Socially Engaged Art Support Grant FY2027
Application Guideline
Towards the Socially Engaged Art Support Grant
In today's world, characterized by accelerating globalization and advancements in digital technology, Japanese artists are expanding the scope of their activities—both at home and abroad—within diverse social and cultural contexts.
Against this backdrop, "Socially Engaged Art"—in which artists collaborate with directly affected individuals and local communities to address increasingly complex social issues such as climate change, environmental problems, economic inequality, gender, migration, and the revitalization of local communities—is garnering attention as a significant practice in the international art world.
However, within Japan, frameworks for recognizing and evaluating such practices have not yet been sufficiently established, and systems for providing continuous, systematic support have remained limited.
In light of this situation, the Kawamura Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and the Arts provides grants to support the practice of socially engaged art.
This grant aims to widely share the significance and potential of engaging with society through art and to support initiatives that envision and put into practice a future-oriented society through collaboration with diverse stakeholders.
We hope that this grant will serve as a catalyst to further invigorate the creative and critical practices of artists, thereby generating new dialogue and value within society.
We eagerly look forward to receiving applications for your ambitious and innovative projects.
Yoshihisa Kawamura
PURPOSE
The "Socially Engaged Art Support Grant" provides funding for projects that involve creative practices addressing social issues within Japan, carried out in collaboration with local societies and diverse communities.
The aim is to contribute to the sustainable and inclusive development of culture in Japan by using art as a medium to foster the reconstruction of human relationships and the proposal and validation of new social models, thereby further deepening the relationship between arts and culture and society.
* Definition of “Socially Engaged Art”
Socially Engaged Art (SEA) is a generic term of artistic activities that aim a certain “change” amongst existing rules and systems through a proactive process of participation and communication with the society, on both daily and social levels.
GRANT OVERVIEW
Please choose one of the two categories below and submit your application.
Please note that you cannot submit two applications for the same project.
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Application Categories:
1. Themed Category “War and Peace”: Multiple applications to be selected
2. Free Category: Multiple applications to be selected
□Themed Category
The Foundation is concerned that many civilians are suffering in a world still divided, with conflicts ongoing and each side seeking justice for the other. In this context, we believe in the potential of Socially Engaged Art to go beyond conflicting views of justice and foster awareness, connection, and hope, ultimately leading to peace. For these reasons, the “Themed Category” will be "War and Peace.” We hope artists will go beyond our common sense and preconceptions by creating Socially Engaged Art projects that provide spiritual support to a wide range of people in response to “War and Peace,” a long-standing issue humanity has been facing.
□Free Category
As in the previous editions, we invite artists to submit their work on a theme of their choice.
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Grant amount and number of grantees:
JPY 1,000,000 to 2,000,000: 1 grantee
JPY 300,000 to 500,000: approximately 2 to 10 grantees
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Grant Period : From April 1st 2027 through March 31st 2028
●Grant amount will be based on project proposals. Grant amount may be reduced on occasions of changes occurring from the project proposal.
●If it becomes difficult to carry out the project during the grant period due to unavoidable circumstances such as childbirth, childcare, family caregiving, or illness, the project may be suspended and the grant period extended.
Requests for an extension must be reported to the Foundation and submitted using the designated application form. The Foundation and the selection committee will review each request.
REQUIREMENTS (project content)
* Applications need to fulfill requirements below to be acknowledged legitimate:
- Projects applying strikingly new methods or ways of expression
- Socially Engaged Art projects that would be newly implemented in Japan
- Projects that would become a catalyst towards social changes
- Projects aiming to build and demonstrate models of a better society
- Projects with artists taking initiatives as its leader
- Dialogue based projects which focus on building continuous partner relationships with communities
- Projects which include a collaborative production process with participants
REQUIREMENTS (applicant)
* Applications made by individuals and organizations fulfilling below would be acknowledged legitimate:
- All age ranges, all nationalities
- Artists and Art organizations
■ PROJECTS THAT WOULD BE REJECTED:
- Projects based on production for an exhibition, a theatrical act, or an exhibition piece
- Projects with outcomes unrelated to local communities
- Projects that have been already shown in exhibitions (or would be shown)
- Projects based on artist-in-residence/studios (would be accepted in case the project fulfills everything listed in “ 3. REQUIREMENTS (project content),” and if the artist-in-residence/studio outcome would directly relate to the grant project)
SUBMISSION
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HOW TO APPLY
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Please download the APPLICATION GUIDELINE and APPLICATION FORM, fill in necessary fields, and upload all required documents including APPENDIX DOCUMENTS through our WEB application.
* Number of application towards our organization is limited to one per applicant per year.
* Applications with modified formats, and submissions sent by postal mail, e-mail, and facsimile would basically not be considered as legitimate applications.
* Late submissions due to network errors and / or computer crashes would not be taken into consideration to maintain equality. Please send submissions well in advance to avoid such conditions.
APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
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MATERIALS
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Please prepare all documents (I APPLICATION FORM and II APPENDIX DOCUMENTS ) listed below and upload through the WEB application before deadline. Applications should be thoroughly reviewed and considered before submission to avoid changes after submission.
I. APPLICATION FORM (in designated format only)
1. GRANT APPLICATION FORM
2. APPLICANT INFORMATION FORM (INDIVIDUALS/ORGANIZATIONS)
II. APPENDIX DOCUMENTS (no required format)
3. LIST OF EXPENSE BREAKDOWN
4. PROJECT OUTLINE (if there is more information than filled in the application form)
5. ATTACHMENT DOCUMENTS
(documents that will help the selection committee to overview your activities, e.g., movies, sound materials, flyers, catalogues, organization leaflets, and etc.)
* Please submit movies and sound materials only shorter than 5 minutes
* For publicized materials (e.g., catalogues, etc.), please scan the related area and complie into one pdf format
* Please refer to formats below upon submitting data:
movies (mov or mp4), sounds (mp3), documents (pdf)6. ORGANIZATION CONTRACT/GUIDELINES/MEMBER RULES (ORGANIZATIONS ONLY)
7. BUSINESS REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF LAST FISCAL YEAR (ORGANIZATIONS ONLY)
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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Kawamura Arts and Cultural Foundation, SEA Grant Department 2-15-2 Soto Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021 JAPAN
E-mail：info@kacf.jp
APPLICATION PERIOD
APPLICATION START: August 8th, 2026 [Sat.]
APPLICATIONDEADLINE: October 11th, 2026 [Sun.] *18:00 Japan Time
* Please note confirmation inquiries of application receipt is unfeasible
SELECTION AND DECISION
The grant selection committee will examine all applications, and the chairperson will make the final decision.
All applicants will be contacted their results by email in December 2026. Please note this may be delayed due to number of applications and/or the reviewing process.
* Reasoning behind each result will not be disclosed
GRANT SCHEDULE
Grant presentation ceremony is planned to take place around March 2027 in Tokyo.
OBLIGATIONS OF GRANTEE
1. SUBMISSION OF PROJECT PLAN, PROJECT REPORT, AND FISCAL REPORT
a. Grantee must submit PROJECT PLAN prior to beginning the project.
b. Grantee must submit PROJECT REPORT and FISCAL REPORT in their designated formats within 2 months after completing the one-year grant support.
c. Grantee is obligated to disclose their report and achievements to the public.
2. SUBMISSION OF PROJECT ALTERNATION REPORT & RESUBMISSION OF PROJECT PLAN
Major change requested made to submitted PROJECT PLANS are basically not approved; but in case of unavoidable changes including new venues or periods occur please inform our foundation as soon as possible. We will ask you to resubmit the PROJECT PLAN and also to submit explanations of why the change needed to occur. Please note entire project could be cancelled, or grant amount could be recalculated, according to content of change.
3. PUBLICITY COOPERATION with Kawamura Arts and Cultural Foundation
: INDICATION OF GRANT NAME AND LOGO MARK
Grant Name and Logo Mark of Kawamura Arts and Cultural Foundation must appear on flyers, posters, program books and other publicized materials, as well as all announcements made on website related to the grant.
Please cooperate in public relations activities such as media coverage and public relations events related to the projects targeted for the subsidy and this support subsidy project.
4. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION/REPORTS
Grantee must submit interim reports of the project. (We also may ask the interim report to be open to public.) Please note grant amount may be reduced from the second payment due to the content of the interim report.
5. SUBMISSION OF ARCHIVE IMAGES
Grantee is required to cooperate in submitting footage images related to the project.
* Name of project, name of applicant, outline of project, total amount of grant, and other related information would be shared on Kawamura Arts and Cultural Foundation website.
TREATMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Kawamura Arts and Cultural Foundation will use personal information of the applicant/grantee only for the purpose of selecting and executing the grant project.
OTHER NOTES
- Our organization will not support the project in negotiation, research, introduction, staffing, or any other aspects towards the community and the project.
- Our organization will not support grantees in aspects of visas; visas are required to be prepared on behalf of grantees themselves.
- Please note decision of grant may be canceled or changed in cases where necessary visas were unable to arrange within required schedule for the project to take place. arrange within required schedule for the project to take place.