Expenses during residence and art creation 

We will pay 400,000 yen as production expenses per artist. 

In addition, we will bear local travel expenses in Japan, the tour before producing the paintings, accommodation fees, a daily allowance and expenses for the art materials (less than 100,000 yen per artist). 

For those living overseas, only local travel expenses in Japan will be paid by the secretariat. 

Providing a place to exhibit past works 

We will exhibit the artists’ previous artworks at some places in Takehara townscape preservation area from 1st to 6th February 2024 (tentative). 

The copyrights of the shohekiga belong to the artists. 

However, we request that artists donate the shohekiga to Takehara City (tentative). 

Notes 

This project owns the following rights to the shohekiga, and the artists are required to agree in advance to allow use of them free of charge in accordance with these rights. 

1. Publication on the Shohekiga Project website, magazines, etc. 

2. Release of a selection results to the media, including the Shohekiga Project website, specialized magazines, etc. 

3. Exhibition of shohekiga inside and outside Takehara City Townscape Preservation District. 

4. The shohekiga must not infringe on the copyright or other rights (and similar rights) of any other third parties, and in the event that such a problem arises, the applicant shall be responsible for resolving the problem.  The organizers and cooperative parties of this project will not be involved in problem resolution. 

 

Regarding the handling of personal information 

Submitted personal information will be strictly managed in confidence by the Shohekiga Project Secretariat and will not be used for any purposes other than this project.