Roppongi Art Night 2010

Get ready for Roppongi Art Night 2010 next weekend from the night of Saturday, March 27 until the following morning. This dusk-to-dawn extravaganza featuring installations, talks, performances, screenings and more will take place right across Roppongi in the streets and at participating shops and restaurants. Mori Art Museum, the National Art Center, Tokyo, the Suntory Museum of Art and 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT as well as Tokyo Midtown and Roppongi Hills will also be running their own programs. Click on the venue links for more information or try the official website here (unfortunately, mostly only in Japanese).

P.S. Parents who want to bring their kids along should beware. As noted on the Roppongi Art Night website: “In accordance with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government regulation on the healthy development of youth, children below the age of 18 may not to attend events between the hours of 11 pm and 4 am.”

Artist File 2010

CHISATO SAITO, The portraits of bubble

Macro photographer Chisato Saito will give a workshop from 1:30 to 5pm on Saturday, March 20 as part of the  National Art Center, Tokyo's third annual Artist File exhibition on from March 3 to May 5, 2010. Bringing together six Japanese and one Dutch artist, Artist File 2010: The NACT Annual Show of Contemporary Art has no particular theme but rather styles itself as “a series of solo exhibitions” designed to showcase a range of current forms of artistic expression.

This year’s show also features Naoyo Fukuda, Takashi Ishida, Toru Kuwakubo, Aernout Mik, Kaoru Minamino and Jun O.


The six other  artists will be giving talks throughout the exhibition, including a double talk on March 27 as part of Roppongi Art Night (see post).

Aichi Triennale 2010 calls for exhibition proposals

Aichi Triennale 2010 is calling for applications for “inspiring projects of contemporary art exhibition by artists and curators” as part of its second Curatorial Competition. The Aichi Triennale is a new international contemporary and performance art festival to be held in various venues in the city of Nagoya in Aichi prefecture from August 21 to October 31 this year.

This second round of the competition is open to both individuals and groups of artists and curators, with no restrictions on age or nationality. Applications may be submitted in English. Applicants should nominate their proposed site within Nagoya’s Choja-machi district. The list of sites available includes a room in a dilapidated building and a retail store in an underground shopping strip.

The 12 entries selected will be given an approximately three-week exhibition in either August, September or October 2010, along with up to 100,000 yen cash to cover the costs of creating and shipping the work, site preparation and installation, and travel and accommodation.

The deadline for application is March 31. Get more details and download the application forms here.

Applications sought for ARCUS Project 2010 Ibaraki artist-in-residence program

The Ibaraki-based artist-in-residence ARCUS Project is once again calling for applications from international emerging artists to participate in a three-month residency from late September to December. Selected applicants will be provided with studio space and accommodation in Moriya city, Ibaraki prefecture for the entire period, along with a return airfare, travel insurance, and a monthly allowance. Artists must be able to communicate in English and should not be enrolled in an undergraduate or post-graduate program during the residency period. Although five studios are available, only one artist per country will be selected.

This year's program takes a more process-oriented approach and organizers are therefore seeking "a project which does not regard final presentation as a goal, but tries to conduct a site-specific research / project within a certain period of time."

Applications must be mailed, postmarked no later than March 31, 2010. Get all the details and application forms here.