Umeda Tetsuya and Oh Haji Win Tokyo Contemporary Art Award
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The award, which includes a JP ¥3 million cash prize, aims to boost the winning artists' profiles at home and abroad.
Umeda Tetsuya, Floor 0 (2020). Exhibition view at Saitama Triennale 2020, Former Omiya ward office. Photo: Ryuichi Maruo.
Tokyo Arts and Space today announced Umeda Tetsuya and Oh Haji the winners of the Tokyo Contemporary Art Award (TCAA) 2024–2026. The TCAA supports mid-career artists, including the expansion of their careers internationally.
Each winner will receive a JP ¥3 million (U.S. $20,700) cash prize, up to ¥2 million ($13,800) of additional funding to produce art abroad, the publication of a monograph about their work, and an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
Umeda Tetsuya was born in Kumamoto in 1980 and is now based in Osaka. He produces installations inspired by the environments and spaces where he exhibits. His practice includes elements of performance and sound art.
The award's selection committee commended Umeda for 'his deep insight into the geopolitical and environmental aspects of the locations where he showcases his work. He skillfully translates these insights into his unique artistic language, elevating them into compelling art pieces.'
'Umeda's work is focused on enhancing the viewer's experience and is characterised by meticulously crafted, intimate mechanisms that encourage viewers to engage with the space spontaneously,' they continued. 'His ability to weave these elements into a coherent narrative through cross-disciplinary storytelling, grounded in a profound understanding of visual culture, is particularly noteworthy.'
Umeda's recent exhibitions include the solo show wait this is my favourite part at Tokyo's WATARI-UM, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art in 2023 and participation in the Oku Noto Triennale 2023.
Oh Haji was born and raised in Japan, and now lives in Wollongong, Australia. She is a third generation Zainichi Korean (a term implying Japanese-born Koreans are only temporary residents in Japan) who uses textile-making techniques, photographs, texts, and audio in her installations. She has also explored the concept of 'post-memory' through community workshops.
'Oh Haji's work stands out for its balanced emphasis on both the broad strokes of history and the nuanced stories of individuals often overlooked in grand historical narratives,' said the selection committee. 'Her textile creations, through the mediums of dyeing and weaving, represent the intricate tapestry of geopolitics, women's history, and the narratives of migration and immigration.'
Oh's recent exhibitions include Kanten観展: The Limits of History at Apexart in New York in 2023 and Roppongi Crossing 2022, Coming & Going at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum. —[O]
