FESTIVAL/TOKYO

F/T Award

The F/T Emerging Artists Program supports the next generation of young Asian artists and companies to produce their own work.

Last year it expanded out into the whole of Asia and for this 2012 program it received 180 applicants from Japan and the rest of the continent, from which a line-up of 11 companies/artists from 6 countries was chosen. In the range of performances being presented we can witness shared Asian issues and possibilities emerging, revealing the diversity of contemporary artists in the way the themes and methodologies vary. Like last year, the F/T Award will once again be given to the work with the strongest new creative value.

The F/T Award is given to an artist or company within the F/T12 Emerging Artists Program, with the participants all assessed under the same criteria. The winner is promised the right to present another work as part of the F/T Main Program in the following year. This year’s judges include critics from Korea and China, alongside Japanese peers.

The winner of last year’s inaugural F/T Award, Pijin Neji, was invited to present a work at the F/T Main Program for 2012 but it was the artist’s wishes not to participate. Accordingly, the next ranked candidate, Takuya Murakawa, was invited in his place.

Judges

Wenguang Wu

Born in China’s Yunnan province in 1956. After graduating from high school in 1974, Wu was sent to the countryside, where he worked as a farmer for 4 years. Between 1978 and 1982, he studied Chinese literature at Yunnan University. Wu moved to Beijing in 1988, and became an independent documentary filmmaker and freelance writer. He founded the Living Dance Studio with Wen Hui in 1994 and worked on all the performances as a performer, video maker and producer. In 2005, he founded the independent art space CCD Workstation in Beijing with Wen Hui. He participated at F/T10 as a dramaturge for “Memory”.

Tadashi Uchino

Born in 1957. Theatre critic and professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo. Specializes in contemporary American theatre. He is a board member of the Society of Theory of Representation and Culture and at Kanagawa Arts Foundation, and a councillor of the Saison Foundation. He is also an editorial board member for TDR magazine, which conducts research into American performance. He is the author of many books, including “Crucible Bodies”.

Hidenaga Otori

Born in 1948. Theatre critic. He specializes in the history of ideas in Russian art. He has held positions at the Walker Art Center, as director of the Laokoon International Theatre Festival, and as vice-president of Kyoto Performing Arts Center. His many publications, translations and co-writings include “Reverberation Machines: The World of Richard Foreman”.

Hyunsuk Seo

Born in 1965. Director and researcher in performing arts. Lecturer in interdisciplinary arts at Yonsei University. He has directed many site-specific performances, including “FAT SHOW”, “Heterotopia”, “The Divine Prostitution of the Soul”, and “Desire Paths”.

Akio Miyazawa

Born in Shizuoka in 1956. He formed U-ench Saisei Jigyodan in 1990 and won the Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 1992 for “Hinemi”. After a 3-year hiatus, in 2003 he returned with "Tokyo Body" and a new style combining text, video and performance. He has written essays and criticism, and a novel that was nominated for the Akutagawa Prize. Currently he also teaches at Waseda University.

Chiaki Soma

Born in 1975. After graduating from Waseda University she studied cultural policy and arts management at the University of Lyon. She joined NPO Arts Network Japan in 2002. She has worked for the Tokyo International Arts Festival (Middle East series 2004-2007) and established the Yokohama Arts Platform: Steep Slope Studio, of which she was director from 2006 to 2010. Since F/T09 Spring until the present she has handled the overall direction of Festival/Tokyo. She is a member of the 2012 Cultural Policies Committee at the Council for Cultural Affairs.

It was originally planned for Hans-Thies Lehmann to serve as a Judge but, due to unforeseen circumstances, his participation was unfortunately not possible.