‘European Eyes on Japan/ Japan Today’ is the name of the open call that is being implemented within the project of the same name, which includes the artistic residence in Japan in the field of contemporary photography art.

The selected artist will get a chance to reside in Japanese prefectures Osaka and Nagano between July 2020 and May 2021 in duration of 20 to 25 days and present his/her own perception of Japanese culture through photography. The residence is being implemented by the ‘Novi Sad 2021- European Capital of Culture’ within the Artist in Residence (Plants AiR) programme and in partnership with the ‘EU Japan Fest’ organisation.

All interested artists are invited to submit an application by 31 March 2020, meeting the following criteria:

1. to be professional in photography in the field of contemporary exhibition practice and/or documentary art (exhibitions in galleries, museums, to participate in artistic and documentary projects, residences, etc.);
2. they are of legal age and are nationals of the Republic of Serbia
3. they speak English fluently
4. they have not been previously selected for the residential programmes organised by the ‘Novi Sad 2021- European Capital of Culture’ Foundation or mobility programmes (Platns AiR, Kizuna, Mobility etc.)

In order to support Novi Sad artists within the European Capital of Culture project and facilitate decentralisation of the artistic scene, the advantage will be given to the candidates who work and live in Novi Sad or on the territory of Zone 021 (municipalities of Irig, Beočin and Sremski Karlovci).

The costs of travel, local transportation in Japan, technical and accommodation costs are covered by the organiser, and a fee of EUR 4,000 has been set aside for the selected artist.

The application should include: 

1. portfolio of 3-5 selected works (series of photographs) collected in one PFD file with size no larger than 5 MB

2. CV with main projects: participation in group and individual exhibitions, residential programmes, etc.

It is necessary to send the above-mentioned documents to the following e-mail: plantsair@ns2021.rs marked as ‘Residential Programme European Eyes on Japan 2020’ no later than 20 February 2020 at midnight. For additional questions related to the call, write to: plantsair@ns2021.rs

After the first selection, the selected candidates who enter the second round will be obliged to prepare the project proposal for artistic photography project in Japan, so that the selection jury can make the final decision and selection of candidates.

The selection of candidates will be made by Mikiko Kikuta, artistic director and curator.

The ‘European Eyes on Japan / Japan Today’ is the project in the field of photography launched in 1999 with the aim of promoting Japanese culture, creating network of artists and establishing cooperation between Japan and European countries. Each year, the project invites photographers from Europe to photograph Japanese prefectures, focusing on contemporary Japanese society and their everyday lives. New ways of reading the various aspects of everyday life of Japanese residents that are often neglected are being developed by these photographs. On the other hand, this is a wonderful opportunity for European photographers to deepen their knowledge of Japanese culture.

The photographs created during the residency become part of the ‘European Eyes on Japan/ Japan Today’ project, after which they are exhibited as part of collective exhibitions in the European Capitals of Culture and Japan, and then donated to the prefectures where they have been created and become part of the photo collections of cultural heritage of that region.

So far, 66 European artists have participated in the project and 40 out of 47 Japanese prefectures have been photographed. You can see the list of participants here.

The aim of the ‘Artist in Residence’ (Plants AiR) programme, which is being implemented within the ‘Novi Sad 2021 – European Capital of Culture’ project, is internationalisation of local artistic scene, education and networking of local artists with foreign artists and organisations. Within the programme, artists from Novi Sad are supported to implement outgoing residences, as well as to enable foreign artist to visit Novi Sad and to exchange experience and knowledge with local artists through work.