This year marks the fifth edition of Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK), the fair that pairs Japanese commercial galleries with international peers to collaborate on shared stands. The fair will take place from 7 to 9 November at the Kyoto International Conference Center. The event has become known for its distinctive exhibitor model, which has proved popular with exhibitors and fair attendees alike.
“We thought, ‘If we are going to do this, why not create a fair that galleries and artists themselves would find exciting and genuinely want to be part of?’” Miho Doi, ACK’s director of experiences, tells The Art Newspaper about the fair’s founding.
This year’s edition includes a number of high-profile Western galleries, including Hauser & Wirth, Jeffrey Deitch and Carlos Ishikawa, alongside Asian galleries such as Seoul’s Gallery Hyundai.
The collaborative format is intended to give both Japanese and international galleries an opportunity to work together and introduce their artists and programmes to new audiences. Pairing domestic and foreign galleries has been key for the success of the fair, organisers say, especially for dealers without experience in Japan.
“For an overseas gallery, participating independently in an art fair in a country it is entering for the first time is by no means easy,” Doi says. “We have heard from participating galleries that, for a variety of reasons, taking part in a Japanese fair entirely on their own would not have been realistic.”
The fair’s main section will bring together 52 galleries. Taro Nasu from Tokyo will join forces with Hauser & Wirth for a presentation focused on text in contemporary art, including works by Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, David Horvitz and Glenn Ligon, among others. Nanzuka from Tokyo will work alongside Jeffrey Deitch, while Tokyo Gallery + BTAP will team up with Gallery Hyundai for a presentation pairing post-war Japanese and Korean experimental practices, including the Korean artist Seung-taek Lee in dialogue with the Japanese artist Kishio Suga.
“Some participating galleries have even described ACK as a ‘fair built on friendship’ rather than a place for competition,” Doi says.
Another section of the fair is dedicated to presentations from 11 individual galleries with strong connections to Kyoto. Mendes Wood DM, for instance, will present works by Tomie Ohtake—who was born in Kyoto and later relocated to São Paulo, which is home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan—among other artists. Hong Kong’s Kiang Malingue will show works by Yang Chi-Chuan and Faye Wei Wei, whose sculptures and paintings respond to Kyoto’s landscapes and urban environment.
A joint stand with Nonaka-Hill and Hoffman Donahue galleries Courtesy Art Collaboration Kyoto
The fair also coincides with a programme of special exhibitions and projects across Kyoto. This year, the Scottish painter Andrew Cranston will present an installation at Ryosokuin Temple, a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto’s historic Gion district. The exhibition is organised by Modern Art and Ingleby. Elsewhere, Carlos Ishikawa will stage a presentation of work by Evelyn Taocheng Wang and Issy Wood at Korin-in Temple.
This edition of ACK takes place under a new leadership committee structure, introduced earlier this year. Rather than being led by a single fair director, ACK is now guided by a seven-member committee with expertise spanning art consulting, cultural foundations, Kyoto cultural policy, fair production, education, partnerships and collector relations. The former fair director, Yukako Yamashita, now leads the fair’s ambassador programme.
As for ACK’s next five years, Doi says the leadership committee aims to develop the fair into a platform that “connects the art scenes of Japan and the world and generates a virtuous cycle between cultural and commercial value”.
