Japan | Aomori Contemporary Art Centre residency call 2021

An international open call is open for the Aomori Contemporary Art Centre ACAC Artist in Residence Full Support Program 2021: Invisible Connections. For 2021, the call is open to residents of Japan able to stay and work at the ACAC and non-Japanese nationals living outside of Japan who will participate remotely.

The programme is open to individuals or groups engaged in artistic pursuits, including curators, researchers, artists, or otherwise. 

Since its founding in December 2001, the Aomori Contemporary Art Centre (ACAC) has welcomed a diverse range of artists to create and present their works through its flagship Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program. The center aims to be an inspirational space for all involved, emphasizing interaction between domestic and international artists, local residents, and students. This open call program fully supports artists, curators, researchers, and others involved in cultural, creative, and artistic endeavors, including exhibitions, performances, workshops, talks, and other activities that utilize the ACAC’s unique environment. From planning and research to setup and presentation, the program provides assistance every step of the way, culminating in a catalog record of activities. The length of stay is optional, from a minimum of two weeks to a maximum of about three months.

Due to the threat of COVID-19, we expect that creators based overseas will find it difficult to travel to Aomori. Domestic travel also requires more caution than usual. But time itself marches on, and so do we. The ACAC seeks ways to continue to promote creative expression amid the pandemic, making full use of the Internet and other means to harness the creativity and imagination for things that would otherwise go unnoticed from where we live. We will also leverage our experiences conducting remote projects, which included talks and exhibitions during last year’s AIR program, and take advantage of the network that the ACAC has developed over the past 20 years. Join us to think about how we can connect here and now—despite the barriers to understanding and difficulties due to communicating remotely—and how we can use our resourcefulness to ride this out together.

Various residency periods are available between September and December 2021, divided into two-week blocks. Applications are open for individuals or groups engaged in artistic pursuits (regardless of genre), including curators, researchers, artists, or otherwise.

Application Deadline: March 21 (Sun), 2021 17:00 JST