Japan Media Arts Festival

The 16th Japan Media Arts Festival runs in Tokyo till 24th February with an exhibition of Award-winning Works in different media arts categories, selected from over 3,500 international entries. It is a comprehensive festival of Media Arts (=Media Geijyutsu) that honors outstanding works from a diverse range of media － from animation and comics to media art and games.

The Exhibition of Award-winning Works, at which winning works from this year's 16th festival will be displayed, is held from 13th to 24th February, 2013 at both the National Art Center, Tokyo (main venue) and other locations.

From a record number of 3,503 works submitted for the festival, Award-winning Works and Jury Selections have been chosen in each of the 4 divisions (Art, Entertainment, Animation and Manga) through an exhaustive, impartial and objective screening process. In addition, four individuals have been selected to receive Special Achievement Awards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the Media Arts field. During this period, not only will there be the exhibition and screening of those winners and works but also a number of related presentations and symposiums led by the winning creators.

The Grand Prize was awarded to Pendulum Choir (image) - a music performance by Michel DÉCOSTERD / André DÉCOSTERD from Switzerland. Pendulum Choir is an original choral piece for 9 a cappella voices and 18 hydraulic jacks. The choir stands on tilting platforms, constituting a living, sonorous body. That body expresses itself through various physical states.