A new animation festival, Hiroshima Animation Season, announced that three artists have been selected for their residence program – Hiroshima Artist in Residence (HAIR).
The invited artists this time are Mahboobeh Kalaee (Iran), Nata Metlukh (USA), and Sakura Koretsune (Japan). The three artists, who are internationally acclaimed with remarkable achievements, will stay in Hiroshima City for six months starting from May or June, depending on the availability of the artists’ arrival to Hiroshima, and work on their new projects and interact with the Hiroshima citizens.
Mahboobeh Kalaee has won numerous awards, including the Best Film Award at the Fantoche International Animation Film Festival for the stop-motion film The Fourth Wall last year. The film was also awarded the Grand Prix of the Animation category at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival which was recently announced, and she is attracting great attention in Japan as well.
Nata Metlukh is a Ukrainian-born, U.S.-based artist well known for GIF animations from her observations of people’s everyday life, and she has over 27,000 followers on Instagram. With her astute observation, awkward, a film depicting common every day awkward moments was awarded the Best Short Film of the Year at PromoFest in Spain in 2020.
Sakura Koretsune is an artist who focuses on human activities, whaling, a hunting culture, and the spiritual culture of the sea, and conducts fieldwork in Japan and abroad, creating works such as a little press and textile-based works. She participated in many exhibitions in Tohoku (Northeast region of Japan) and Hokkaido areas, including Yamagata Biennale and a solo exhibition at Rias Ark Museum of Art. She will be making the first animation in her hometown of Hiroshima, in the field area of the Seto Inland Sea.
Hiroshima Animation Season 2022 (17 to 21 August 2022) is a part of the first Hiroshima Festival (1 to 28 August 2022), a collection of cultural events in the city of Hiroshima and the area around it.