Art Incubation

The largest artist fellowship in Japan, recruiting projects by artists to serve as CCBT partners

Mission
Application Summary
Artist Fellows

FY 2026
CCBT Artist Fellows
Now accepting applications
for 5 groups!

Mission

Artistic Expression, Exploration, and Action Changing Tokyo for the Better through Creativity and Technology

Art Incubation Program provides opportunities for creative talent to undertake new projects and makes those processes accessible to the public, facilitating forms of artistic expression, exploration, and action that change our city for the better.

Selected through an open call, five artist fellows will act as CCBT partners, developing their projects, making the creative process public, exhibiting the results, and holding workshops and talks.

What CCBT Artist Fellows Do

Develop and present new creative projects and research
Conduct creative activities and R&D while based at CCBT, and exhibit and present the results of those projects at CCBT and around the city
Make their creative activities and research processes public
Foster opportunities for members of the public to come into contact with the intersection of creativity and technology through creative endeavors and making these processes public as well as holding workshops, lectures, and other events
Collaborate and co-create with others
Lead collaboration with the various kinds of people who come together at CCBT (members of the public, artists, designers, engineers, etc.) and the organizations and groups in the CCBT network, and build a platform for co-creating the future

Application Summary

Theme

“Civic Fashion”

Fashion is a symbolic reflection of the social contexts and institutions of the day, and possesses limitless potential for expressing our highly diverse individuality. Taking this notion of fashion as a starting point, we are seeking various kinds of creative projects and artistic activities that harness the transformational possibility of technology to temporarily form and practice something yet to exist, transcending current understanding and customs.

Examples:

Performance works that trigger transformations in human behavior and relationships in urban spaces

Public arts that prototype new forms of public space by updating the nature of human relationships and participation
Visual archives that re-edit images and symbols in our surroundings, and present cultural contexts
Fashion design that redefines the concept of wearing by expanding sensory experiences through technology

Theme Overview

The goal is not to question clothing (fashion) itself.

Clothing is a semiotic reflection of the behavior and social backgrounds of people at a given time. It reveals the urgent issues we face today, not least the chronic polarization of our world. In other words, clothing can be another means of understanding the world.

On the outskirts of Shibuya, where CCBT was formerly located, is an area called Okushibu. CCBT is now located in Harajuku, where there is a neighborhood called Ura-Harajuku. These communities emerged as antitheses to mainstream fashion trends and consumer culture. They were spontaneous movements that challenged the center through free-form editing and expression rooted in individual ideas and values.

And as we know, culture cannot be renewed without such tension.

Incidentally, the word “fashion” derives from the Latin factio. Linked to the verb facere, meaning to do or make, factio refers to a band or group, and a kind of collective act.

Harajuku is a place interlaced with the traces of various cultural movements. At CCBT, a “vacant lot” that has newly appeared in the neighborhood without constraints on specification or use, we are seeking different kinds of projects and creative activities that go beyond superficial fashions, transcending social norms, customs, and institutions to temporarily form something yet to exist.

So that the spontaneous movements of each and every one of us can shape a new community (city), and so that culture always continues to update.

Civic Creative Base Tokyo

Support Available for Fellows

Production Support
Financial and environmental support for fellows in the form of production costs of up to ¥10 million and facilities for working on the project and holding meetings, etc.
Leveling Up
Opportunities for advice and technical support from mentors and other experts to help realize the project
Promotion
Promotion via the CCBT website and social media channels, publicity in pamphlets and venue signage, and documentation and archiving of the work/project
Management
Help with procedures for using venues necessary for exhibiting work/project widely, venue operation, equipment use, artwork installation, etc.

Mentors

Shikata Yukiko (Curator, Critic / Director of Towada Art Center)
Hal Seki (Founder, Code for Japan)
Tsugawa Eri (Architect, Director / ALTEMY)
and others.

Fellowship Period

July 1 (Wed), 2026 – March 31 (Wed), 2027
(During the fellowship period, fellows are expected to participate in CCBT activities in a variety of ways)

How to Apply

Please review the application guide and submit your application via the online form.
* The application form will be available starting at 2:00 PM on April 1, 2026.
* Applications will be accepted only in electronic format. We do not accept applications by mail.

Application Period

April 1 (Wed), 2026 – April 19 (Sun), 2027
(Application materials must be received by this date)

Application Guideline (PDF)

Application form

Inquiries regarding this program
CCBT Art Incubation Program Administrative Office (c/o TASKO)
Contact Persons: Kato, Mukai, Uehara
Email: contact@ccbt-art-incubation.jp
Phone: 03-6456-5210 (Hours: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM [excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays])

Artist Fellows

2025 →

Artist Fellows

Ueda Maki

Mienai kuki wo kashika suru

Doi Itsuki

Weather

Yamauchi Shota

Michi tono sogu

Kishi Yuma

Heiko Shokubutuen