Introduction
Japan Alps Art Festival has launched an open call for proposals for its second edition taking place from May 31 to July 19, 2020, in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture. It seeks artworks and creative projects (performance, food, and other media) utilizing and featuring the history, culture, nature and local resources of Omachi located at the foot of the Northern Alps of Japan.
Japan Alps Art Festival was started in 2017, where 36 groups of artists from 14 countries and areas participated and created site-specific works throughout the entire city of Omachi under the concept “Water, Wood, Soil, Sky.”
Omachi City is surrounded by 3,000 meter class high mountains of the Northern Alps and is blessed with abundant water of melted snow stream and lakes, fresh air and scenic natural landscape. It used to be prosperous as a post-station town along the salt road to the Japan Sea and an important hub for transportation. From the early 20th century to the period of the rapid economic growth, Omachi developed for aluminum refineries, cotton spinning mills, the dam construction, and tourism. However, it has been faced with serious depopulation and aging.
Japan Alps Art Festivals is aimed at revitalizing the region through art through highlighting the charms of the city, promoting movements and exchanges among people by attracting tourists, and turning the participation of citizens into the driving force behind the development of the region.
The festival’s general director and the judge of the open call is Fram Kitagawa, known for his success in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale and Setouchi Triennale , which are internationally recognized as pioneering projects to regenerate rural areas through art.
Now that the global environmental crises have been accelerated and the contemporary capitalism has been collapsing, the open call welcomes innovative proposals to reveal the regional resources and regenerate the communities.
The selected artworks exhibited at the 1st Japan Alps Art Festival
For all the artworks of Japan Alps Art Festival 2017: https://shinano-omachi.jp/artwork/
Concept
Water, Wood, Soil, Sky
Art reveals the atmosphere, transparency, and gravity of the land.
Japan Alps Art Festival is an endeavor to reveal the climate and accumulated time of the land of Omachi through art. The mountains viewed far from the alluvial fans connecting like a “corridor” and the blue sky looked up at from water places inspire and encourage artists to create fresh and vivid site-specific works.
<Water>
The overwhelming streams of headwater from the Japan Alps stimulate the five senses.
<Wood>
Omachi is located along the western edge of the fossa magna dividing the Japanese Archipelago in the east and the west, where the “Salt Road” used to run connecting Shinano (the traditional name of Nagano Prefecture) and Japan Sea. It has rich woods where geological features and vegetation of both the east and west.
<Soil>
The moisture of a cold sea current and a warm sea current blown by the seasonal winds hit the mountains and drop the waters to the earth, which lead to produce fertile soil.
<Sky>
The people living in Shinano look up at the blue, high sky all their life.
Title｜Japan Alps Art Festival 2020|
Dates | May 31 (Sun) through July 19 (Sun), 2020 (50 days)
Organizer｜Japan Alps Art Festival Executive Committee
Honorary chairman｜Morikazu Abe (Governor of Nagano Prefecture)
Chairman｜Toru Ushigoe (Mayor of Omachi City)
General Director｜Fram Kitagawa (Art director)
Number of works｜new works 30-35 pieces + existing works 5 pieces
Venue｜Five areas of Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture
URL｜www.shinano-omachi.jp/
Submission period｜June 3 (Mon) – July 19 (Fri), 2019
Eligibility｜Anyone that understands the purpose of Japan Alps Art Festival
Application fee｜1.000 JPY (tax included) per application
Documents for submission｜Application form, proposal, CV, etc. (see the guidelines)
Judge｜Fram Kitagawa (General Director, Japan Alps Art Festival)
Number of selected proposal｜about 5 (Up to two million yen will be paid for the production cost)
Site visit tour: June 15, 2019 ＜Application required＞
Inquiries & Applications
Japan Alps Art Festival Executive Committee Office
3887 Omachi, Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture, 398-8601 Japan
http://shinano-omachi.jp
TEL.＋81 (0)261 22 0420／ FAX +81 (0)261 23 4304
E-mail: info@shinano-omachi.jp
For full information about the open call and to apply, please visit: https://shinano-omachi.jp/news/11802/