Art Busan and Tokyo Gendai have partnered on a project called Connect, bringing nine Korean and two Chinese galleries to the 2024 edition of Tokyo Gendai, held September 11-14 at Pacifico Yokohama. The initiative, supported by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS), also included a collaborative exhibition at Terrada Art Complex during Tennoz Art Week, featuring artists such as Kim Hongjoo, Lee Bae, and Kim Taek Sang. Fair directors Eri Takane and Seokho Jeong, alongside ArtSG director Shuyin Yang, participated in talks about expanding regional collaboration.
This partnership matters because it represents a structured effort to increase the international visibility of Korean contemporary art and foster sustainable cultural exchange among East Asian art markets. By coordinating fair participation and exhibition programming across borders, Connect models a new form of regional cooperation that could strengthen the global positioning of Asian galleries and artists. The involvement of government cultural agencies also signals institutional commitment to building long-term art-world infrastructure beyond individual fair editions.