2008 [12th] Japan Media Arts Festival | Special Achievement Prize

Following the Jury's recommendations, we commend the person who has made a great contribution to the media arts.

NAKAYA Fujiko (Artist)

Born in Sapporo. Graduated from Northwestern University in the U.S. From 1979 to 1998, she was a lecturer in the Department of Cinema, College of Arts, Nihon University. She lives in Tokyo. In 1966, she joined the Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) and participated in many experimental projects in Japan and abroad. In 1972, she formed Video Hiroba with YAMAGUCHI Katsuhiro and other artists and explored possibilities of media ecology through video. She opened Video Gallery SCAN in 1980 and held video screenings, promoted young artists, and international exchanges. She also organized international Video Television Festivals at Spiral in 1987, 1989, and 1992. Also, as a fog artist, she has created fog installations, stages, and park designs around the world. She has received numerous awards including the Australian Cultural Award, the Laser d’Or at the Locarno International Video Festival, the Yoshida Isoya Special Award, the Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Award for artistic contribution to HDTV programming.

The artist NAKAYA Fujiko has created a variety of works from the 1960s to the present day. Her major works include the fog sculpture series and Information Sculpture such as Utopia Q&A 1981. As for video works, the range of her activities is varied: in 1972, in collaboration with KOBAYASHI Hakudo, she created Friends of Minamata Victims: A Video Diary and Old People’s Wisdom – Cultural DNA. We should also not forget her involvement with Video Gallery SCAN, which she opened in Harajuku in 1980. As Japan’s only video art gallery, it introduced works of Japanese and foreign artists, and from 1981, it has sponsored an open entry competition for new works, and many video artists have launched their careers from here. Her active support and commitment to video arts from the ground up are worthy of praise.

I have been seeking coexistence with nature and a healthier technological society over the last 40 years. I have participated in many collaborative projects connecting art and science and society. I feel much of my time has been spent struggling blindly with media. Thanks to this Special Achievement Prize, however, I feel connected to society and am thankful that my effort in this direction is recognized. There is a lot of work still left for me to achieve the early days of video in Japan. The award is a great encouragement and an incentive for me to work on this long-due task.

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