The role that the Art Division plays in Japan Media Arts Festival

Having passed the milestone of the 10th anniversary, this year, when the Japan Media Arts Festival is about to begin a new journey, there is no doubt that the role which the Art Division has to play is significant even just taking into account the number of entries to this division. Also the current situation where the entries from abroad account for nearly half of all the applications is one of the proofs that this division has come to rank with other international media arts festivals. The point of discussion in this year's screening session was whether we agree the message a piece of work delivers can carry a clear and strong social context. It may be difficult to produce a definite answer, since the point of dispute changes depending on the individual piece of work. However, this is a necessary argument for the festival in order to step out of being a mere exposition of leading-edge technologies. Also what is vital more than anything else is whether the message manages to carry a viewpoint as a piece of art.