Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS) is pleased to announce that Tsuda Michiko and Saeborg were selected as the winners for the fourth Tokyo Contemporary Art Award (TCAA).
The winners will receive the monetary prize 3 million JPY and the several years of continuous support such as the funding for overseas activities, the opportunity to show their work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) and the publication of a monograph.
The award ceremony and symposium are scheduled for March 20, 2022 at MOT and will be also streamed online.
The winners were chosen by the International Selection Committee, consisting of: Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Director, Kunstinstituut Melly; Takahashi Mizuki, Executive Director and Chief Curator, CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile); Nomura Shino, Senior Curator, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery; Carol Yinghua Lu, Director, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum; Washida Meruro, Director, Towada Art Center; Kondo Yuki, Program Director, Tokyo Arts and Space.
Chair of the Selection Committee comment
As a jury, all of us have taken the process of artist studio visits very seriously. Thanks to the superb organization of TCAA team, both on-site and on-line jury members have a very comprehensive view and understanding of each artist’s practice. We listened to the artists with great patience and asked specific questions in relation to their works and thoughts. These exchanges and deep engagements make this award much more than a final outcome of who wins but a meaningful learning experience for the jury members and hopefully the artists as well.
As usual, the deliberation process is one with careful reflections and reviews of the studio visits. Both Japanese and overseas jury members exchanged candid views about the works of Japanese artists as well as helped each other understand these works from a different perspective. The discussion was also much more than determining a result, but an in-depth contemplation of the relevance of artistic practices in a changing global context today. —Carol Yinghua Lu (Director, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum)
Reasons for the award
The whole statement is available here.
Tsuda Michiko: Through her installations and performances, Tsuda explores the effect that cameras and screens have on those who view their subjects and images. Recently, she has embarked on a lecture performance to highlight hidden gender roles in the films of director Ozu Yasujiro by reenacting and analyzing the body movements of his characters. This project closely examines nonverbal communication and prompts reflection on how individuals internalize social conventions, including images and gestures.
Tsuda is also active in gender studies and social practice education and has an insatiable urge to experiment with new forms of expression to expand her artistic horizons. As a result, she has built up an impressive portfolio of works on various topics that interest her…follow more on the TCAA website.
Saeborg: Exploring the possibilities for healthy coexistence between humans and other living organisms is one of the urgencies that artists in the wake of COVID-19 and ongoing global warming. Since the start of her career, Saeborg has pursued the politics of life and emotion that surround the treatment, reproduction, slaughter, and consumption of animals through performances that caricature the relationship between humans and livestock. Representing ontological questions through brightly colored toy-like latex costumes and stage, her works leave her audiences feeling disorientated due to the serious subject matter and bright, casual visuals. At the same time, she reminds her audiences of the innocent cruelty of those who treat the lives of animals as a commodity. Her works, including public performances in which she views the physical body as sculpture, are infectiously dynamic and filled with symbolism, provocation, and poignant criticism…follow more on the TCAA webiste.
About TCAA
The TCAA is a contemporary art award established by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tokyo Arts and Space in 2018 to encourage mid-career artists to make new breakthroughs in their work by providing them with several years of continuous support.
