Artwork Collaboration Kyoto (ACK), the truthful launched in 2021 to construct ties between Japanese and worldwide galleries, opened its fifth version this week (till 16 November) on the Kyoto Worldwide Convention Heart (ICC Kyoto). The truthful has grown steadily regardless of financial headwinds and an more and more crowded Asian truthful calendar, welcoming a file 72 galleries, 36 of that are from abroad.
Past the principle venue, ACK continues to tell apart itself via its integration with Kyoto’s cultural and architectural panorama. Quite a lot of particular exhibitions are held throughout historic websites within the metropolis: Sadie Coles HQ presents an Isabella Ducrot solo present at Kousei-in Temple; Kiang Malingue levels Carrie Yamaoka’s first solo exhibition in Japan at Manshu-in; and Ryosoku-in Temple hosts an exhibition of recent works by Shio Kusaka and Jonas Wooden, co-organised with David Kordansky Gallery.
“What attracted me most is the programming that takes place outdoors the principle truthful venue,” says Lorraine Kiang Malingue, whose gallery is taking part in ACK for the primary time. “These off-site exhibitions will be extremely stimulating for our artists, providing contexts and encounters they wouldn’t expertise elsewhere.”
The Kyoto Worldwide Convention Heart (ICC Kyoto)
At ICC Kyoto, Kiang Malingue shares a sales space with Tokyo’s SCAI The Bathhouse, presenting works by Cho Yong-Ik, Su-Mei Tse and Carrie Yamaoka, priced between $7,500 and $18,000. “ACK’s mannequin—the place worldwide galleries take part by invitation from Japanese galleries—affords a invaluable entry level for galleries trying to method the Japanese market.”
Tokyo gallery KAYOKOYUKI, which made its debut at Artwork Basel in Basel earlier this 12 months and is taken into account certainly one of Tokyo’s most carefully watched younger galleries, has participated in ACK since its inaugural version and this 12 months shares a sales space with Chapter NY. On the opening day, the gallery offered 5 of eight work by Munehiro Yoshimura, priced between ¥240,000 and ¥1.2m.
“The environment is de facto great—very heat,” says the truthful’s founder Kayoko Yuki. “Individuals are relaxed right here. Many worldwide galleries come to Kyoto as a part of a visit, so it doesn’t really feel overly sales-driven. Even with out pushing, we are able to nonetheless make significant connections and have actually invaluable experiences.”
Different exhibitors additionally praised the truthful’s laid-back environment. “ACK has a way more relaxed rhythm,” says Malik Al-Mahrouky, a associate at Kurimanzutto. “Individuals don’t simply look and stroll away; they keep 5 or ten minutes. There’s a wholesome sense of time right here.”
Returning for its second 12 months, Kurimanzutto offered a solo exhibition by Wang Shui within the truthful’s Kyoto Conferences part, devoted to artists with ties to the area. Six of the eight works offered on the primary day, priced from $30,000 to $55,000.
For its third 12 months at ACK, Mendes Wooden DM, which has places in São Paulo, Paris, Brussels and New York, partnered with Kyoto’s Shibunkaku. The gallery positioned 4 works on opening day—together with items by Daniel Steegmann Mangrané and Bendt Eyckermans—with costs starting from €18,000 to €280,000.
“We’re actually beginning to see the outcomes of constructing a relationship with Japan,” says co-founder Matthew Wooden. “These items take time. However as soon as you identify that connection, it begins to develop in a really natural approach.”
Many Japanese galleries word that ACK’s viewers has grown noticeably extra worldwide with every version. Tokyo gallery TARO NASU returned to the truthful with certainly one of its most high-profile collaborations: a joint sales space with New York blue-chip Gladstone Gallery, that includes works by Matthew Barney, Treasured Okoyomon, Rachel Rose, Anicka Yi, Simon Fujiwara and Mika Tajima. Gross sales have been brisk on the primary day: a piece by Tajima offered for $132,000, and two works by Okoyomon offered for $11,000 and $30,600.
“It’s a promising begin,” says Masako Hosoi, TARO NASU’s director. “However what stands out to me is how worldwide the viewers has develop into. We’ve all the time seen a mixture of international locations, however this 12 months feels much more world.”
Tokyo-based CON_’s director and co-founder Hisatomo Kato additionally observes this shift: “ACK appears like the one truthful in Japan the place the worldwide artwork neighborhood actually gathers. There’s a powerful sense of anticipation round that.”
Based in 2022, CON_ is without doubt one of the youngest individuals on the truthful. This 12 months, it partnered with South Korea’s ARARIO GALLERY, presenting works by Yukino Yamanaka, Lim Nosik, and Noh Sangho. The gallery offered two work by Yamanaka on the opening day, priced at $4,500 and $6,000.
Some Japanese galleries, nonetheless, reported slower gross sales. ShugoArts, based by Shugo Satani, offered three work by Kyoto-based artist Rina Matsudaira—together with two pre-sold works—priced between $1,000 and $2,000. Whereas gross sales have been extra modest, Satani emphasises the truthful’s distinctive character: “ACK is a kind of truthful that most likely couldn’t exist in Tokyo. As a spot to current the form of artwork we worth, it feels very snug and really proper for us.”
One other newcomer this 12 months was House Un, a Tokyo gallery based in 2024 and devoted to up to date African artwork. The gallery partnered with Abuja-based Retro Africa, bringing works by Dzidefo Amegatsey, Serigne Mbaye Camara, Ugo Ahiakwo and Myles Igwebuike. Though no gross sales have been recorded on the opening day, director Naoki Nakatani emphasised the strategic significance of taking part:
“For us, it’s necessary to construct a presence in Japan—not simply in Tokyo. ACK is a superb platform as a result of it introduces our artists to audiences past Tokyo, particularly in western Japan.”
This 12 months, ACK’s dates overlap with Shanghai Artwork Week, the place ART021 and West Bund Artwork & Design each run from 13–16 November. “Regardless of the timing overlap, we’ve seen a powerful turnout from mainland Chinese language guests,” says Yukako Yamashita, ACK’s truthful director.
She notes that Asia’s more and more saturated art-fair calendar might require nearer coordination amongst cities: “It’s time to suppose extra broadly about how collectors can transfer effectively throughout Asia. We’re in good communication with our counterparts in Shanghai, and I consider we’ll have the ability to construct a cooperative relationship transferring ahead.”
Set up view, Isabella Ducrot, Incongruous, Kōseiin Temple Kyoto© Isabella Ducrot. Courtesy the Artist and Sadie Coles HQ, London. Picture:Mitsuru Wakabayashi
Yamashita additionally highlights a notable rise in guests from Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, notably Indonesia. In 2024, ACK launched a reciprocal VIP collector change with Artwork Jakarta, sending round ten collectors to one another’s festivals yearly.
This 12 months, ACK expanded its regional partnerships via a collaboration with the newly established Bangkok Kunsthalle to launch the Bangkok Collaborate Kyoto Fellowship (BCK Fellowship), aimed toward supporting rising artists.
For Yamashita, these initiatives mirror a broader philosophy: “An artwork truthful ought to serve not solely as a market, but in addition as a platform for cultural change. It’s about constructing real relationships over years and cultivating communities with care.”
On the identical time, she stresses that ACK’s identification should stay rooted in its location: “It’s important that the truthful maintains a transparent sense of why it takes place in Japan—and in Kyoto particularly. We need to supply experiences that may solely occur right here, via encounters with native galleries, Japanese artists, and Kyoto’s distinctive cultural setting. Supporting these native individuals is essential to our mission.”
Trying forward, Yamashita hopes ACK will develop into a long-term anchor within the area: “Our goal is to create a good that values this sense of locality, but turns into a well-known and anticipated fixture on the calendars of collectors throughout Asia—not out of obligation, however as a result of they genuinely take pleasure in being a part of it.”
