2016 START

Outline

PARADISE AIR currently seeks an artist or art group who wishes to create work while residing at PARADISE AIR in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, as part of LONGSTAY Program 2016.

PARADISE AIR is an artist-in-residence program created in 2013 to revitalize Matsudo in light of its history as an inn town. During Japan’s Edo Period – while many towns developed under the rule of Feudal Lords and Samurai who worked to expand the Shogunate’s Imperial Fief – Matsudo flourished as an independent city untethered by feudalistic growth. As an inn town, the prosperity of Matsudo stemmed from the foot traffic of the Mitokaido highway, and from the nautical trade that bustled along the Edo River, but, most importantly, Matsudo has long been fabled for exceptional townsfolk. The people of Matsudo remain praised by visitors for their remarkable hospitality and obliging nature.

Program Theme

The theme “START,” which holds some composite meanings, marks a fresh beginning. In the 4 years since we started the program, we have hosted many artists from various countries and regions. The rewards of our activities are starting to shine like “STARs” in the sky. We hope that the stars of “ART” that you create this year in Matsudo will connect with other stars to form new constellations. This year also marks a new “START” for PARADISE AIR with a new operating structure. We hope you find as many stars as you can in our town, which aims to be a part of the greater constellations of the world. You might discover something completely different or new when you connect with others here.

Feel free to interpret the word “START” to draw your own star map of the people, town, and the present from your point of view.

Timeline of LONG STAY PROGRAM

• Application Deadline : July 31st, 2016
• Notification of Selection Results : August 31st, 2016
  NOTE: The chosen artist will be individually notified and be announced on our website later
  
• Term of Residence (Projected): October 1st, 2016 to December 28th, 2016

Applicant Regulations

• One artist or art group  will be selected this year.
• Applicants must not hold Japanese citizenship.

Applicant Conditions

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Enjoy engaging in dialogues with the local community.
• Currently living and working as a visual, musical, fine, or experimental artist.
• Willing and able to engage in genuine cultural exchange with regional artists and local residents during the term of residency.
• Have a desire to connect with local leaders and conduct regular fieldwork and/or interviews.
• An artist may plan to work collaboratively with artists in the Matsudo region, if they wish.
• Must be in good physical and mental health.
• Flexible regarding program scheduling, rules, and administration.
• Able to conduct their everyday life in Japanese and/or English language.

Main Program Schedule (Tentative)

• Oct. 1st (Sat) Arrival in Japan
• Oct. 4th (Tue) Meeting to discuss artists’ plan, Welcome party
• Oct. 8th (Sat) Self-Introduction Artist Talk for locals & Reception
• Dec. 17th (Sat) Final Presentation/Performance
• Dec. 28th (Wed) Departure from Japan

Program Support Package

• Round trip transportation from the artist’s home to Matsudo
• Residence at PARADISE AIR
• Up to ¥200,000 for production costs, to be decided via project proposal.
• Daily stipend of ¥3,000
• Costs associated with local talks, performances, etc.
• Costs of transporting works of art created during the program.
• Local support for activities and product of work
• Costs associated with advertisement and promotion

NOTE:

• We kindly ask that applicants plan to participate in the program with their own health insurance. PARADISE AIR may not serve as an insurer nor guarantor.
• While we generally accommodate artists who come to Matsudo alone, we still encourage applications from those who wish to bring their spouse and/or children. Please indicate clearly in the application if you wish to do so.
• During the program, we ask artists to arrange their meals using their daily stipend. Both local restaurants and a kitchenette will be available for use.
• For an artist hailing from a country that does not maintain a tax treaty with Japan, we must impose a 20% income tax upon the daily stipend and production costs.
  For more information, please visit:
  http://www.nta.go.jp/kohyo/katsudou/report/2003/japanese/tab/tab31.htm

Application Details

[STEP 1]

Submit the application materials by email

Please submit your all application materials to long@paradiseair.info with the subject line “2016_your name”. Regarding application materials, articles A-C listed below must be submitted to be considered for participation in the program. Please note that direct attachments to an email will not be accepted. Make sure to use a file share service such as Dropbox, hightail, WeTransfer etc.

Application Materials to be sent in [STEP 1] are as follows:

A: Application Form (PDF in A4 size)

Please fully complete and submit the application form for PARADISE AIR that can be downloaded via the following links (pdf and word).
URL(pdf) = paradiseair.info/data/2016_application.pdf
URL(word) = paradiseair.info/data/2016_application.doc

NOTE : In the event that you are unable to download the application form, please contact us directly for the necessary documents via email at: long@paradiseair.info

B: Portfolio or photographs of work.

Please compile portfolio documents or all photographs into a single folder.
– Please limit your portfolio folder to 50MB or less.
– Feel free to submit visual or audio recordings of work.
* We prefer to receive youtube links for video works.

C: Passport or identification card

A copy of passport or identification card
* Identification page of passport, or other official identification document with a photo

[STEP 2]

Submit the online application form

Please also fill in and submit the online form also to apply for selection. You will see the online form by clicking the orange bar at the bottom of the article. The items on the form are almost the same as those within the email application form.

NOTE: You must take proceedings of both [STEP1] and [STEP2] to enroll for the selection.

DEADLINE

The deadline for submitting [STEP 1] and [STEP 2] is July 31, 2016.

 

Selection and Notification

Notification of results

The chosen artist will be individually notified by August 31st, 2016. We will ask finalists to submit video letters before the final judgement. The information about the chosen artist will be posted on our website in September.

Examination Criteria

An examination committee, consisting of local residents and outside judges, will choose the best applicant from the submitted applications.

Examination Committee:

• Fumihiko Sumitomo (Curator, Director of Arts Maebashi)
• Yoshitaka Mohri (Sociologist, Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts)
• Naoko Yamazaki (Astronaut, Matsudo local)
• and others

Copyright & Public Relations

• Copyright and ownership of work created during the program will remain that of the artist.
• PARADISE AIR retains the right to photograph and film all events, performances, workshops, and exhibitions conducted by the artist during the duration of the program.
• We request full cooperation of participant in regards to program coverage by the media, as well as with coverage by our staff and sponsors.
• A request may be made for a piece to be donated to Matsudo, but the artist reserves the right to decline.

Mail Address for Applications and Inquiries

Please send the application for [STEP 1] to the following address.

long@paradiseair.info

NOTE : We unfortunately cannot answer any inquiries regarding the selection process.