Photography Exhibition Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts: Young Portfolio Acquisitions 2018

The Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (K*MoPA) will be holding its 24th exhibition of the Young Portfolio Acquisitions.

Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts and the Young Portfolio

K*MoPA (Director: Eikoh Hosoe) was established in the town of Kiyosato in 1995 with the aim of creating ‘A museum that exists for the sake of photography and photographers’. One of the museum’s fundamental projects is ‘Photographs Embodying the Power of Youth —Young Portfolio’. Every year we advertise worldwide for entries by photographers up to the age of 35 whose works are then judged by a panel of leading photographers, those selected being purchased for the museum’s collection and displayed in an exhibition. Over the 23 years that it has been held, we have received 133,404 entries by 10,356 people, from 74 countries, with 6,105 works, by 785 people from 45 countries being preserved for posterity. This kind of undertaking is unique in the world and in 2004 we received the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Photographic Society of Japan.

K*MoPA provides a challenge for young photographers and we want to make it a place where they can apply themselves and really come alive. In their youth, postwar Japanese photographers learned from the works of the great photographers of the time and are now recognized as being the representative of the country for their broad-ranging activities. Today these photographers serve as judges, looking at the work of the younger generation with a severe, yet understanding eye, as they watch them mature. In their turn, these young photographers will also go on to nurture the next generation.

For this reason, K*MoPA aims to preserve the fundamentals of photography for eternity in order to pioneer the future of the field. We hope to encourage today’s youth through the Young Portfolio.

Young Portfolio Acquisitions 2018 (24rd)

Selection panel: KAWADA Kikuji, UEDA Yoshihiko, HOSOE Eikoh (Director)
Submission period: April 15 – May 15, 2018
Total number of participants: 199
Total number of submitted works: 4,573
Total number of artists whose works have been acquired: 18
Total number of works acquired: 131
Exhibition period: March 21 – June 21, 2019
Total number of artists whose works have been acquired since 1995: 785 (45 countries)

Photographers whose work was acquired for the YP2018 (in alphabetical order)

1) K.M. ASAD (Bangladesh, 1983) *
2) ASADA Shuma (Japan, 1991)
3) HIRANO Satoshi (Japan, 1983) *
4) HUANG Yu-Hsiu (Taiwan, 1994)
5) Alena KAKHANOVICH (Poland/Belarus, 1985)
6) KIM Kyung Bong (Korea, 1992)
7) KODAMA Kazuya (Japan, 1993)
8) KUROISHI Chitose (Japan, 1985)
9) LEE Jonghun (Korea, 1984)
10) NAKA Yuki (Japan, 1991)*
11) OBARA Kazuma (Japan, 1985)
12) RYU Ika (China, 1994)
13) TAKASHIMA Kuta (Japan, 1988)*
14) TOMIMO+AKINA (Japan, 1987)
15) TOMONAGA Koumei (Japan, 2001)
16) WAN Chaofan (China, 1991)
17) Piotr ZBIERSKI (Poland, 1987)*
18) Alena ZHANDAROVA (Russia, 1988)*
*indicates photographers whose work has been acquired in previous years.

Questioning the Significance of Youth in Art

When artists are young they possess a determination and enthusiasm that allows them to develop their talent and innate abilities, improving the quality of their work through repeated trial and error. Many of those who have devoted themselves to their work in this way will find that it is when they are in their 30s that they are able to establish their own style, and produce their representative works. Works from this period, which can be described as the starting point of their career, serve to expand the field of photographic expression and create history. They shine eternally. Through this exhibition, K*MoPA would like to explore the significance of youth in art.

Calling for Entries for the Young Portfolio 2019!

Target: People of 35 and younger. They can be professionals or amateurs from any country in the world. Previously published works may be submitted and any number of works, up to 50 prints, are admissible.

Selection panel: KAWADA Kikuji, TSUZUKI Kyoichi, HOSOE Eikoh (Director of the Museum)

Entry period: April 15–May 15, 2019 (annually)

Submission Guidelines: www/kmopa.com/yp_entry

Database of Previous Works: www.kmopa.com (all works purchased by the museum since 1995 may be viewed)

K*MoPA website: www.kmopa.com