International Art Award: "HERALBONY Art Prize 2026 Presented by Tokyo Tatemono｜Brillia" Grand Prize Winner: Zonder titel (Untitled) (2023) by Kar Hang Mui !

The HERALBONY Art Prize 2026 Presented by Tokyo Tatemono｜Brillia, an international art award organized by HERALBONY Co., Ltd. (hereafter “HERALBONY”), has announced its Grand Prize winner. Out of 2,943 entries, Zonder titel (Untitled) (2023) by Kar Hang Mui was selected as the Grand Prize-winning artwork after a rigorous judging process.

As the Grand Prize winner, Kar Hang Mui will receive a cash award of 3 million Japanese yen to support his artistic endeavors. Additionally, he will sign an artist contract with HERALBONY, allowing his unique artistic vision to be shared globally through various licensing opportunities.

In addition to the Grand Prize, the Jury Prize (awarded to four artists) and the Corporate Prize (awarded to nine artists) have also been announced.

An art exhibition showcasing the Grand Prize–winning work, the Corporate Prize–winning work, the Jury Prize–winning works, and the selected finalist works will be held from Saturday, May 30, 2025, at Earth Garden, 1F, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation East Building (1-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo).

Kar Hang Mui (Netherland)

Zonder titel (Untitled) (2023)

Colored pencil on paper / 704×1030mm

Kar Hang showed an interest in drawing from an early age, and his parents encouraged him. He is a man of few words and focuses entirely on his work. For his first drawings, he used pastels and paint.It soon became clear that coloured pencil suited his working style better.

Over time, the drawings became increasingly refined and abstract.Kar Hang works on large sheets of white paper with razor-sharp coloured pencils. Layer upon layer,month after month, he works intensely and energetically on his drawing until it finally achieves a brilliant shine. The patterns he creates are reminiscent of fabric, carpet, or embroidery.

With deep emerald green as its base, layers of bluish-green, yellow-green, and muted olive create a quiet depth across the picture plane, as if one were gazing over the surface of water. The gently arcing form at the center resembles the rim of a vessel or geographical contours, softly touching the viewer’s memories and sensations. While the work conveys a poetic calmness, the relationship between the outlines of the forms and the color fields is strikingly sharp and clear. The repetition of fine lines and dots produces a rhythm like distant sounds that are faintly resonating, lending the image an exquisite sense of order. The jury highly valued the work’s formal strength, in which stillness and clarity coexist at a remarkably elevated level. For this reason, it was selected as the Grand Prize.

Hiromi Kurosawa (Japan) Chief Art Officer of HERALBONY

I was immediately drawn to the bold composition in Kar Hang Mui’s piece. The bottom of the picture plane is filled with an organic collection of circles and repeating swirls while the top third is a confident block of linear texture and dark, aggregated bands. The combination both shows a confidence in formal abstraction and in my mind, a reference to maps or archeological diagrams. The greenish, brown and black color palette accentuates this feeling of unearthing or digging up of hidden structures and I’m reminded of Austrian-born architect and artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s biomorphic housing complexes and environmentally friendly designs. Kar Hang Mui suggests both a garden and a portal, places of intrigue and backdrop for our own narratives to play out within.

Harriet Salmon (the United States) Director of Art Partnerships, Creativity Explored, San Francisco

This award is given to works selected by four juries, each bringing their own unique perspective.

The Corporate Prize will be awarded by the platinum partner Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd., and the gold partners Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc., Nishimura & Asahi (Gaikokuho Kyodo Jigyo) , JINS Inc.,
Seiko Epson Corporation, Sangetsu Corporation, KAI CORPORATION, East Japan Railway Company, and TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION.

The winning artworks are expected to be incorporated into the services, products, or businesses of each company. Through collaborations initiated by the Corporate Prize, we aim to create opportunities for the artists to showcase their unique visions.

We are pleased to announce that TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION has newly joined as a Gold Partner.

Platinum Partner
Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd.

Gold Partners
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc.
Nishimura & Asahi (Gaikokuho Kyodo Jigyo)
JINS Inc.
Seiko Epson Corporation
Sangetsu Corporation
KAI CORPORATION
East Japan Railway Company
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Silver Partners
NOMURA Co., Ltd.
PILOT CORPORATION
ABeam Consulting Ltd.
LIXIL Corporation

Media Partners
Hit Co., Ltd.
Hearst Fujingaho Co., Ltd.
Nippon Broadcasting System, Inc.
News Technology.Inc

PR / Event Partner
SUNNY SIDE UP Inc.

An exhibition bringing together works by the award winners and finalists is scheduled to open on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

Special Website
https://artprize.heralbony.jp/en/

Request for Copyright Credit for Artwork Images
The images of artworks included in this document are the property of their respective copyright holders. When using these images, please ensure that the artwork title and artist name are clearly credited.

Founded by brothers Takaya and Fumito Matsuda, HERALBONY is a creative agency that connects artists with disabilities with companies and institutions. Through exceptional art, we change the Perception of “Disability”.

Managing a collection of over 2,000 artworks by neurodiverse artists, we ensure fair royalties and foster a sustainable business model. Our in-house brand, HERALBONY, produces high-quality products infused with artistry and craftsmanship. Additionally, we collaborate with companies to co-create inclusive experiences and creative projects.

We also organize the HERALBONY Art Prize, an international award recognizing outstanding artists with disabilities. In July 2024, we established HERALBONY EUROPE in Paris—our first overseas subsidiary—to further expand our vision on a global scale.