TOKYO.- The final screening for the Mori Art Award 2026 was conducted by the International Jury on February 25, 2026, and Katayama Mari was selected as the winner of the inaugural Grand Prize.

Mori Contemporary Art Foundation (MoriCAF) hopes that the award both serves as a showcase of the current state of Japanese contemporary art and leads to further international success for the winner. The Grand Prize winner receives prize money of ¥10 million and the opportunity to hold an exhibition of their work, jointly organized by MoriCAF and Mori Art Museum. The other finalists also receive prize moneys of ¥1 million each.

Mori Art Award was established by MoriCAF to support mid-career artists set to become the next leading figures in contemporary art. MoriCAF continues the Mori Art Award and its other efforts in keeping with the deep passion for contemporary art of its founding chairperson, Mori Yoshiko, and her aspirations to promote international cultural exchange and the sustainable development of Japanese contemporary art.

Jury Chair’s Commentary on the Mori Art Award 2026

The four finalists of the inaugural Mori Art Award 2026 engage with diverse media and themes, sharing a profound conviction that art can bring reconciliation to the world. All of them demonstrate the passion and courage to take on major challenges.

The Mori Art Award was established to support mid-career Japanese artists in achieving greater international prominence. It calls on artists to transcend individual concerns — whether rooted in the personal or the planetary, technology or geopolitics — to reach the wider world.

Grand Prize winner Katayama Mari explores the possibility of extending the boundaries of her own body with strength and affirmation, working with analog photography and handcraft practices such as embroidery and needlework. Her recent work tree of life suggests an ambitious new direction. Katayama's practice invites comparison with international peers and is expected to transcend cultural and social boundaries through the fusion of powerful imagery and a strong conceptual framework.

Mori Art Award 2026 Grand Prize Winner
Katayama Mari
Born 1987. Based in Gunma.

Katayama Mariʼs practice centers the daily lived experience of her body, which she treats as a living sculpture, mannequin, and social lens. Combining photography with sculptural objects sewn and made by hand, her work reveals and challenges social norms regarding what is natural, artificial, and correct. Katayamaʼs practice also encompasses the High Heel Project, which advocates freedom of choice. Wearing high heels custom-made for her prosthetic legs, she is active as a singer, model, guest speaker, and more. Her major exhibitions include Performer and Participant (Tate Modern, London, 2023), Home Again (Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris, 2021), the 58th Venice Biennale (Giardini and the Arsenale, 2019), and Roppongi Crossing 2016: My Body, Your Voice (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo).