H-AIR HIROSHIMA ARTIST
IN RESIDENCE
H-AIR is a residency program for people involved in the animation industry.
The purpose of the program is to invite animation artists to stay in Hiroshima City for a long period of time and engage in their new projects here.
The aim is to help the invitees to build their careers and enrich the art and culture environment in Hiroshima.
Production, development, or research activities
Working on their new projects
Exchange activities with local residents
Interaction with the residents of Hiroshima City and the area where they will be staying, as well as with people involved in art and culture.
Application(Closed)
February 14 Update: We closed the applications on Feb 14th.
Applications will be accepted from January 7 to 31, 2022 via the following application form.
January 31 update: considering the impact of the recent global spread of coronavirus infections, we have decided to open a second application period.
First application period: January 7 - 31, 2022
Second application period: February 1, 2022 - until the maximum number of invitees is reached
The whole selection process for the applications for the first period will be conducted as scheduled, and the selection meeting for the second application period will be held on a case-by-case basis as applications are received, and will be closed when the number of invitees reaches the maximum.
Click here for the application form.(Closed)
Selection will be made by Nobuaki Doi (Festival Producer), Koji Yamamura (Artistic Director), and Shizuka Miyazaki (Artistic Director). Applicants who have passed the preliminary selection will be invited to a final online interview (scheduled for mid-February for the first application period), and will be notified of the results within one week.
AREA
AREA-1 Tsurumi-cho Area (Naka Ward)
A residential area with excellent access from the center of Hiroshima City. Misawa Copo No.2, the apartment building where the invitee will be staying, re-opened this April as “Art Building for Everyone,” a gathering place for various galleries, including “Kari to Tsuru” (Geese and Cranes), an exchange space for art fans, a branch of the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, which is currently being renovated and closed, and other art galleries and studios. The area is a quiet area where you can enjoy walking and other activities, as it is close to the river and has easy access to Hijiyama Mountain.
AREA-2 Yokogawa Area (Nishi Ward)
A downtown area just two JR stops west of Hiroshima Station. There are many unique restaurants, and the area is also active in culture and art activities. The apartment where the invitee will be staying has a shared ateliers for local artists, and the neighborhood is culturally rich with a art-house movie theater and independent used book stores, and regular live music concerts. The area has a downtown atmosphere, and a shopping district hosts a variety of events throughout the year. There is also an understanding of sports, and local residents support the women’s soccer team, Ange Violet Hiroshima.
AREA-3 Minaga District (Saeki Ward)
A quiet residential area located a short distance from the city center. A community residential area is currently being built around a facility called Minagarten, which was converted from a former landscape gardener’s building. It is attracting attention as a place where long-time local residents and newcomers can interact each other.
https://minagarten.jp
ARTISTS
Mahboobeh Kalaee
Profile
Mahboobeh Kalaee (1992, Iran) graduated from the Tehran College of Fine Arts with a BA in Industrial Design (2015). A MA Animation Directing at Tehran University of Art (Faculty of Cinema & Theater) (2020). She is a 2D animator, author, illustrator, graphic designer, and director of experimental and short animations.
Her first professional film’s success motivated her to devote herself full-time to her special mix media technique, as well as to study the form and narrative structure of experimental films. Her favorite forms are studies on real-world images as an animation material that led to essays films and creative animated documentaries. Her goal is to create a world which stands in the blurry line between the real and the imaginary.
Overview of project
A group of Iranian miniature characters traveling to Japan to discover new edge of Calligraphy. Although they date back hundreds of years, they are in the form of a collection of illustrations from a book that are traveling in the present age. The film is an animated documentary about the journey of an Iranian miniature book and the connections that their characters make with the real world through mixed media technique. The connection between Persian and Japanese words as a material for focusing to study form and meaning of the words and how can improve their storytelling potential with animate.
Message to Hiroshima city
O people of the land of the sun, in HIROSHIMA! Your words are the most hospitable language in the world! My fascination with your mysterious culture and unique aesthetics leads me to you. Being in your space and discovering the new point of views in observing the world was one of my dreams. Having direct contact with your culture and civilization will be very exciting for me, and I will describe my experience in my film. I’m sure the lovely Hiroshima is full of new ideas for any filmmaker.
Nata Metlukh
Profile
Nata Metlukh was born in 1982 in Ukraine. She studied classical animation at Vancouver Film School, and received the Master of Arts degree at Estonian Academy of Arts, where she studied film direction under the Priit Parn supervision. Now she is based in San Francisco, working on commercial and personal projects, focusing on making gifs and animated short films. She creates visually bold, character driven works in a digitally hand-drawn technique. Her stories are based on absurdity and defamiliarization of common things. Nata’s films have been recognized by major animation festivals and received a number of awards.
Overview of project
“Off-Time” will be an animated short film featuring time in different aspects. The goal is to explore time-related themes such as: urban rush in the big city, the urge to be productive all the time, different time perceptions, speeding up time when we get older, etc. Urban life will be shown in various time states: when all the actions are going in slow-motion, when the time reverses and everything is running backwards, when the time is frozen, or flying by too fast.
Message to Hiroshima city
Hiroshima is a City of Peace and in these tough times it’s a beacon of hope that peace will eventually come to all the ravaged lands. I hope to have a fruitful time during my residency, and will try my best to contribute my skills and knowledge to everyone who are interested in animation and fine arts. I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to live and work in Hiroshima City, and to be able to immerse myself into the local culture. This invaluable experience will spark new ideas for the future works and will be a great promotion for the independent animation filmmaking.
Sakura Koretsune
Profile
Born in 1986, Ondo-cho, Kure city, Hiroshima
2010 University of Alaska Fairbanks Bachelor of Fine Arts, Art: Painting, U.S.A.
2017 M.F.A., Tohoku University of Art & Design. She has been inquiring about whaling, fishing, and the folk culture of the sea in Japan and abroad, and has published her findings in the form of little presses, embroidery, and sculptural works. Presides over the little press “Ordinary Whales”. Recent exhibitions include “20th Anniversary Exhibition: Restoration of Narratives” (Sendai Mediatheque, 2021) and “VOCA Exhibition 2022” (The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo).
Overview of project
I was born and raised in the Seto Inland Sea, and was inspired by my original landscape of “Landscapes Animated by Water” to create an animation/video work that mixes animation and real landscapes. First, as fieldwork, I will observe and record the “moving scenery” that I can see from the boat on various large and small voyages to and from Hiroshima City, and also observe and record the “moving objects” in the sea by diving into the sea at bathing beaches in the suburbs of Hiroshima City. We will also interview people who use boats as a means of livelihood, and conduct research on the past of ports, rivers, gantries, etc. in Hiroshima City and on the islands. We will also incorporate ideas from the fieldwork in the creation of our work. We will use animation techniques such as zoetrope, para-para manga, and stop-motion animation of fabric works to create a three-dimensional work with animation elements, like a portable device. The moving animation of the device will be set up in the city, harbor, or waterfront and filmed along with the actual scenery.
Message to Hiroshima city
For many years now, I have been living away from my hometown in the Seto Inland Sea. The more I visit different places and the more time passes, the more I think about the beauty and specialness of the sea of Hiroshima. I am very much looking forward to being able to work with everyone and create art while reconnecting with Hiroshima, which is my original landscape.