About the Festival

Founded in 2009, the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions is a unique annual international festival of moving images and art taking place in Ebisu, Tokyo that combines exhibitions, screenings, live performances and talk sessions. Since its inception, the festival has aspired to invigorate creative activities in the field of moving images and to provide a forum for
sharing widely the question of how the development of moving images and media can be nurtured and sustained. In recent years, the festival has been further enhanced and developed through a strengthening of its regional ties and international networks.

About the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024

Aiming to re-examine the increasingly diversified means by which moving images are created and appreciated, The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions has been dedicated to “moving images” not as an exclusive category, but with an eye to the various alternative views it embraces. The festival continues to serve as a platform for promoting and sustaining alternative visions
that art and moving images can inspire in us. In the years since its inception, during which the festival has continually introduced moving images from Japan and abroad while presenting a new theme with each edition that asks anew “What is a ‘moving image’?”, the circumstances surrounding moving images have changed dramatically, while the frameworks and technologies that define moving images have
diversified. The festival’s 2024 edition—the sixteenth in total—will see the launch of several new programs connected to this year’s theme. Together with the “Commission Project,” which was added to the festival last year, these programs will further reinforce the role of the festival as an ongoing platform that deeply questions the current state of moving images.

This Year’s Theme 30 Ways to Go to the Moon

More than half a century has passed since the Apollo 11 lunar landing, and the idea of people casually travelling to the moon seems less of a technical impossibility. However, it is the ideas and practices of artists, which at first glance seem to have no connection to such an endeavor, that may surpass advances in science, technology, and theory and connect to new discoveries and creative avenues
that provide important hints for going to the moon. The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 will attempt to unravel the proposition of “finding a means to go to the moon” through various expressive forms with a focus on photography and moving images, considering together not only with the artists but also with the audience participating in the festival. Through
historical and contemporary works, the festival will explore the possibilities for “images” from diverse perspectives.

*The theme is from the title of Tsuchiya Nobuko’s “30 Ways To Go To The Moon” exhibition, held in 2018

Featuring moving images, photographs, and documents by artists from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, including works from the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum collection, the 2nd floor exhibition gallery explores the world to come through the collective intelligence that is derived from these works. Held in the center of the exhibition space will be a daily program of performances, live
events, screenings, talks, discussions, and workshops, creating a space where the artists and visitors can communicate and share ideas. By making each person a witness and experiencer of the events, this exhibition aims to create a viewing experience that resembles both a recording device (media) and an illustrated book of memories. The basement floor exhibition gallery presents works and projects
that suggest unknown possibilities and ideas that cannot be fully understood by science and theory. If the 2nd floor is a collective intellectual space, the basement floor can be seen as the starting point of an endless journey into the future where we can learn from collective knowledge and leap forward with our imaginations. One of the features of this year’s festival is its focus on the
one-time nature of moving images. The festival plans to introduce performances and unique pieces; works that address temporal depth and limitations by rendering it impossible to witness (or view) them in their totality, and works that are completed and seem to disappear on site by allowing physical action and thought to affect the filmmaking process. All are works of film and video—reproducible
art forms—and yet their focus on originality or “one-timeness” is the antithesis of repetition and non-location. The festival will also further strengthen connections between the screening and exhibition programs, attempting to create mutual crossovers among them.

New Initiatives

1  Spatial Design and Utilization of the Collection to Generate Dialogue

For the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024, Kanehira Hikotaro will be invited as co-curator to develop a new spatial composition that focuses on the one-time nature of moving images and generates a dialogue with the audience. In addition, in the context of the overall theme, we will link contemporary works with those in the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
collection, tracing back the history and ideas behind the works to examine the present day.

2 Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions Commission Project

The Commission Project was launched at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023 as a new program of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, in which artists based in Japan are selected and commissioned to create and exhibit moving-image works as products of the new festival. At the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024, an exhibition by Yu
Araki and Kim Insook, Special Prize winners of the previous edition, will be realized while aligning the exhibition with the overall theme “30 Ways to Go to the Moon.” In addition, as in the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2023, the first screening for the next edition will be held concurrently during the festival, in which a jury of five Japanese and international
members with expertise in the field of moving images will select four artists.

READ MORE

3  Collaboration with Civic Creative Base Tokyo [CCBT]

As a collaborative program with Civic Creative Base Tokyo [CCBT], which began last year, we will introduce the activities of CCBT at the Center Square located in the center of Yebisu Garden Place.

Event Overview

Title

Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 — 30 Ways to Go to the Moon

Period

Friday, February 2 – Sunday, February 18, 2024 (15 days) Closed on Mondays [Please note the exhibition is open on Monday, February 12 but closed on Tuesday, February 13] *The Commission Project (3rd floor exhibition gallery) is open until Sunday, March 24

Time

10:00−20:00 (Until 18:00 on the final day) *The Commission Project (3rd floor exhibition gallery) is open from 10:00−18:00 (Sunday, February 20 – Sunday, March 24 Until 20:00 on Thursdays and Fridays only) *Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.

Admission

Free *Admission will be charged for some programs such as screenings etc.. *Kindly note that opening hours and details are subject to change. Please check the latest information on this website.

Venues

Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Center Square of Yebisu Garden Place, affiliated local facilities, galleries, etc.

Organized by:

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government / Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) / Nikkei Inc.

Co-organized by

SAPPORO REAL ESTATE CO., LTD / Fondation Maison franco-japonaise

Supported by

Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands/ Ministry of Culture, Taiwan / Taiwan Cultural Center, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan

With assistance from

TBS TELEVISION, INC. / J-WAVE 81.3FM

Sponsored by

SAPPORO BREWERIES LTD.

Staff

Curators

KANEHIRA HIkotaro (Collaborative Curator), TASAKA Hiroko（Curatorial Head）, CHIU Yu- Hsuan, KOBAYASHI Maiko, FUJIMURA Satomi

Curatorial Assistant

TADA Kaori, YAMADA Yuri, OSAKI Chino, YAMAZAKI Kaho

LEE Hwajung, MURAYAMA Yuka

Educational Program

TAKEUCHI Atsuko, ITO Takahiro, SAITO Kayo,

Social Inclusive Program

NAKANO Keiko

Intern

SUGIURA Shunsuke

Operations Manager

SEKIJI Kazuko

Liaisons

FUJIMURA Satomi, CHIU Yu-Hsuan, SEKIJI Kazu

Public relations

IKEDA Ryoko, HIRASAWA Ayano, SUZUKI Ayako

Regional cooperation

SUZUKI Ayako

Press contact

TANAKA Mai/NISHIMURO Chika/TANAKA Yuriko (KYODO PUBLIC RELATIONS Co., LTD.), NISHITANI Eriko, SAITO Yo

Commission Project administration/examination

NPO Arts Initiative Tokyo [AIT]

Editorial coordinators/proofreading

SAKURAI Hiroshi

Editorial assistant

EGUCHI Yoshiko, NAKASHIMA Fumie

Translator

IKEDA Satoshi, Jaime HUMPHREYS

Documentation [still image]

ARAI Takaaki, NAKAGAWA Shu Documentation ABE Katsunori/KUROSAWA Arata/KUROKAWA Takashi/TANZAWA Yuki (Arigato Design Consulting Co., Ltd.), NAKAGAWA Shu

Technical supervision [exhibition/live event]

TANAKA Shinji, YAMAMOTO Shiro

Technical support [exhibition/live event]​

IWATA Takuro/ITO Yuya（arsaffix Inc.）

Technical support/translation for Japanese subtitling/subtitling [screening]

Athenee Francais Cultural Center, Ltd

Translation for Japanese subtitling [screening]

MASUKO Misao, HASHIMOTO Hiromitsu, TEZUKA Noriko, MATSUOKA Yoko, UTSUMI Chihiro, NISHIMURA Misuzu, IWAKIRI Mio

Translation for Japanese subtitling [exhibition]

Ian MACDOUGALL

Projection [screenings, events]

Suzuki Eiga

Screening/Exhibition coordination

ONO Tomoko

Construction and display

SUPER FACTORY

Transport exhibition

Yamato Transport Co., Ltd.

Art Direction + design / main visual / web design

MAEDA Akinobu, KUROKI Akira, SHONO Yusuke (MAEDA DESIGN LLC.)

Main visual CG

UKISHITA Daisuke

Main visual algorithm

Kitasenju Design

Sign and map design

HATA Yurie

Contact

General Inquiries

For general festival inquiries, please contact us at: +81(0)332800099 (Main Number) Staffed Tue. Wed. Sat. Sun. 10:00–18:00 / Thu. Fri. 10:00–20:00 / Closed Mondays (except when Monday falls on a holiday, in which case the museum is open and closed the following day), New Year’s holidays, and temporary closures.

Press Inquiries

For details regarding coverage of the festival
and publication inquiries (limited to members of the press/media), please contact us at: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Yebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0062 +81(0)332800099 (Main Number) Staffed Tue. Wed. Sat. Sun. 10:00–18:00 / Thu. Fri. 10:00–20:00 / Closed Mondays (except when Monday falls on a holiday, in which case the
museum is open and closed the following day), New Year’s holidays, and temporary closures.
yebizo2024-pr@kyodo-pr.co.jp