Language:
English, Japanese
Founded:
1994
Duration:
September 7–December 5, 2023 (90 days)
Paid by host:

Studio, accommodation, round-trip airfare, living and research expenses, as well as support from a director and coordinators, etc.

Application guidelines:

Please be sure to read the Application Guidelines carefully before completing the Online Application Form.

The applicant must:

  • be an emerging artist engaged in contemporary visual arts or other related fields.
  • possess a nationality other than Japanese.
  • be resident outside Japan and able to enter Japan legally.
  • not be enrolled at an educational institution during the program period unless it is a PhD program.
  • be in a state of good health and able to carry out daily activities on his/her own.
  • have an English-language ability proficient enough to communicate with other artists and staff.
Deadline:

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ARCUS Project

ARCUS Project

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Description

The ARCUS Project is an art and culture project promoting “regional development through the arts.” The project, organized by Ibaraki Prefecture Government and based in Moriya City, evolves around two programs. The Artist-in-Residence Program invites emerging and internationally active contemporary artists for a residency of fixed length with the aim of supporting artists in their creative investigations and fostering artists of high quality. The Local Program offers regional residents of all ages opportunities to experience art. Connecting art with the region enables regional residents to take an active role in creating an environment for art activities and promoting measures for regional revitalization.

“ARCUS” is a Latin word meaning “gate.” The name “ARCUS Project” embodies the hope that the project will become a gate for fostering emerging artists and sending them onto the international stage, and a center (ART x FOCUS) for art activities in Japan.

In October 1991, the Tokyo University of the Arts established a campus in Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture. As construction of the new campus got underway, varying measures promoting “international character” and “the arts” in the prefecture’s rapidly urbanizing southern region were explored, together with specialists, in order to pursue the development of new policies.

As a result, in 1994, an Artist-in-Residence Program was launched in Moriya City as a preparatory (test) program. At that time, such artist residency programs were almost unknown in Japan, although practised widely in the West. With a five-year period from 1995 as a nucleus, the AIR Program was experimentally held in cooperation with Moriya City with the additional aim of giving prefectural residents opportunities to experience art creation and enjoy the exchange with artists.

The experimentally offered Artist-in-Residence Program produced clear results as a program fostering the growth of emerging artists and captured the interests of experts in Japan and abroad, as well as that of regional residents. In 2000, the program was launched in earnest under the name “ARCUS Project.” As of 2014, twenty years after the launch of its preparatory project, the ARCUS Project had received wide acclaim in Japan and abroad, both as a groundbreaking Artist-in-Residence program and as a local government-operated cultural project successfully contributing to its region.

Currently, the project, which takes Ibaraki Prefecture Government and Moriya City as its centers, is being operated as part of a broad partnership with domestic and overseas cultural exchange entities, such as the embassies of nations from which artists have been invited, and private corporations.


ARCUS PROJECT 2023 IBARAKI ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

ARCUS Project’s artist-in-residence program provides opportunities for emerging artists in the field of contemporary art to cultivate their artistic creativity and vision. Located around an hour from Tokyo, a residency at ARCUS Studio allows participants in the program to come into contact with the contemporary art scene in Japan as well as devote themselves to their creative endeavours in a calm environment while interacting with the local community. Through the support the program offers from its dedicated team of coordinators and regular tutorials with a curator, artists are able to search for and explore approaches in their practices and undertake new challenges in their artistic expression. The program particularly emphasizes research-based practices and presents the initial results of these processes at open studios. It welcomes ideas for artworks and projects that develop out of encounters with people, the land, and culture and aspires to form critical spaces that are open and international.

Please read Program Outline before applying.

Outcome

Artist is expected to:
1. be cooperative with interviews and other requests from various media such as
newspapers, TV, and public relations magazines.
2. agree that the copyright of all photographs and video footage made to record the
activities by the organizer during the program period belongs to the ARCUS
Project Administration Committee.
3. be cooperative with requests concerning use of photographs and video footage
for the publicity and promotion of ARCUS Project.
4. be cooperative with the future publicity of ARCUS Project.
--- inform the ARCUS Project Administration Committee about activities such as
exhibitions related to the project you conduct during the program period.
--- mention ARCUS Project 2023 IBARAKI Artist-in-Residence Program on your CV
after finishing the residency program.
--- present the result/process of your research during the residency program within one
year from the day you leave Japan and inform the ARCUS Project Administration
Committee about this, such as date, venue, etc.

Some examples of a presentation are: 1. Holding an exhibition, performance, lecture, or workshop in a country other than Japan 2. Publishing the results/reviews of the stay through media such as newspapers, magazines, or online.

Studio Information

ARCUS Studio forms the centre of the project and is housed in the “Moriya Manabi-no-sato,” the lifelong learning centre of Moriya city. Conceived as a place for cultural and recreational functions alike, “Manabi-no-sato,” which was converted from an elementary school, serves as the hub for community activities for local residents. The centre contains a range of facilities that include a playground, music room, gym, kitchen, craft workshop, and tatami rooms.


ARCUS Studio is used not only as the resident artists’ studios during their residency programs, but also for various other purposes, such as exhibitions, lectures, and workshops. Each studio space (W:9m x D:7.5m x H:3.3m; 67.5 sq.m) provided for a resident artist is a former classroom with blackboards and shelves still in place.

Accommodation Information

Apartment size: 23.7 m2 unless otherwise noted.

Each participant is provided with a furnished studio-style apartment that includes basic electric appliances. The apartment is designed for a single occupant.

Technical Information

The participant is responsible for obtaining visa from the Embassy of Japan or Consulate General of Japan if the visa is required for entering Japan. The Administration Committee does not have responsibility for supporting visas but will provide an invitation letter if needed for visa application.

Location

The residence program takes place in Moriya City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Moriya City is located at the southern edge of Ibaraki Prefecture, and about 40 km from Tokyo. Access from the local train station to central Tokyo is approximately 35 minutes by express train. It is a town with a population of approximately 60 thousand people.

Contact information
Addresses

2418 Itatoi
Moriya, Ibaraki
302-0101
Japan

Email
arcus [at] arcus-project.com