Top exhibitions to see during Art Week Tokyo and Art Collaboration Kyoto

Institutional shows are among the highlights presented concurrently with art fairs in Japan. In this article, we are going to see what is worth visiting in terms of art in Tokyo and Kyoto, so if you are an art lover, read on!

As the country strives to regain global prominence, locally organized events are taking new approaches to attract international audiences. Art Week Tokyo and Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) return over the next two weeks, tailored specifically to local needs rather than just importing Western models.

Despite the friendly rivalry between Tokyo and Kyoto, the timing of the two events facilitates foreign visitors. ACK encourages Japanese galleries to partner with overseas galleries in shared booths. It moved its dates from mid-November last year to October 27-30, just before Art Week Tokyo's October 31-November 5 run. Art Week Tokyo, organized with Art Basel, repeats its successful gallery-shuttle formula on an expanded scale. It also debuts an online curated sales platform called AWT Focus.

However, besides the fair schedules, the two major events also mark the importance of rival institutional art shows. And the following exhibitions are truly a MUST SEE.

“Our Ecology: Toward a Planetary Living”, Mori Art Museum

For its 20th anniversary, this ambitious exhibition at the Tokyo Mori Art Museum features a stellar lineup of 34 local, national, and international artists. Showcasing around 100 historical and newly commissioned works over four chapters, it reflects ecological changes caused by humanity since the Industrial Revolution. Among the participating artists are Cecilia Vicuña based in Santiago and New York, Thai artist Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Berlin-based Monira Al Qadiri, and Martha Atienza who splits her time between the Netherlands and the Philippines.

“David Hockney”, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

David Hockney, 86, is internationally renowned, yet this eponymous exhibition marks the British painter's first museum show in Japan for 27 years. It features over 120 works, including iconic pieces from the UK and Los Angeles. Also on display are large-scale iPad works such as a 90-meter creation during Covid lockdown.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo holds 150 Hockney pieces and an ongoing relationship with the artist. This exhibition debuts his massive 2011 oil painting The Arrival of Spring, Woldgate, East Yorkshire in Asia, along with one of his latest self-portraits.

“Yukimasa Ida, Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art

Discovering emerging Japanese talent should be a goal for visitors to Japan this week. One must-see exhibition showcases Yukimasa Ida, born in 1990 in Tottori prefecture.

Even before graduating summa cum laude from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2019 with an oil painting masters, Ida won awards and made Forbes Japan’s “30 Under 30” list in 2018. He has since exhibited internationally, with solo shows at Mariane Ibrahim galleries in Chicago and Paris. Ida also had a 2022 solo exhibition at Museo Picasso Malaga in Spain.

“Mao Ishikawa: What Can I Do?”, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery

Born in 1953 in Okinawa's southernmost Ogimi Village, award-winning photographer Mao Ishikawa began practicing her art in the 1970s. She studied under Tomatsu Shomei at Workshop Photography School in 1974 and has since captured livelihoods in her hometown. Ishikawa's work resides in public collections like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It follows her successful 2021 exhibition at the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum.

While focusing on Ishikawa's ongoing "Great Ryukyu Photo Scroll" series from 2014, the show also features a rare chance to closely examine her early photographs crafted amid Okinawa's complex geopolitics.