#art-fair

#art-fair

"It is important to come to an art fair in our region—not in Basel, not in New York—where the major regional galleries are showing."

"It is very, very bad," says Saleh Barakat, who runs his eponymous gallery in Beirut. "You have a million people who are sleeping on the streets or who are in precarious accommodation in schools. It is everywhere around you." This quote powerfully highlights the current crisis in Lebanon, reflecting the stark realities faced by many amidst the ongoing conflicts, revealing how external events overshadowed the fair's celebration of art.

"It's just been a few hours in [but] I think it's a great year so far, because it's more concise. You speak much more with the collectors and there's a personal interaction with everybody."

Kyoto's cultural ecosystem and the celebration, preservation and evolution of our city's cultural traditions are vital to the spirit of ACK, says Yukako Yamashita, the fair's programme director.

"Since its launch in 2022, the fair has focused on challenging the eurocentricity of the period by bringing marginalised voices of the recent past back into the conversation..."