A total visitorship of 18,190 people over three days is nothing to shout about; the 2024 edition of Art SG attracted more than twice that, at 45,300 people. But galleries also pointed to the weaker yen and a more conservative collector base in Japan as contributing factors to lacklustre sales.
While visitors hailed from over 40 different countries and territories – up from 34 in 2023 – most were still Japanese primarily interested in Japanese art. Price points cited were also lower than those for art fairs elsewhere, translating into thinner profits for the 69 galleries that participated – final sales ranged from a few thousand US dollars to US$75,000 (S$1 million).
Already, organisers have decisively shifted the 2025 dates for Tokyo Gendai from July to September, pointing to the feedback from galleries that a July fair was too challenging for European and American galleries and collectors, who usually take a summer break after June’s Art Basel in Switzerland.
There is also the inconvenience of high Japanese summer temperatures.
“The new dates of Sept 12 to 14 will not only mean a more comfortable climate but also represent the launch of the autumn season, which has been traditionally associated in Japanese culture as a time of year to focus on cultural pursuits,” Tokyo Gendai said in a post-mortem statement.
Gallerists at Tokyo Gendai said there are definitely unique constraints with the Japanese market that are different from those elsewhere in Asia, including the more international and regional Art SG.
Mr Damian Han, manager of South Korean gallery Tang Contemporary Art, which took part in Tokyo Gendai and Art SG, said: “People are always telling me that Japanese collectors are interested only in Japanese artists, so it’s a bit hard for international galleries.”
He regularly meets collectors in Japan, but even the gallery’s hottest non-Japanese Asian artists, such as South Korean Woo Kukwon, were purchased by South Koreans living in Japan.
Ms Meng Yu, a gallery associate at Almine Rech, one of the few international blue-chip galleries at Tokyo Gendai, said Japanese collectors “do their homework” and typically take a much longer time to deliberate, something foreign galleries are still adapting to.
Success at an art fair requires galleries to have deep roots and connections with local collectors, which Almine Rech does not. It has galleries in Paris, Brussels, London, New York, Shanghai and Monaco, and its nearest sales representative is based in Hong Kong.