The Ojika International Art Center (OIAC) is an emerging cultural institution on Ojika Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, initiated by Studio The Future, Akira Kuroki, and Tomoe Miyazaki. Developed from the six-year Ojika Artist in Island program, OIAC expands this foundation into a permanent space for artistic research, residency, and exhibition.

Rooted in Ojika’s landscape and community, the center connects Japanese and international makers through projects that explore the relationship between material, memory, and place. OIAC’s activities include residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and collaborations with local schools, craftspeople, and institutions.

More than a residency, OIAC functions as a platform for reflection and exchange—a space where contemporary art meets everyday life, and where the island’s unique rhythms foster new forms of creative practice grounded in ecology, history, and collective imagination.

Ojika Artist In Island is a program developed by HOTEIZA2019 (a local community group), Ojika Town, and Nagasaki Prefecture, with as goal to reinvigorate the local community through art and international exchange. From 2019 Studio The Future joined the organizational committee as curators and art directors of the program.

2025 marks the sixth year of the Ojika Artist in Island program — an opportunity to look back and trace how the project has evolved since its beginning in 2019. Initiated as a collaboration between local partners and international makers, the program set out to explore how art and cultural exchange could reveal the potential of Ojika: its histories, its people, and its future possibilities. Over the years, each invited artist has approached the island as both a context and a question — creating works that connect past to present, and present to future. Together, these projects form an ongoing reflection on what it means to live, make, and imagine within a place that carries so many layers of time and meaning.

From 2026, the residency program takes a new step. The renovation on the residency building will be finished, and the residency will open itself to applications.

  • Each year we will open the the space for 2-4 self-directed residencies. Each will be created based on the needs of the selected resident.

    Budget and funding:
    The organization can help secure funding, but the the financial requirements of the residency will be the sole responsibility of the applicant.

    Costs:
    As the residency will be tailored to the requirements of the selected resident these will be determined in advance and in conversation with the applicants.

    Application Timeline:
    As each residency will be created to fit the proposed project, we require that the applicant send in their proposal at least six months prior to the start of the program, but in order to secure possible funding, starting the conversation as soon as possible is adviced.

  • Each year, we will open up a call for applications to a themed residency for the following year. Each year we will invite two participants.

    Please check back, as details will be published both on the site as well as on our social media.

  • Each resident will work closely with the curatorial and director team to work out, work through their projects, towards concrete goals.

    As a hard requirement, each residency will need to lead to a public presentation — this can take any form, and will be decided on in advance in conversation with the curators and the directors of the program.

    A select few projects will also lead to publications, which will be published by The Future Publishing — and presented both in Japan and the Netherlands.

Application Process

The Ojika International Art Center accepts applications on a rolling basis. There are no fixed deadlines — you can apply at any time throughout the year.

After submitting your application, our team will review your materials and get in touch within a few weeks. We may ask for additional information or propose a short online conversation to discuss your ideas in more depth. This dialogue helps us understand your intentions, practical needs, and how your project might connect with the context of Ojika Island.

Based on this exchange, we will work together to determine the most suitable residency period, duration, and focus. Each residency is tailored individually, allowing flexibility in timing and approach.

We encourage applicants to apply early, as places are limited and planned in coordination with the island’s seasonal rhythms and community life.