Art Collaboration Kyoto Opens Its Fifth Edition With Galleries Sharing Stands
Art Collaboration Kyoto, an art fair that pairs galleries from Japan with galleries from abroad, opens its fifth edition on Saturday 7 November. The fair runs until Monday 9 November at the Kyoto International Conference Center, a large convention venue in the city.
The idea is simple. Commercial galleries, the private businesses that show and sell art, are matched with international partners and asked to share a stand, the booth where works are displayed for visitors and buyers. The Art Newspaper reports that the main section brings together 52 galleries. A second part of the fair, called Kyoto Meetings, gives space to 11 galleries with strong links to the city.
Some of the pairings stand out. Tokyo's Taro Nasu is joining the international gallery Hauser & Wirth for a presentation on text in contemporary art. It will include works by Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, David Horvitz and Glenn Ligon. Tokyo's Nanzuka will work with Jeffrey Deitch, the New York gallery, and Tokyo Gallery + BTAP will team up with Seoul's Gallery Hyundai to show post-war Japanese and Korean experimental art side by side.
Kyoto's temples are part of the programme too. Andrew Cranston will present an installation at Ryosokuin Temple in the Gion district, organised by the galleries Modern Art and Ingleby. Carlos Ishikawa will show work by Evelyn Taocheng Wang and Issy Wood at Korin-in Temple.
The fair also has talks. According to art4d, published on 29 October, the programme features the artist Arthur Jafa and the architect Kazuyo Sejima.
Behind the scenes, the fair has changed shape. It is now guided by a seven-member committee rather than a single fair director. Yukako Yamashita, who was the fair's director, now leads its ambassador programme, the fair's outreach work.
The fair's two main sections are Gallery Collaborations and Kyoto Meetings. Visitors who want the full list of exhibitors, dates and opening times can find them on the official website, a-c-k.jp.
For anyone planning a trip, the practical point is the calendar. The fair is three days long, and the temple installations sit in different parts of the city, so a route through Gion and the other venues takes some planning.
