Tokyo Contemporary Art Award 2024-2026 Exhibition 'Wetland' Features Oh Haji and Umeda Tetsuya

The Tokyo Contemporary Art Award 2024-2026 Exhibition, titled 'Wetland,' opened on 25 December and runs through 29 March at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. Recipients Oh Haji and Umeda Tetsuya explore themes of sea routes, waterways, and liminal spaces between land and sea. Oh Haji's multi-part project 'Grand-Mother Island' employs textile techniques, photographs, and cyanotypes to trace Pacific Ocean migrations between Australia, Japan, and Korea, incorporating archival materials like newsletters from Japanese war brides and an 18th-century chart. Her work includes new research on Japan's Ama free-divers from Tsushima and Jeju islands. Umeda Tetsuya creates unconventional installations using found objects, everyday materials, and natural phenomena in sites such as abandoned buildings, caves, and watersides, with pieces like 'BEPPU '0 Tai'' guiding audiences through Beppu's hot springs via maps and radio. An international selection committee from Kunstinstituut Melly and The Metropolitan Museum of Art praised Oh Haji for balancing broad history with individual stories and Umeda Tetsuya for geopolitical and environmental insights. Established in 2018, the award provides mid-career Japanese artists with years of support, including overseas funding, exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and monograph publications. The exhibition's focus on craftsmanship and cross-disciplinary storytelling highlights histories and geographies shaped by migration and place.