July 2008, Whitehot Magazine's Meg Kaizu interviews Julia Barnes, the founder of 101TOKYO Contemporary Art Fair

Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Whitehot Magazine interviews Julia Barnes, the founder of 101TOKYO Contemporary Art Fair, to learn about the creation of the new art fair.

Meg Kaizu: Can you tell us about how you got the idea of having the 101?
Julia Barnes: After attending Art Fair Tokyo opening last year, I felt Tokyo was in need of a stimulating all contemporary International art fair.
Meg: What did you think about the fair?
Julia: It serves a purpose. Though I was surprised that somebody hadn’t made an all contemporary fair during the same time as the Art Fair Tokyo.
Meg: Like a satellite art fair?
Julia: No, a contemporary art fair.


Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Meg: How was the recruiting process? Did you know these people before?
Julia: I invited Kosuke Fujita the co-founder of Tokyo Art Beat to join me and I met Agatha Wara at Nakaochiai Gallery. Agatha hired the other members of the team.
Meg: How did all of you collaborate through difficult times?
Julia: What difficult times? (Laughs)
Meg: How did you find these Japanese galleries?
Julia: We were door-to-door sales people.
Meg: Was it hard for you doing it in a different country?
Julia: Yes and no.


Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Meg: I guess the whole process is different because you are creating an art fair from scratch, not trying to fit into some existing system.
Julia: Yes, you are right. The point of this new fair is to challenge the standards of art fairs in Japan. We worked with a young Japanese architectural firm who designed an unconventional booth layout -- we needed to be space effective. The fair was international - half Japanese and half international. We also combined `happenings`, performances and hosted lots of parties and events for the attendees. We all had a good time and it was very exciting for Tokyo. Other fairs in Tokyo are typically from 11am-7pm and no much happens after that but I believe a fair should be much more than office hours, that’s not really what art fair is about.


Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Meg: It should be more interactive…
Julia: Yes! Happenings, parties, events, dinner parties and VIP parties to create excitement. People buy art and want to talk about it. Our International guests need to be shown a good time! A good art fair should excite, challenge and stimulate. .
Meg: How was the response from the participants from overseas?
Julia: We had lots of press and there were very many articles. Some of the galleries did well especially those showing Japanese artists.
Meg: What did they think about Japan and the art scene here? I am curious to know how they responded to the art scene and audience in Japan.
Julia: Most of the galleries had never been to Japan before. A few gallerist`s came with mixed ideas and were surprised at the small scale of the market here. The galleries realize this is Tokyo, not Basel and trillions of yen is not going through the art market just yet. We hope they enjoyed the fair, made contacts and will be back again next year. Bill from ATM Gallery, New York left the fair shouting “I love 101TOKYO – Ill be back next year”.


Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Meg: Is there anything you liked in particular in the process of creating this art fair?
Julia: That we were able to give Tokyo a very special gift.
Meg: What are your future goals?
Julia: To become one of the most stimulating and exciting art events in the Asia /Pacific region and put Tokyo on the International art map as a destination for meaningful contemporary art. I hope that we can create a system where everyone gets involved in supporting this type of event. For example, mostly collectors fund The Zoo Contemporary art fair in London. It would be fantastic to work with more individuals, companies and organisations here that recognize the benefits of having such an art event and support it.


Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Meg: Do you think it is difficult to start something like 101 in Japan because of the fundraising system?
Julia: Yes, absolutely. But not impossible. From what I can see, with an outsider’s viewpoint, let’s say, in London, art collectors’ support funding art fairs, as they understand the cycle happening like in any industry. It keeps them happy, they can see their favourite galleries and buy fantastic artworks by their favorite artists without having to leave the city. Galleries and artists are happy and there is a holistic approach to the arts. However that system is tricky in Japan where the entire scene is reliant on just a small handful of people. It is also an issue the government doesn’t entirely support contemporary art nor do corporations. As for Korea and other countries, it is compulsorily for companies to spend 1% of their annual budget on art. Imagine SONY, Mitsubishi and Toyota spending 1% of their budgets. That’s millions of millions of yen and lots of support for the artists. The whole system boils down to a few individuals in Japan. I’ve done a few different initiatives to support the art scene here in Tokyo. The responsibilities are just not spread out well among those whom have the means of supporting.


Image courtesy of Sebastian Mayer, AEIOU

Meg: Finally, how do you see the success of this event?
Julia: The success was that we were able to pull off an event that was recognised Internationally, we recruited domestic and International galleries, 5000 people came to see it, the galleries sold 1 million dollars of artworks and most of us had a great time. And we are now planning our second appearance for the same time in 2009!
Meg: Wow, that’s a lot of accomplishments! I would like to thank you for sharing your story with Whitehot Magazine. I really enjoyed learning about Tokyo’s contemporary art scene through the creation of the 101 Tokyo.