WINNERS

What is the future of democratic creation? YouFab Global Creative Awards 2021 Winners Announcements

We have announced the final results of the YouFab Global Creative Awards 2021, which was open from August 1 to October 31, 2021.

The Grand Prize has been awarded to two works! 19 works were selected under the theme “Democratic experiment(s).” An award ceremony and exhibition will be held in March. The global creative awards “YouFab Global Creative Awards 2021” (YouFab 2021) organized by FabCafe Global and Loftwork Inc. have announced the final results.

The results can be seen below.
Check out Chief Judge Asa Ito’s review this year.

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An award ceremony and exhibition of the winning entries will be held in March

■YouFab 2021 Award Ceremony

The award ceremony and a talk session with the judges and award winners will be held.

Date: March 17, 2022, 18:00-20:00 (tentative)
Venue: Online
Speakers: Judges, YouFab Award Chairman / Toshiya Fukuda, Award Winners

■YouFab 2021 Exhibition

Based on this year’s theme “Democratic experiment(s)”, an exhibition focusing on the top award-winning works will be held in Tokyo area.

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WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE

Public Voice
Creator: Dora Bartilotti / Collaborator: Leonardo Aranda

JUDGES, COMMENTS：
Asa Ito
Director, Future of Humanity Research Center, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Pain, by nature, is something that cannot be separated from the body that feels it. However in this work, with the power of technology, the pain was detached from a specific body, and has become something that can be worn by another person in the form of clothing. The wonderful thing is that, as a result, it is possible to have "demonstrations by individuals possessed by others" rather than "demonstrations by a group of individuals". Generally speaking, group demonstrations tend to lose the diversity of stories that each individual carries in order to put forth simple slogans. The "talking clothes" however, are designed to create a strong visual impact while at the same time conveying the personal story directly to society. It was also impressive that people who witnessed the demonstration came personally and physically close to the clothes to listen to their voices. Furthermore, there are many hands involved in the process of making clothes. One could see that even the unvoiced thoughts were put into the textiles. Above all, the people participating in the project seem to be having a lot of fun. It was wonderful to see the lab's system of creating spontaneous activities.

GRAND PRIZE

the Museum of Edible Earth
masharu studio

JUDGES, COMMENTS：
Asa Ito
Director, Future of Humanity Research Center, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Through the "soil" that is always and everywhere at our feet, this work extends our imagination beyond the human scale both in terms of time and space, not to mention human culture. To begin with, I was usually unaware of the fact that "soil” in fact is the “earth”. In Japanese, "soil" and "earth" are two completely different words. In English, however, "Edible Earth" means both “edible soil" and "edible earth”. Certainly, for the first life on earth, the earth must have been the food; and if this was the case, eating soil may be a way to relive the diet of primitive life. Furthermore, the act of "eating" reverses our inside and outside; because what used to be the external “environment" (soil) becomes our internal “self". And after all, perhaps the "environment" may not be something external, but something that is within us.The perspective of redefining the environment and the thrill that comes with it were the major wonders of this work.

SPECIAL PRIZE

Home Grown
Emma Wright

JUDGES, COMMENTS：
Tatsuo Ogawa
Panasonic Corporation Executive Officer and CTO

Home Grown is more than just an interface born from an environment of locally circulated manufacturing. Through the experience of touching the textures of the objects, it presents a new relationship between the land that nurtures materials, the expressions that take root there, the people who collect and make things, and the people who use them. The more we use them, the more we develop an awareness of the materials, the regions and consumption, and the more we become attached to them. This presents the kind of relationship that Panasonic's plastic products have found difficulty to build, and it gives us an idea of what kind of worldview we would need to consider in the future. Home Grown was born in the UK, but if it were to be translated to Japan, what would it look like? What kind of textiles and materals would be used? This wonderful and thought-provoking work has great potential to be developed across countries and regions, and to give birth to unique new craftsmanship and culture.