WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network’s first batch of creators begins dispatch to New York! CG-ARTS [Public Interest Foundation for the Promotion of Visual Information Education] Press Release: August 28, 2025 WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network’s first batch of creators begins dispatch to New York! WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network is a training program that supports promising Japanese media art creators (artists, curators, etc.) in expanding overseas. The first batch of four creators selected through a screening process for FY2024 will begin dispatching to New York this fall, and the program has also officially launched its official website. The website will feature video content such as on-site reports from each selected artist and WAN TALK, providing useful content for Japanese creators aiming to expand overseas. As a platform for communicating the latest developments in Japanese media art, we aim to enhance the field’s global reach.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-8cd4e953d99552795f4891ea808892a8-2638×2700.png Cultural and Artistic Activities Foundation Strengthening Fund (Creator Development and High Value-Added Support for Cultural Facilities) Japan Arts Council (Independent Administrative
Institution) This project is run by the Japan Creator Support Fund as a “Creator Development Program” in the media arts field. Creators selected for the first period of 2020 (Support period: March 2025 to March 2026) For the first year and first term, four creators will be selected. Their overseas expansion will be strategically nurtured and supported, with the aim of strengthening the international presence of this field. Through a wide-ranging program including exhibitions, presentations, and networking in New York, each selected creator will acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary for future overseas expansion. AOKI Ryuta | Artistic Director/Social Sculptor
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-7ef7a6b144201c3b756b617a12156c59-2654×2655.jpg Working in the interdisciplinary field between art and science and technology, they create artwork while also planning, designing, and directing research and development projects and exhibitions. Their major exhibitions include the Kitakyushu Future Creation Arts Festival, Chiba Art Festival, 2121 Futures In-Sight Exhibition, and AI, Human, and Multiverse Exhibition. At the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival, sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, they were the first Japanese group to receive the Social Impact Award in the Art category. In 2024, he was selected as the first recipient of the Ethereum Foundation’s Artist Scholarship, and in the same year he was also selected as an artist-in-residence at the Asia Culture Center (ACC) in Gwangju, South Korea.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-4572b452d54eea56872247ef2c1626ec-2000×1133.jpg Keio SFC Hiroya Tanaka Lab. METACITY (Ryuta Aoki)《Bio Sculpture》2021 ■Travel Period: Mid-October to mid-December 2025 Activities: Aiming to realize a new arts and science festival, awards, and arts center originating in Asia, the main objectives of the project will be to deepen the concept, research and analyze fundraising and operating models at private arts institutions, and build a network with Asian cultural figures and potential business partners living in New York. USAMI Nao | Artist
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-0922985d46e5491a2e04f4076c3914a2-1024×1024.png He creates video games and films that allow viewers to relive personal stories. He uses 3D CG technology to incorporate expressions that evoke physical and cutaneous sensations. He received an Honorary Mention in the New Animation Art category at Ars Electronica 2024.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-fd3e515f0898c688210f7a3cda446170-1920×1080.png 《Ambiguous Lucy》2021 ■Travel Period: February-March 2026 Activities: Visit local artists and related institutions researching feminist art and queer art, conduct interviews, and build networks. Additionally, a solo exhibition at a local gallery and a talk event on the theme of “cyberfeminism” are planned. KIHARA Tomo | Media Artist/Game Developer
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-4233b17671dcfa5da4dd0ff0b28eb8c1-767×767.jpg With the theme of play that elicits new questions, he creates experimental games and installations that intervene in urban spaces. He creates spaces where many people can explore how new technologies such as AI will transform our society and our way of thinking. One of his major works is “Deviation Game,” a game that draws pictures that are indistinguishable from image-recognition AI but understandable to humans. He has exhibited his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Ars Electronica, the Exploratorium, and other venues.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-5e9978097f112f78006fd5ab20a9548e-2134×1507.jpg 《Enga》2024 ■Travel period: February to March 2026 Activities: I will conduct research on practices at the intersection of games and art. During my residency, I will interview local artists and researchers active in this cross-border field and test play a game I am currently developing. I plan to share the insights and results gained from these activities through lectures and the production of a zine. Tanaka Miyuki | Curator / Accessibility Researcher / Certified Social Worker
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-a9ccf7148e25ed95709ef5d73267f150-3900×3899.jpg Under the theme of “Disability as a Perspective for Rethinking the World,” she plans category-defying projects. She reconsiders how we view and interpret expression together with viewers. In 2022, she received a grant from the ACC and served as a visiting researcher at the New York University Center for Disability Studies. Her major projects include the “Rules? Exhibition” (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, 2021) and “Audio Game Center” (2017-present). Her publications include “Accessibility for Whom?” (Little More) and “Rules? Book: Designing for Creative Living” (co-author, Film Art Publishing).
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-8e5b7f7766761c11b663f68c84882f32-2048×1366.jpg Daniel Wetzel (Rimini Protocol), Miyuki Tanaka, Keigo Kobayashi (NoRA) x Haruka Uemura, Toshiya Hagiwara x N sketch Inc. “If not you, who?” Photography: Masaya Yoshimura ■Travel period: Late September to late October 2025 Activities: Under the theme of “Resistance to
Techno-Ablism,” we will listen to the stories of not only the local disability community but also the non-disabled community involved in technology, with the ultimate goal of compiling the interview records and findings into a video work. Advisor Our advisors, including internationally active artists, directors, and producers in the media art field, bring diverse perspectives and expertise to the selected creators, working alongside them to support them as they take on the challenge of expanding overseas.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-292020c8009503c1f40caac21940e956-1137×1137.jpg YESEUL song Artist, ITP/IMAx Assistant Arts Professor, New York University A South Korean-born, New York-based artist, he creates works that explore creative possibilities through senses other than sight, utilizing technology, interaction, and participatory expression to propose imaginative and inclusive worldviews. He questions the way we feel, think, and interact, and actively utilizes public spaces and non-traditional exhibition locations to offer new perspectives on access to art. His signature work, “Invisible Sculpture” (2018-2021), is a series of experiential sculptures composed of non-visual elements such as sound, scent, heat, air, and thought. It has been exhibited internationally and was published in 2021 as the book “Invisible and Existent.” Some works from this series are included in the collection of the Middlebury College Art Museum.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-f1a13ee96bbdab7d4906a2ca30a41cee-3900×3900.jpg EXONEMO EXONEMO Artist Duo A New York-based artist duo consisting of Kensuke Sembo and Yae Akaiwa. He began his online career in 1996. Since then, he has combined digital and analog media to express human physicality and emotions in the networked age from a critical and humorous perspective. He has received awards such as the Golden Nica at Ars Electronica (2006) and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists (2021). He has received acclaim in both media art and contemporary art. He has participated in numerous international exhibitions, including an online exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2019) and a solo exhibition at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (2020). His “Internet Yami Ichi” event, which he launched in 2012, has spread to over 30 cities worldwide and has been featured in major international media outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Liberation.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-8ff8e5520cb7c950f7c067510921f628-1587×1671.jpg Salome Asega Director of NEW INC Artist, Director of NEW INC. He was a member of the inaugural class of Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, a collaboration between Theaster Gates, the Rebuild Foundation, and Prada. He is the co-founder of POWRPLNT, a
Brooklyn-based digital art lab for teens, incubated by NEW INC. He has participated in residencies and fellowships at Eyebeam, The Laundromat Project, and Recess. His exhibitions include the Munch Museum, the 11th Shanghai Biennale, MoMA, the Carnegie Library, the August Wilson Center, and the Knockdown Center. He serves on the boards of the School for Poetic Computation, the Jerome Foundation, and the National Performance Center.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-018fb373803a0fbb9de85060ee977a61-803×803.jpg TOMURA Asako Senior Researcher, Digital & Technology Platform Technology Strategy Division, Sony Group Corporation After studying surface science and media art and working in the advertising department of Shiseido Co., Ltd., he joined Sony Corporation in 2001. He pioneered new digital businesses for film and anime at Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and Aniplex Inc. He then worked in the CSR department at Sony’s headquarters, working with international NGOs and other organizations to solve social issues using technology. Since 2016, he has been responsible for cutting-edge content development by artists and engineers, technical communication, and promoting sustainability technology. He served as planning director for Garden Tokyo’s “The Power of the Unseen” at Ars Electronica 2021, a member of the European Commission’s S T ARTS Prize Jury in 2022 and 2025, and a jury member for the SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 Art Gallery. He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies since 2021 and a visiting professor at Tokyo University of Technology since 2024. WAN official website is now open! WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network will launch its official website on August 28th. ( In addition, the official website will provide the latest information on the program, such as upcoming talk events and the recruitment period for the third term.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/120690/9/120690-9-9bebff83ecec084eb21a51ce782d47c0-2120×1506.png Website/Various SNS Website: https://www.w-a-n-art.net X:
https://x.com/w_a_n_art instagram: https://www.instagram.com/w_a_n_art Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/w.a.n.art.tech YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@wan-project-jp For more information about this release