A Polish-led international joint cultural initiative has installed a mix of European and local galleries in unused office spaces in Tokyo’s Kyobashi neighborhood. Conceived as an antidote to the commercially driven international art fair model, Villa Tokyo opened to the public on Nov 11 and continues through Nov 18.
The spirit of the project is one of informal collaboration, with a total of 10 European galleries making the weeklong trip to Tokyo from cities ranging from Berlin and Cluj to Paris and Warsaw to present works by their artists alongside those of their Japanese peers. The exhibitions spread across a cluster of buildings just off Chuo Dori, with visitors following maps up and down narrow stairways and aging elevators to locate them. While the displays, installed by each gallery, cannot quite escape the aesthetic of the art fair booth, this dynamic experience of physical space, and the necessary site-responsiveness of the installations, evokes as well some of the more adventurous curatorial projects that have taken place under the rubric of the international biennale format. Additionally, there is a schedule of performances and talks, ranging from a portrait session by the musician and visual artist Ken Kagami to a raucous live set by the band Paristetris.
The event is spearheaded by Warsaw’s Raster Gallery, which launched the concept in 2006 with Villa Warsaw by inviting 10 European galleries to an abandoned villa in the city center. Villa Warsaw was followed in 2010 by Villa Reykjavik, which created a pop-up international art district in the Icelandic metropolis. A substantial amount of support for the project has come from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, while the young galleries association New Tokyo Contemporaries was integral to coordinating this year’s Tokyo edition. The seven-member strong association makes this the largest edition of the event yet, with a total of 19 participants.
Participating Galleries and Artists:
ArataniUrano, Tokyo – Takahiro Iwasaki
AoyamaMeguro, Tokyo – Koki Tanaka
Chert, Berlin – Kasia Fudakowski
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris – Elodie Seguin
IBID Projects, London – Anj Smith
Johann König, Berlin – Alicja Kwade
Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam – Jean-Baptiste Maitre
Misako & Rosen, Tokyo – Shimon Minamikawa
Mujin-to Production, Tokyo – ChimPom
Plan B, Cluj – Ciprian Muresan
Raster, Warsaw – Aneta Grzeszykowska
Stereo, Poznan – Piotr Bosacki
Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo – Yuki Kimura
Take Ninagawa, Tokyo – Soju Tao
Tanya Leighton, Berlin – Dan Rees
Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo – Kishio Suga
Yuka Sasahara, Tokyo – Mami Kosemura
Zero, Milan – Joâo Maria Gusmâo, Pedro Paiva
Zenshi, Tokyo – Masayoshi Hanawa