This year marks the 7th edition of this competition, which began in 2012, and we feel that the history of this event has continued to accumulate. First of all, I would like to thank all the creators who have contributed their works and entries. During the past seven years, the video and art industry, including projection mapping, has been changing dramatically. We believe that this is a major challenge for the convention.
Architectural projection mapping and such competitions are actually more about pure "visual expression" than "innovation". Small-scale projection mapping is also called "micro mapping" in Europe and the U.S. In addition to the individuality and technology of visual expression, this type of projection mapping can be completed independently in terms of the object on which the images are reflected, the relationship with the viewer, and the spatial production method, making it a large field for advanced expression and challenge. It is a field with great potential for advanced expression and challenges.
This is a bit of a digression, but if expressive techniques and their variations are meant as research to expand horizontally, it is also important to have depth in order to achieve completion and maturity. This is precisely the case with projection mapping in buildings, which is now in its maturation stage.
We believe that an international competition such as ours needs to have such a multifaceted vision for the future, and that we have an obligation to present this vision in the form of content and results. We are very happy to see the number of entries, the attention and the emergence of newcomers and new faces as the level of this competition increases year by year, and all of us involved in organizing this event are very proud of that.

The Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum, the venue and projection target of the 7th contest, has the simplest façade of all the buildings in the past contests, making it the most suitable for projection. The theme was "Myth/Legend," the most specific of all the past competitions. This led to the decision to use the theme "Myth/Legend" for the projection.

Making the most of the architecture of the subject ＜ Visual Expression

However, we wanted to see not only "3D expression," which has become a common form of projection mapping expression, but also softer and broader images and techniques. When considering new expressions and originality in particular, it is impossible to move forward if we are bound by existing things, and sometimes expressions can be updated by breaking them down and moving in a different direction. For this project, we did not want to be too tied down to the "projection mapping expression," but rather hoped to expand the expression and beauty of the images. As a result, a rich variety of expression appeared, and the competition was very stimulating and suggestive for the future.
The theme of "Myth/Legend," which was chosen for this year's competition, has a figurative nature that has never been seen before, and it is necessary to convey the meaning of the work in a way that was previously allowed to be ambiguous. In order to convey the main points of the competition, including these points, within a one-minute time frame, not only the appearance of the video, but also its composition and direction are very important.

Out of 125 entries from a record number of 42 countries and regions, 19 works were selected as finalists for judging. The five judges, including myself, rigorously evaluated the entries based on the actual projection mapping on the buildings, and we are pleased to announce the results of the judging.

List of award-winning works
*"Title" team name (country)

Grand Prix: "The Nine Colored Deer" LiCheng (China)
Runner-up: "Ice Winter Sakura" ArtZebs Gallery, Ukraine
Special Jury Prize: "Stag" Fluid (Hungary)
Miyazaki Governor's Prize: "KAMISHIBAI" DECIDEKIT (Thailand)
Audience Award: "The Nine Colored Deer" LiCheng (China)
Special Prize: "Chaos" High Files Visuals (Italy)
Special Prize: "Quimera" AVA Animation & Visual Arts (Mexico)

---

Grand Prize
The Nine Colored Deer" LiCheng (China)

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/ra4VfNQFNbw

The Grand Prix and the Audience Award were awarded to "The Nine Colored Deer" by Li Cheng of China. This work not only showed excellent video production techniques, but also presented a beautifully designed world full of emotion that moved people's hearts. Projection mapping is often considered to be about "surprising people," but this work, which carefully approached people's emotions, seems to be unprecedented and was highly evaluated by the jury. The high degree of perfection of this work, which made the audience want to watch it over and over again forever, was superb.

---

Second Prize
Ice Winter Sakura" ArtZebs Gallery, Ukraine

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/IL1WfL2yvD

The next runner-up, "Ice Winter Sakura" by ArtZebs Gallery, an up-and-coming artist from the Ukraine, won the Grand Prize, continuing the momentum from its move-up to finalist status.
Despite its thematic weakness, the design focused on design while using a simple 3D representation and depicting impressive scenes reminiscent of mythology throughout.

---

Judges' Special Prize
Stag" Fluid (Hungary)

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/S7CCwdIkRKo

The third-place jury prize went to "stag" by Hungarian artist Fluid. Although it was a 2D work and used only gold colors, it left a very strong impression with its rich sense of space and color.

---

Miyazaki Prefecture Governor's Award
KAMISHIBAI" DECIDEKIT (Thailand)

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/D1S5QtPAPQc

The winner of the Miyazaki Prefecture Governor's Award was "Kamishibai" by DecideKit of Thailand, a work that was very popular with the audience for its clear and beautiful depiction of various myths from around the world. The work was not self-indulgent, but was created with the audience and Japan in mind, and it was an entertainment that the audience never got tired of.

---

Audience Prize
The Nine Colored Deer" LiCheng (China)

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/ra4VfNQFNbw

The Audience Award was a double win for the Grand Prix, and although we will not discuss the content of the work, it is rare in recent years for the jury and audience evaluations to overlap, and that is how outstanding this work was.

---

The jury discussed the selection of the entries, and once again, the level of the entries was high, and there were many more that we would like to award. The jury decided to award prizes to two of the entries.

special prize
Chaos" High Files Visuals, Italy

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/JXVUY2huJXg

First was "chaos" by High Files Visuals of Italy, a work in black and white but with a quality rarely seen before. The challenging and fresh quality of the work was highly acclaimed.

---

special prize
Quimera" AVA Animation & Visual Arts, Mexico

Click here to see the video.https://youtu.be/KaSzxWi1ceY

The other work was "Quimera" by AVA Animation and Visual Arts of Mexico, a regular participant in this competition. This beautiful 3DCG of a South American design was both beautiful and strong, and was ranked high in the judging.

---

Although we only commented on the winning entries, there were many others that were excellent and we would have liked to have given awards to.

As we have already announced at the screening, the next 8th edition will be held in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Odawara Castle, a symbol of Japanese architecture, will be the motif of the projection!
This is the most difficult video expression to date. How do we deal with the detailed and complex architectural specifications of the Japanese roof? A simple video would not only fail to make the most of this structure, but it would also fail as a picture, so the approach to this issue is a major challenge and element of expression. A completely different approach from Miyazaki's is required, and the ability to imagine and experience the design when architecture and images are combined is likely to be tested. The opportunity to do projection mapping on a Japanese castle like this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we hope that many people will take up the challenge.

In particular, since there were no Japanese winners at the Miyazaki competition, we are very much looking forward to seeing a prize-winning entry from Japan at the Odawara competition.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the creators who participated in this projection mapping exhibition, and hope that we can continue to work together to create a new page in the field of projection mapping.
Thank you very much.

1minute Projection Mapping General Producer
Michiyuki Ishida (PMAJ Representative)