The winners

Meeting on July 7, 2025, Villa Kujoyama's final selection jury chose 13 projects by 18 artists, who will be hosted in residence in Kyoto in 2026 for a period of 4 to 6 months:

• Charlie AUBRY and Yasmine TANDJAOUI / Contre Productions, in the disciplines Visual Arts and Architecture/landscape/urban planning, for a 4-month residency
• Sasha BAYDAL / Twirling Memories. A non-linear look linking Eastern Europe, North-East Asia and Japan in the discipline Exhibition curating, for a 6-month residency
• Isabelle DAËRON / Chikasui, in the discipline Design / Graphic design, for a 5-month residency
• Hélène DELÉAN and Clément CAIGNART / N88DL, in the Digital Creation discipline, for a 4-month residency
• Diane DUFOUR / FALLEN FROM GRACE - Desire and Transgression in the Postwar Japanese Illustrated Press, in the discipline of Exhibition Curating, for a 6-month residency
• Claire LANGE and Lucie ROY / Meeting Kansai Chefs / A Kaiseki menu, a tribute to the seasons / an art of the table to be imagined, in the Métiers d'art discipline, for a 4-month residency
• Aurélie LANOISELÉE / Perenniser l'éphémère, in the Métiers d'art discipline, for a 5-month residency
• Marcel MREJEN / Gigan (義眼), in the Cinema discipline, for a 4-month residency
• Victoire THIERRÉE / Into the Fog, in the Visual Arts discipline, for a 6-month residency
• Rebecca TOPAKIAN / From Ararat to Fujiyama (after Artsvin Grigoryan), in the Photography discipline, for a 5-month residency
• Élise VIGNERON and Azusa TAKEUCHI / To research "mono no aware" through the exploration of materials in transformation, in the disciplines Street Arts / Circus / Puppetry and Dance, for a 4-month residency
• Baudouin WOEHL and Daphné BIIGA NWANAK / Itinerant singing practice in Japan: between performance and handie aesthetics, in the Theater discipline, for a 4-month residency
• Raphaël ZARKA / Perspectives Parallèles - Masakazu Horiuti et les usages des figures géométriques dans les arts japonais, in the Visual Arts discipline, for a 4-month residency

The 2026 call for applications was open to French or foreign artists, creators residing in France for 5 years ; or Japanese artists residing in Japan in duo with French or foreign artists residing in France for 5 years. These artists had to propose an original and singular research project, requiring a period of immersion and research in Japan. This year, the call for applications was also open to scientists working in duo or binomial with artists. A numerus clausus allowed the submission of 250 applications for a total of 278 artists, creators and designers.

In addition, the Villa Kujoyama Management and the French Institute have selected two winners of the Prix Liliane Bettencourt pour l'Intelligence de la Main®, invited for 1-month stays at Villa Kujoyama in 2026:

• Karl MAZLO / Métiers d'art - Joaillerie
• Grégory ROSENBLAT / Métiers d'art - Porcelaine

Pre-selection committee and final jury

The pre-selection committee comprised:

• The Deputy Director of Villa Kujoyama
• The Residencies Unit and sector experts from the French Institute
• Sector experts from the Ministry of Culture
• Sector experts from the French Institute of Japan
• Qualified personalities based in France and Japan (list available here)

The final Franco-Japanese jury, chaired by Villa Kujoyama's Deputy Director, Adèle Fremolle, was made up of:

• Mathieu Fournet, cultural advisor and general director of the French Institute of Japan and Samson Sylvain, cultural attaché and head of the artistic pole of the French Institute of Japan - representatives of the French Embassy in Japan
• Chloé Fricout, head of the Residences pole and Julie Ferrif, project manager at the Residencies Unit - representatives of the French Institute
• Corinne Sentou, in charge of economic affairs and business development - representative of the Ministry of Culture
• Reiko Setsuda, curator at the Fondation Hermès
• Aya Soejima, independent performing arts expert
• Excused: Delphine Fournier, visual arts delegate - representative of the French Ministry of Culture; Léa Poirier, Culture and Media editor - representative of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs

The call for applications for residencies in 2027 will open in spring 2026.