Tokyo – Artist Katayama Mari has been awarded the inaugural Mori Art Award Grand Prize, receiving ¥10 million (approximately USD 64,000) and a solo exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. The selection was finalized on February 25, 2026, by an international jury comprised of museum directors and art world leaders.
The Mori Art Award, established in 2025 by the Mori Contemporary Art Foundation (MoriCAF), aims to recognize mid-career Japanese artists and elevate their international standing. The award’s creation stemmed from the vision of the late Yoshiko Mori, the founding chairperson of MoriCAF, who championed international cultural exchange and the development of Japanese contemporary art.
The international jury, chaired by Kataoka Mami, director of the Mori Art Museum, included Rhana Devenport, former director of the Art Gallery of South Australia; Glenn D. Lowry, director emeritus of MoMA, New York; Frances Morris, former director of Tate Modern, London; Suhanya Raffel, director of M+, Hong Kong; and Eugene Tan, director of the National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum.
Katayama’s artistic practice centers on the exploration of her own body, which she presents through photography and sculptural objects. Her work, often involving hand-sewn textiles, challenges conventional perceptions of the natural and artificial. Her pieces have been described as treating the body as a “living sculpture, mannequin and social lens.”
The artist’s work is already held in the collections of prominent institutions including Tate Modern in London, the Antoine de Galbert Foundation in Paris, and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. Katayama previously participated in the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019, with works featured in both the Giardini and the Arsenale, and contributed to the “Performer and Participant” exhibition at Tate Modern in 2023. She received the Higashikawa Award in the New Photographer category in 2019 and the Kimura Ihei Award in 2020.
In addition to Katayama, the finalists for the 2026 award were Koizumi Meiro, 目[mé], and Yamashiro Chikako. Each finalist received a prize of ¥1 million.
MoriCAF intends for the Mori Art Award to serve as a platform showcasing the current state of Japanese contemporary art and fostering international recognition for its artists. The upcoming solo exhibition of Katayama’s work will be jointly organized by MoriCAF and the Mori Art Museum, with details to be announced at a later date.
