Gemma Anderson from Northern Ireland displayed her copper prints at a gallery from December 5th to the 18th in Sapporo during her residency at the ICC+S-AIR 2008 Residency Program.
 

The white walls of the Nepenthes Gallery in Central Sapporo matched well with the light tone of Gemma's artwork.
 

Many people attended the opening, soaking in her work with enthusiasm. Gemma also appeared at the event, interacting with many of the attendees.

Most of her work consists of portraits of people she met in Sapporo. Gemma asked some attendees at the opening if they would be subjects for her artwork.

Mr.Shibata, representative of S-AIR, spoke at the reception party. Following his speech, Gemma added her own words of appreciation to end the relaxed evening.

Gemma Anderson (Northern Ireland)
Creates portraits with the delicate lines of copper prints. Beginning with a story surrounding the subject of her portrait, she chooses a motif and begins to draw. The prints often show a mixture of motifs, creating a scene similar to that of a diorama.

Nepenthes Gallery
www.nepenthes.co.jp

Reporter: Kohei Kuramoto
Translator: David Neptune

The "Sapporo Ideas City" Workshop took place at ICC from November 21st to November 24th.
ICC hosts a creative workshop every year, this year's theme being the City's branding strategy, Sapporo Ideas City. The goal of the event was this: To have participants hunt Sapporo's creative resources (people, things, places, etc.) as material for creating 150 different designs for business cards, then give the business cards to Sapporo city's municipal employees.

Orientation

  

The workshop featured graphic designers, copywriters, photographers, illustrators, sound creators, chefs, and architects working in Sapporo as leaders of the project. Also, experts on city history, editors, and location managers offered their insight and support. There were a variety of workshop participants as well, ranging from art and design school students to publicity, information technology, and engineering students.

On day 1, participants were separated into three groups: North, South, and Central. Then they had a brainstorming session.

Discussion among participants

 

Day 2 and 3 were spent in the field searching for material using the leaders advice as their guide.

Fieldwork at the Mt. Okura ski jump

 

Searching for material at the central whole sale district of Sapporo

 

Even the bus becomes a classroom for the workshop.

 

Production of visuals began on the evening of day 3. Thanks to two days of fieldwork, members were able to communicate well amongst themselves, delegating responsibilities smoothly.

Efficient discussions became commonplace

 

Professional creators and advisors gave detailed advice at times, while standing back and observing while participants had their own discussions as well. They created a nurturing environment suited for creativity.

Beginning visual production

 

Time is running out!

 

On the last day, a presentation and final party took place. Each of the three groups finalized their “Creative Resources Sapporo Can Be Proud Of” project and presented their visuals. The list of creative resources made in four days reached roughly 200, receiving high praise from the lecturers due to the participants’ devotion.

The final presentation had as much energy as the participants put into their projects.

 

This workshop was set forth with a unique style in terms of the make up of participants and support system. It seems many participants and lecturers were reluctant in the beginning, but both felt satisfied with the work they accomplished by the end of the program. One hundred and fifty visuals will be on display at the lobby of the Sapporo city office starting on January 26th. The visuals will be used for business cards later on. The success of this workshop will be left behind through these business cards, taking Sapporo one step closer to the dream that is Sapporo Ideas City.

Reporter: Eiichi Sato
Translator: David Neptune

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The seventh annual Tokyo Content Market (TCM) was held on October 27 and 28, 2008 at the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. This event focuses on the cultivation of creators and the connection between business partners. About 80 Creators and organizations, including CG, animation, character, live action film/video, and game industry members participated. This event, part of the Japan International Content Festival 2008, was a parallel market to the 21st Annual Tokyo International Film Festival.

Games, anime, comic book characters, music, broadcast, and film; such mediums Japan prides itself in producing were the subject of business at TCM. Artists and creators tend to waiver between creation and business, a common obstacle many members of ICC must overcome as well. Producers and agents will no doubt be valued more and more for this meshing of art and business.
How to connect these kinds of events to future efforts, and how to continue them will be the key to success in this field.

ICC Chief Coordinator - Toshiya Kubo
Translation by David Neptune

Over 80 of these booths lined the area. This booth is for the short animation label, "PIX"

Studio Mangosteen's "Putlestory" is a piece Kubo has been involved with for ten years.
It is a great thing that this piece keeps evolving and is given new life. You can't help but feel the forest come alive.

Pua&Tiku are a penguin and sheep duo brought to fruition with claymation.

"P Man" is a short film series about superheroes. These shorts are like candy.

Aoike.ca is based in Montreal, Canada, creating Flash animation projects for various media.

Ryosuke Aoike (right).

On October 31 starting at 18:00, Central Sapporo City’s Yoko Uchida U-Calaheld an event hosted by ICC and Hokkaido Interior Planners Association titled “Short Films and Space”. The event was part of Sapporo Design Week.It consisted of discussions from the perspectives of film directors, architects, and interior designers on the subject of “space”. Despite the inclement weather, there were about 80 people in the audience.

The audience filled the space.
 

 Filmmaker Junjiro Kodama (Snowbugs), and director Eiji Shimada (Snowbugs) were guests in the event. They are both past members of ICC as well.
Films screened at the event included Kodama’s “Chuigaki” (Instruction) and Shimada’s “Omotenashi” (Hospitality), two short films with a comedic touch.
“Chuigaki” won Best Hokkaido Film at the Third Annual Sapporo International Short Film Festival.“Omotenashi”, a film concerning Japanese aesthetics, elicited laughter and cheers during the screening.

To the left is the project titled “Kolme” by Kodama, and on the right, Shimada’s visual creation.
 

The “Short Films and Space” discussion.

The perspectives given by producers and directors in the discussion after the screenings were interesting topics for all.
The directors and audience engaged in heated discussions at the after party, enjoying the culinary creations of Noriyasu Aoyama, the chef from “Omotenashi”.

Many of the audience members joined the after party. Aoyama’s cooking was a definite hit.

 

 Article by Kohei Kuramoto
Translation by David Neptune

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Sapporo Digital Creation Plaza, Inter-cross Creative Center will call for application entry for tenants 2009. 

Various genre creators are woking in the ICC building , such as web designers, sound designers, photographers, film makers and performers.  We are confident that you will grow your potential by becoming our tenant.

Please check the following information for details.

outline of 2009 application.pdf

ICC inside map.pdf

application form (English).pdf

Application period: from Monday 1st Dec. 2008 to Tuesday 13th Jan. 2009

On-site explanation meeting:

For the purpose of on-site inspection, we will hold on-site explanation meetings on the following dates.

Monday 8th Dec. for about one hour each from 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm

Friday 19th Dec. for about one hour each from 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm

Please contact us by phone or email from 1st Dec..

Application and inquiries:

Sapporo Digital Creation Plaza, Inter-cross Creative Center

Atten.: Mr. Daisuke KOBAYASHI, Mr. Kohei KURAMOTO

Tel:+81-11-817-8911

Fax:+81-11-817-8912

Email: info@icc-jp.com

Nobukazu Kuriki, who became the first Japanese person to successfully make a solo non-oxygen ascent to the summit of the eighth highest mountain in the world, Mt. Manaslu (8,163 meters), returned to Japan early on the 26th, October. At New Chitose Airport, the media, as well as many friends and supporters awaited him to praise his work.

The instant they saw Kuriki, the crowd let out a cheer. The first to run to his side were the children, and Kuriki carefully accepted their hand-made gifts, one by one.

In front of many supporters taking a sigh of relief, he said "I'm so glad I made it back. First, I want to call my parents," as he somehow tried to contain the joy of accomplishing yet another great feat.

Later, he shook hands with every supporter and fan, giving each of them a post card with a majestic photo of Manaslu. "It's not much, but I wanted everyone to feel Manaslu." His appreciation for his supporters did not go unnoted.

"The weather was bad, and I was about to give up, but in an instant, the wind stopped and the sun came out. I was able to climb the summit thanks to that change. It was amazing good fortune," says Kuriki. This was the toughest ascent he has ever embarked upon, but he says it also "made my desire to climb Mt. Everest even stronger."

A proof of summit issued by the government of Nepal

With his supporters and his own passion, he will attempt to summit the highest peak in the world, Mt. Everest (8,848 meters) next spring.

ICC Creators Interview "Tao Inc. Nobukazu Kuriki"
http://www.icc-jp.com/features_en/2008/11/000134.php

Nobukazu Kuriki official web site
http://kurikiyama.jp/

Article: ICC Assistant Coordinator Kohei Kuramoto
Translation: David Neptune

On October 12, solo alpinist Nobukazu Kuriki made a solo non-oxygen ascent to the peak of Manaslu, the eighth highest peak in the world at 8,163 meters.

Kuriki is a resident of ICC and started climbing when he was a freshman in college. His goal is to accomplish a solo non-oxygen ascent of the highest peaks of every continent of the world. Everest is the only remaining mountain before he reaches this goal.

His solo ascent up Manaslu was partly preparation for his climb up Everest next year, but climbing an 8,000-meter mountain is no easy feat. He risked his life in the ascent.

During an interview at ICC before his departure to Manaslu, he said he is “afraid most before the ascent begins”. But at the same time, he spoke of “enjoying the process of climbing” more than anything.

Though anticipation of his climb is building, the most important thing for him is to rest now.

Congratulations Nobukazu!

ICC Interview
http://www.icc-jp.com/features/2008/09/000054.php

Nobukazu Kuriki Homepage
http://kurikiyama.jp/

On October 4, “Sapporo Media Art Forum Counseling & Talk Show 2008” was put on by Sapporo Media Art Forum (SMF) at the Yoko Uchida event hall, “Yukara”. SMF aims to promote the cultivation of new media artists through the connection of industry, education, and government. Beginning in October of 2005, they have brought together many industry professionals and students.

This counseling event was an opportunity for students nearing graduation to show their work to industry professionals and hear their critiques. Not only is it a rarity for students to show their work outside of school, but they also received valuable input on their future plans in their career paths. About 40 students participated. Thirteen creators including wabisabi and Junya Kamada lined up in a row to give their input on the student’s work.

Students receive counseling

Following the counseling, a talk show titled “College days and the beginning of careers” was held in which top creators shared their work from their student days, explaining the significance of such pieces to their careers. The students vigorously took notes, listening carefully while they heard stories about dedication to the craft of filmmaking and the importance of discipline for people who want to be pros in that field. Tadahiko Ohira, Operations Director for the SMF, said, “it is extremely valuable for professional creators to interact with young, passionate students. I’d like to continue this event.”

At the talk show, films were screened from the times of each creator’s debut.

Kim Hyung-yang, Busan Director of Cultural Tourism (left), and Tadafumi Inoue, Sapporo City Director of Economics

Sapporo City Director of Economics Tadafumi Inoue visited Busan to solidify and sign the MOU with Busan’s Director of Cultural Tourism, Kim Hyung-yang, swearing the development of the film industry in both cities. Sapporo is the first city in Japan to sign an MOU with a foreign city through the government. This is also Busan’s first MOU with any Asian city.

This MOU was signed to promote “Visual education and human resource development”, “International co-production”, and “International co-distribution”. In these areas, each city wishes to continue and expand their cooperation and complete projects together. In March this year, a Busan resident and young director shot a film in Sapporo and other areas of Hokkaido, using crew from the local area. Such cooperation is just one example of the relationship between Sapporo and Busan that will surely improve further by the signing of the MOU, encouraging the development of Sapporo’s film industry.

This MOU regarded collaboration in the areas of visual education, international collaborative production, and circulation of international production material between the three organizations of Sapporo and QPIX.

QPIX is an organization based in Queensland, Australia, that assists filmmakers in production, focusing on low budget and short film projects in particular. They have a good relationship with Sapporo, providing enough short films for the Sapporo International Short Film Festival to create a section called “Australia Shorts”.

It may be considered an innovative idea for a provincial city to sign an MOU with a foreign country. Fortunately, this idea is already in motion. The winner of the “Best Hokkaido Short”, Sapporo local and director Junjiro Kodama (Resided at ICC from 2003 to 2005) was given the opportunity to produce a film at QPIX as an award for his achievements. 

As such opportunities increase, strengthening the ties between Sapporo ,QPIX, and the Australian film industry, ICC hopes to provide the wings for Sapporo to join the global industry. 

QPIX President Kerry O'Rourke and Sapporo Electronics and Industries Cultivation Foundation President Fumio Ueda (Sapporo City Mayor) with the MOU agreement in hand.  

On August 19th, the first meeting for the “Hokkaido Comic Research Group” was held at the Sapporo City College satellite in Chuo-ku, Sapporo.
The group gathered together in the spring of 2007 with the intent of making comic books the core of content industry in Hokkaido, as it is known to produce many of the comic book artists of Japan. The group is composed of Sapporo comic book artists, game producers, printing companies, and university researchers.








The theme this meeting was “Comic books as a regional resource and the vitalization of the community of Hokkaido”. First, the representative of the group, Toshiyuki Masubuchi spoke about the effect comic books have on communities. As examples, he spoke of the influence comic books had when they included real cities in Japan, such as Shonan and Kamakura.
His passionate explanation of the effects comic books have on the economy was a very intriguing subject.

Following, the guest speaker’s subject was “The economic growth of Toyako encouraged by comic books”.
An interesting point was the use of copyrights. As artists this right is something we deserves, but the difficulty that comes with the use and enforcing of such rights is a challenge.



Finally, the first free comic book in Hokkaido, “Comic RAG”, was introduced. It mainly publishes work by comic book artists residing in Sapporo, but a notable point is that it is planned, maintained, and published entirely by college students.
To surpass Tokyo, then Japan, and ending with a global audience would be ideal, says Yuki Hayashi, editor in chief. She believes that a good environment and efforts to spread a network of artists will help increase the quality of Comic RAG.

A universal theme within the meeting was the possibility of comic books as content.
The increase in comic book artists will also differentiate Sapporo from many cities in Japan. We hope to lay strong roots for the comic books of Sapporo to grow toward the rest of the world.

On August 30 and 31, an event called “Sapporo Media Art Trial 2008”, sponsored by Sapporo Media Art Forum (SMF), was held at Hokusho University’s PORTO.
SMF has been working toward nurturing media and art personnel since October of 2005, bringing students together with professionals of their desired field.

The trial was a student competition in which school groups submit their ideas to be evaluated.

The theme this year was “Environment~embracing the ecosystem~”. The student’s challenge was to find a way to shift our priorities from being human-centered to earth-centered, thus creating a new way of helping the environment. Energy, water, and earth were the three key words suggested by the students.

There were seven participating schools including Sapporo City University and Hokkaido University. Each school presented unique ideas like connecting a diet plan to helping the environment or creating installations to re-look at our everyday consumptions.


Sapporo International University’s “Eco Diet Project”


Hokkaido Information University took the winning trophy. They designed a system in which points you gather through environment-helping activities become coupons for shopping. While improving the environment, the city’s economy would improve as well. Trophies designed by Hiroshi Maeda were presented to the students of the university.


Students of Hokkaido Information University



The winning exhibition titled “caecco”



Trophies made by Maeda


Sapporo Media Art Forum
http://www.smf.vc/

 The Niseko area in Hokkaido is changing rapidly with the increase of foreign tourists.
The Sapporo Film Commission runs a program to raise new talent in the area of filmmaking, and took the opportunity of rapid change to teach thirty students from the Niseko area about shooting documentary films.


Attempting to interview a tourist

This day, the young filmmakers were conducting interviews with tourists and residents of the Niseko area.
First they must explain their intentions to the interview subject, then ask for permission to interview them, and acquire permission to use the footage as material in their film. Accomplishing just these three things can be quite a challenge.
The participators created their own teams and got to work with the energy of young students.



A team meeting



Getting the hang of it


The Sapporo Film Commission, with the cooperation of the film industry, country, and Sapporo City, has been a key player in nurturing young minds of the future. The documentaries being made are one such example.
From planning the project to experiencing every step of production, there is a lot to be learned from trial and error. Taking professional instruction into consideration, they experience an environment close to that of a real on-set production. It could be said that this is a special experience provided uniquely by Sapporo City.
We can’t wait to see the finished films this fall.

Article: Eiichi Sato
Translation: David Neptune

The SAPPORO Short Fest Committee held a press conference and advance-screening in Sapporo City, Hokkaido, on August 6, 2008. The “3rd Annual Sapporo International Short Film Festival (SSF)”, spanning 6 days starting September 10th, explained the festival and screened ten short films.

You can catch the most creative short films in the world.
It’s the third installment of the largest selection of short films with any festival in the country.
In the following article, will introduce some highlights from the press conference.


Press Conference and Advance-Screening



The length of the festival is one day longer this year, making it 6 days. There will be that many more opportunities to saturate one self in these juicy films gathered from around the world.

In the competition section, 113 of the best were selected out of the 2,336 films that were submitted from 76 countries.

Some uncommon countries such as Belize in Central America and Ecuador in South America were selected for screenings. As was last year, the festival presents an opportunity for the general public to see a side of world cultures not often seen.
From Japan, 2 programs, 14 films will be shown.
In the “Filmmaker Section” in which you can view many films made by one director, 8 directors from 7 countries were nominated. You can see the distinct style of each director by watching each of these 33 films.

The “Children’s Program”, free for pre-school and under children, has increased to two programs this year. The children will have a chance to be the judges in the “Children Judges” event where they choose the films to receive the awards. Stay tuned for the most popular children’s films.

The special programs this year stand out as well.

At the Hokkaido Toyako Summit this July, “Global Environment” was the biggest theme. Following this lead, SSF 2008 will screen 12 short films with this theme, as well as the “SOS Live Earth Short Films”, a series of environmental shorts commissioned by Al Gore and made by famous directors around the world.

The “UK Shorts Program” which features British films is an exciting event. SSF is credited as an official “UK – JAPAN2008” event by the British Council, not an easy thing to achieve. Director Simon Ellis, the recipient of the Grand Prix in the Filmmaker Section last year, will be at the film festival to give talks.
The program “Asian Typhoon”, focusing on Asian films, features short films by famous Korean director Kwak Jae-yong (My Sassy Girl, Cyborg She).
Also, there will be programs from California, Australia, Germany, and the annual “Korean Music Clips” program.

The night of September 13th will never end with the now-traditional “All Night Screening”, starting at midnight and ending at 9:30am.

That’s not all for the nights during SSF. Starting at 2am on the 12th (Fri), the “Late Show” kick starts the event for night time fanatics. “TOKYO ONLY PIC 2008”, directed by Riichiro Mashima, maker of hit movie “Ski Jump Pear” and nominee of the film maker’s section at the 2007 SSF. No doubt the quiet night will be interrupted often by the laughter of the audience.

Many special guests will also attend SSF. Peter Barakan, a judge from the 2006 SSF, and Taeko Onuki, a judge from the 2007 SSF, will be speaking about film, music, and ecology.
Educational forums, talks by international guests, and seminars will also help color in this motley film festival.

The “3rd Annual Sapporo International Short Film Festival” will be held from September 10th (Wed) to the 15th (Mon) at the Sapporo Toho Plaza (Tanuki koji ５chome).
For tickets go to the Pivot Information Counter, Toho Plaza, Theater Kino, 4 Sapporo Play Guide, Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pear, or E-plus.

Don’t miss this exciting event!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“3rd Annual Sapporo International Short Film Festival” (SAPPORO Short Fest 2008)
Date: September 10th (Wed) ~ 15th (Mon)
Main Venue: Sapporo Toho Plaza (Tanukikoji５chome)
Special Venue: Theater Kino
Market Venue: Event Space EDiT
Seminar Venue: Hokusen Gallery ibory

A Massive Painting?

The “iSummit 2008”, held at the Sapporo Convention Center for three days, ended last Friday, August 1, with many participants and one massive painting to show for it.
Looking at the photograph of the closing party below, you must be wondering, “What is that huge painting hanging from the ceiling?”



Group photo of the iSummit2008 closing party.
Such massive scale catches the eye.


This painting is the fruits of labor from the “Live drawing session” at the iSummit.
The iSummit is an international meeting of members concerned with the use of copyrights, sharing copyrighted material, and rules involving such endeavors. The “Live drawing session” is fundamentally a giant “doodle experiment”. Professional artists, attendees, and children all participated in this borderless and boundless event.



Children and professionals doodling side by side.


Dozens of hunched over figures creating one painting with pastel crayons and markers.
Adding to others’ drawings, changing its’ form, getting ideas from others and drawing differently… These were just a few examples of creative collaboration between these artists who experienced ways of sharing copyrights.
The finished product was a painting measuring 8.1 meters by 11 meters(26 feet by 36 feet), and was displayed at the Convention Center.


The Professional Evaluation

Three young artists living in Sapporo, Kiyoshi Takahashi, Shotaro Hiratsuka, and Mikio Taka of S-Air, a group supporting Artist In Residence, and the Gold Sponsor of the iSummit2008, loftwork Inc., collaborated to make this event happen.



Kiyoshi Takahashi, leader of the drawing session, specializes in installation art.

“The exciting thing was, you couldn’t tell what it would look like until the very end,” he says.
The participating children had an endless well of energy, and it was all focused on filling this giant canvas. Their creative ideas “Really gave the project momentum,” says Takahashi.

Using the wide-open spaces of Sapporo, Takahashi wishes to create large-scale art while living as an installation artist. He says “It would be interesting to expand this idea, making the canvas larger, involving more people whether they’re old or young, and hold this event every year.”


From Sapporo To A New Stage

The creative engine behind this event and director of loftwork Inc., Chiaki Hayashi, is also an advisory board member at Creative Commons, Japan. “Each participant affected each other, giving and receiving energy from one another, and when they step back to see what they have made, they realize they’ve created art,” she remarked. Satisfied, she added, “We were able to materialize the idea of “remix” which is at the core of Creative Commons.”
Grasping the concepts set forth by Creative Commons is not an easy task for the general public, but through this drawing session, many were able to experience these concepts first hand.

I asked Hayashi, who gave a presentation in Croatia for last year’s iSummit, what she thought of iSummit2008.
“This iSummit felt like it was shown on a different stage. The attendees of iSummit used to be mostly specialists in the field of law and copyrights, the sort of people who all open their Mac Books on cue at the beginning of every speech. Now, there are many specialists, creators, users, a very wide range of professionals. (Laughing) There were several PC users this time, too, and many people didn’t bring a computer. Also, major corporations within Japan sponsored the event, signaling the growth of Creative Commons.” Says Hayashi. She also commented on the diversity of participants in relation to the characteristics of Sapporo City. “Sapporo has a generosity that accepts any and every outsider. In this neutral and generous environment, creativity flourishes easily.”



Chiaki Hayashi of loftwork, Inc.
Also holds an advisory board member position at Creative Commons, Japan.


“Does Creative Commons make creators happy?”
I asked as my last question.
“Yes!” She said enthusiastically, and continued as follows.
“Until now, copyrights have always taken the strategy of limiting use, but we believe the key to success lies in allowing a wide range of uses. By creating strict copyright rules and not publishing art freely to receive the maximum exposure, creators struggle to make a living. Protecting their rights while still making things open requires us to have a solid infrastructure and rules. Creative Commons provides both of these, and presents an opportunity for creators to connect to the world globally.”

Creative Commons and iSummit on a new stage… If the door to success was opened here in Sapporo, we couldn’t be happier. We all hope to see creators launching off from Sapporo, their art open for all to see.






Article written by Eiichi Sato
Translation by David Neptune