Announcement of Adopted Projects for Sumida Gosai Art Festival (Open Call Project)

Sumida Ward will hold the 'Sumida Gosai Art Festival' throughout the ward from September 4 (Friday) to December 20 (Sunday), 2026. For the open call project, which is a pillar of the art festival, 264 applications were received (application period: January 12 to February 16) for art and cultural activities utilizing Sumida's regional resources. As a result of the selection, 18 projects were adopted. The 'Sumida Gosai Art Festival Open Call Project' is implemented based on the accumulated experience of 'Sumidagawa Shinrabansho Sumi ni Yume' (commonly known as Sumiyume), an art project that Sumida Ward has been working on since 2016, with 'Hokusai' and 'Sumida River' as its main themes. This time, the project sought unique and novel art projects, performances, exhibitions, and screenings that uncover Sumida's individuality and charm, not limited to 'Hokusai' and 'Sumida River'. Adopted projects will receive subsidies (up to 1 million yen / 2 million yen), reduced fees for ward facilities, and administrative support for realization. The number of applications was approximately six times higher than for previous Sumiyume projects, with 25% of applications coming from outside Tokyo, including other 23 wards of Tokyo, Okinawa, Fukuoka, Tottori, Osaka, Kobe, Chiba, and Saitama. The fields were wide-ranging, including fine arts, music, theater, dance, and performance, as well as complex projects that could not be categorized into a specific field, and unique projects that co-created with people and communities in Sumida. From these applications, co-creative projects were selected that allow for a re-recognition of Sumida's charm, such as works based on sumo, the Sumida River, and the Seven Wonders of Honjo, research and exhibition of local disaster memories such as the Great Tokyo Air Raid, activities combining town walking and art, new plays and music created from classical works related to Sumida, and activities expressing with people with disabilities. The total number of applications was 264. Application breakdown: A (subsidy limit: 1 million yen) 179 cases / B (subsidy limit: 2 million yen) 85 cases. Number of adopted projects: 18 (adoption rate 6.8%). Breakdown of adopted projects: A: 14 cases (adoption rate 7.8%) B: 4 cases (adoption rate 4.7%). The selection committee members include Hajime Oishi, Shinsuke Ouchi, Miiko Okata, Yasuko Ogihara, Keisuke Ozawa, Shinya Sato, Shingo Jinno, Kanoko Tamura, and Maki Miyakubo. The event period is from September 4 (Friday) to December 20 (Sunday), 2026. Venues include Sumida Lifelong Learning Center (Yutoriya), Sumida Park Theater Kura, Denki-yu, and various other locations within the ward. Organized by: Sumidagawa Shinrabansho Sumi ni Yume Executive Committee, Sumida Ward. Co-organized by: Sumida Gosai Art Festival Executive Committee.