Art Fair Beppu Spring
30 Jan 2027 – 01 Feb 2027
At various locations throughout central Beppu City
From the organizer:
The Mixed Bathing World Executive Committee (Beppu, Oita) is pleased to announce this year’s edition of the art fair, set once again in Beppu, the world-renowned hot spring town drawing visitors from Japan and around the globe.
Since its debut in 2023, Art Fair Beppu has been known and loved as an art fair where artists are present throughout the event, selling their work through direct dialogue with visitors. In 2027, while carrying forward what has defined the fair from day one, Art Fair Beppu enters a new phase.
Beginning with this edition, Art Fair Beppu will invite not only artists based in Japan but also those working across Asia. The fair will also transition to a multi-director structure, welcoming a team of rising directors active both in Japan and abroad. In addition, it will evolve into a “walk-through-the-town” city-wide experience, with venues scattered across central Beppu, inviting visitors to savor both the city’s unique charm and contemporary art scene.
Under its new name, Art Fair Beppu Spring, the fair aims to become a platform deeply connected to the local community, bringing together an ever more diverse range of people.
We invite you to follow along as Art Fair Beppu Spring strives to grow, evolve, and embark on its next chapter, emerging as an art fair unlike any other—one truly unique to Beppu.
Message from the Organizing Committee
Since its launch in 2023, Art Fair Beppu has distinguished itself as an artist-on-site experience, where participating artists sell their work through direct conversations with visitors. Over its first three editions, the fair has featured a total of 179 artists and artist groups, fostering countless encounters and dialogue.
As the fair has grown with each edition, we have recognized that attracting an even wider audience from across Japan and abroad requires strengthening its distinct identity: an art fair that could exist only here in Beppu.
Through initiatives such as international art festivals and artist-in-residence programs, the Executive Committee has laid the groundwork for connecting diverse people and cultures, encouraging international exchange and local collaborations.
In Beppu, rain that falls in the surrounding mountains gradually seeps deep underground, before, roughly fifty years later, emerging again as hot spring water. We see in this passage of time, inherent to this land, a reflection of the nature of culture itself.
An artist’s practice is not defined by artworks alone. Multifaceted relationships are nurtured over time through encounters with people, engagement with the local community, and networks with cultural institutions, through which new forms of creativity emerge.
In recent years, Beppu has expanded its networks across Asia and beyond, and an environment is taking shape in which diverse people gather, giving rise to new forms of exchange and collaboration. Furthermore, the city’s hot spring culture, deeply embedded in daily life, its historic prewar streetscapes, and, more recently, the growing number of artist- and creator-led spaces have together shaped a cultural landscape unique to Beppu.
Against this backdrop, starting with this edition, Art Fair Beppu will be reintroduced as Art Fair Beppu Spring, entering into a new phase. Our aim is to nurture not merely a marketplace for artworks, but a cultural ecosystem that brings together artists, collectors, curators, local communities, residents, and cultural institutions, where new forms of creativity continue to emerge. By building a cycle in which the people, cultures, and ideas that gather in Beppu lead to new initiatives in their respective regions, we seek to establish Beppu as a hub for cultural exchange in Asia and a meeting point for creativity.
We hope you continue to join us and follow the journey of Art Fair Beppu Spring.
Toward the Next Phase: Five New Initiatives for Art Fair Beppu Spring
Art Fair Beppu Spring carries forward what has defined the fair since the start: artists present on-site, engaging in direct dialogue with visitors. Building on this foundation, the fair enters a new phase in pursuit of an art fair unique to Beppu. To realize this vision, Art Fair Beppu Spring will launch five key initiatives:
Inviting artists based in Japan and across Asia, drawing on regional networks
In recent years, Beppu’s network with art spaces and cultural institutions across Asia has grown through artist-in-residence programs and other initiatives. Art Fair Beppu Spring will draw on this expanding network to invite artists based throughout Asia, alongside those in Japan. By deepening ties with cultural institutions in these regions, the fair aims to position Beppu as a hub for exchange within the broader Asian art network.
Transitioning to a co-directorship to bring together diverse perspectives from Japan and abroad
For Art Fair Beppu Spring, the fair shifts to a co-directorship, planning and delivering the event in partnership with directors engaged in diverse practices both in Japan and abroad. From artist selection to artworks to exhibition design, each director will draw on their unique expertise and networks, fostering a more creatively ambitious fair where diverse perspectives come together.
See page 5 for director profiles.
Expanding into a city-wide, walkable fair offering an art experience unique to Beppu
Beppu holds a wealth of cultural resources, from historic buildings and narrow back alleys to the contemporary art spaces that have emerged in recent years. Art Fair Beppu Spring will unfold across multiple venues in central Beppu, and by collaborating with concurrent local art events and walking tours, the fair will offer a city-wide experience, inviting visitors to take in not only the artworks but also the unique qualities of the town itself.
Partnering with local businesses to deepen the Beppu experience
The fair will partner with local restaurants, hot springs, and accommodations, featuring limited-time menus, admission tickets bundled with hot-spring passes, and accommodation packages. With art as a gateway, visitors are invited to enjoy Beppu’s food, hot springs, and streets alike, creating a memorable stay that inspires them to return.
Introducing a multi-year participation program to nurture lasting relationships with artists
Art Fair Beppu Spring values more than just the presentation and sale of art; it is dedicated to offering artists the opportunity to build lasting ties with the city. To support this, Art Fair Beppu Spring will introduce a new multi-year participation program that enables selected artists to participate across multiple editions, supporting their ongoing dialogue and artistic practice. As artists deepen their engagement with Beppu and its people through continued work, the fair aims to support the creation of works and projects that could only emerge here, and to see them grow into new activities and exchanges.
From Art Fair Beppu to Art Fair Beppu Spring
Entering this new phase, Art Fair Beppu will officially be renamed Art Fair Beppu Spring, beginning with this year’s edition.
The word “spring” carries a rich tapestry of meanings: it refers to spring as the hot springs, a place of open encounter that defines our host city of Beppu; spring as a source from which talent and ideas flow forth; spring as the season of new encounters and blooming possibilities; and spring as the notion of leaping forward.
Through this fair, we aim to create a place where artists and diverse visitors meet, sparking opportunities that extend far beyond the artworks, from new projects to international networks. It is our hope that the experience gained here will help expand artists’ horizons, serving as a vital springboard toward their next stage.
The new name, Art Fair Beppu Spring, was chosen with a strong intention: to bring together in a single title two key concepts—the hot springs that people around the world associate with Beppu, and the art fair itself—and in doing so, to generate new cycles of exchange and growth.
Open Call for Exhibiting Artists
This year’s fair will once again hold an open call for exhibiting artists. The application period will run from Tuesday, July 28 to Friday, August 21, 2026. Full details, including eligibility requirements, will be announced on the official website and official social media channels.
Director Profiles
The following four directors will jointly oversee the direction of Art Fair Beppu Spring, working in ongoing dialogue with the artists throughout the process, from artist selection to the works presented.
TSUTSUMI Takuya
Co-Program Director, Yamanaka Suplex / Program Director, ICA Kyoto
Born in 1987, Tsutsumi is based in the Kansai region. He completed a master’s degree in Cultural Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland, in 2019. Beyond the curatorial work for exhibitions, his practice extends to the creation of one-off, performative experiences, while maintaining a particular interest in non-institutional art practices, mainly across Asia. His notable directorial and curatorial projects include Share-Meeting 3: The Art Born From Earthquakes, Thunder, Fires, Fathers, and Pathogens (2026, Malaysia); KYOTO EXPERIMENT 2024/2025: Echoes Now (Kyoto); the exhibition SSS: Super Spectrum Specification at MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2024 (Tokyo); Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel: Charting the Contours of Time (2023, Kyoto); Takuya Yamashita’s solo exhibition Hope Embedded in Darkness: Bear, Munch, Cheeseburger, and Others (2023, Taipei); Takehiro Iikawa’s exhibition Decorator Crab: Measuring the Future, Pulling Time (2023, Kagoshima); Aichi Triennale 2022 (Aichi); and the drive-in exhibition The Analogical Mirrors (2020, Shiga). Tsutsumi has served as Program Director of Yamanaka Suplex since 2018 (Co-Program Director since 2024). Since 2025, he has also been Program Director at ICA Kyoto and an Associate Professor at Kyoto University of the Arts.
Nguyễn Tú Hằng
Director, Hanoi Grapevine
Nguyễn Tú Hằng is the Founder of Artist-in-Residence Vietnam Network (AiRViNe), dedicated to research on cultural mobility and residency programs, and Director at Hanoi Grapevine, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the artists’ ecosystem. Nguyễn Tú Hằng holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Management from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and a Master’s in International Business and East Asia Studies from Sogang University (South Korea). From 2020 to 2023, she served as the Curator of Education at Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA). In 2023, she co-founded ddur.production—an open collective providing specialized assistance for exhibition projects. In 2024, Hằng received the Special Award for The Professional Exchange Program 2024 SEA Art and Cultural Practitioners from Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation (Taiwan), and a Fellowship for Conservation Treatment of Tangible Cultural Heritage from the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage (South Korea). In 2025, Hằng received the Japan Foundation Fellowship for Arts and Culture in Asia (Visual Arts).
NAKAMURA Kyoko
Representative Director,, BEPPU PROJECT
Nakamura, born in Fukuoka in 1979, is currently based in Beppu, Oita. After working for a trading company, she transitioned into the arts sector in 2005, joining an arts NPO that managed small theater venues in Fukuoka. Following her participation in an arts management training program at the Setagaya Public Theatre in 2007, she became a project coordinator for the Fukuoka City Foundation for Arts and Cultural Promotion in 2008, primarily overseeing performing arts initiatives. In 2013, Nakamura began working independently as a freelance producer and coordinator on projects across Japan, including serving as coordinator for the Korea-Japan Co-Production Program (2013–2015) in Fukuoka City and for the performing arts section of Mixed Bathing World (2015). In April 2017, she joined NPO BEPPU PROJECT and oversaw Kitsuki City’s leading initiatives for projects such as CREATIVE PLATFORM OITA and the 33rd National Cultural Festival, Oita 2018. After serving as Secretary-General from April 2020, Nakamura became Representative Director in April 2022 and has helped shape the direction of Art Fair Beppu since its launch in 2023.
IEIRI Kensei
Director, BEPPU PROJECT
Born in Kumamoto in 1987, Ieiri is a graduate of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. While still a student, he joined BEPPU PROJECT, where he was involved in the operations of the international art festival Mixed Bathing World (2009, 2012) and artist-in-residence programs. From 2013, he served as a curator at Arts Maebashi, where he developed community-based projects and residencies. During this time, he also co-founded and managed Maebashi Works, an integrated art space comprising housing, studio, and gallery functions in collaboration with artists. Since becoming Director at BEPPU PROJECT in 2018, Ieiri has overseen exhibitions including Tetsuya Umeda in BEPPU: 0 Tai (2020), and Chiharu Shiota: Circulating Memories (2022). He has also been involved in artist-in-residence programs, initiatives that support artists in relocating to and building long-term practices in Beppu, and projects converting vacant houses into artist studios. In 2023, he co-founded Art & Garden Nekoze, an alternative space with a garden, which he continues to manage with fellow members. Through the planning and management of exhibitions, residencies, and art fairs, Ieiri works to build an environment for artistic practice in regional communities while establishing cultural and artistic platforms that connect local communities within Japan and with the wider world.
Overview
Event: Art Fair Beppu Spring 2027
Dates: Saturday, January 30 – Monday, February 1, 2027
Hours: 11:00 – 17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Venue: Various locations across central Beppu City
Admission: Early Bird ¥1,500 / Advance ¥2,000 / Standard ¥2,500
– Sales scheduled to begin in November 2026
– Free admission for ages 15 and younger
– Complimentary invitation tickets (“AFB Mira-Chike”) to be distributed to high school and university students
– Various ticket options to be available, including tickets bundled with a bath voucher for Beppu City Municipal Hot Springs
Organizer: Mixed Bathing World Executive Committee
Management Office: NPO BEPPU PROJECT
Grant: Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, Fiscal Year 2026
Directors:
– TSUTSUMI Takuya (Co-Program Director, Yamanaka Suplex / Program Director, ICA Kyoto)
– Nguyễn Tú Hằng (Director, Hanoi Grapevine)
– NAKAMURA Kyoko (Representative Director, BEPPU PROJECT)
– IEIRI Kensei (Director, BEPPU PROJECT)
Design: INOSHITA Yu (INOSHITA DESIGN)
Food & Shop Relations: FUKAGAWA Kenzo (AKANEKO)
PR: ICHIKAWA Yasuko (Iroiro inc.)
KUMANO Yutaka (Iroiro inc.)
Production and Management: ANDO Yukihiro (TENIMAME Art Management)
FUKUDA Naoko (Kureai)
