Intersections
A curated exhibition that extends beyond the fair booths into a variety of surrounding spaces.
Leonhard Bartolomeus, a curator at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM), will curate this year’s ACK Intersections under the theme “Out of Bounds”, which calls for us to look beyond the societal and digital boundaries imposed upon us, and explore how art can break through the unspoken rules that flatten nuances and keep us polarized.
Curatorial theme “Out of Bounds”
What happens to human connection when our entire social landscape is governed by invisible rules, top-down controls, and enforced conformity?
Today, we live under a subtle but powerful network of technological and societal constraints that flattens our nuances, traps us in echo chambers, and polarizes our world. In response to these nuanced yet systematic restrictions on our freedom, Intersections 2026 presents “Out of Bounds.” This theme addresses the urgent need to look beyond the boundaries imposed upon us, exploring how art can break through the unspoken rules that keep us separated and scripted.
As society becomes increasingly governed by rigid social and commercial conventions, “Out of Bounds” creates an arena to interact beyond them. Here, art acts as a catalyst to dismantle these boundaries, with a core focus on elevating the audience experience. Through a journey of exploring the artworks—unfolding unexpected layers, textures, and moments of excitement—the program seeks to restore the spontaneous human connections that modern divisions push apart, paving a new path toward a shared and empathetic future.
Intersections 2026 presents alternative, non-traditional presentations that allow artists to occupy the venue in completely unexpected ways, using their work to carve out spaces of true creative autonomy.
Artists: Efrain Almeida, Piotrek Kowalski, Kris Lemsalu, Ernest Neto, Suzuki Shota, and others
Guest Curator: Leonhard Bartolomeus (Curator, Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM))
Dates and opening hours follow ACK.
Venue: ICC Kyoto Event Hall and the surrounding area
Artists
- Efrain Almeida
Ph: Eduardo Ortega. Courtesy Acervo Efrain Almeida and Fortes D'Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo / Rio de Janeiro.
- Piotrek Kowalski
photograph by Bartek Zalewski
- Kris Lemsalu
Courtesy of the artist and Margot Samel, NY
Photo: Matthew Sherman
- Ernest Neto
©︎ Ernesto Neto, Courtesy of Tomio Koyama Gallery
photo by Kenji Takahashi
- Suzuki Shota
Guest Curator
- Leonhard Bartolomeus
Leonhard Bartolomeus is a curator at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM). After graduating from Jakarta Institute of the Arts, he joined the art collective ruangrupa (and later became part of Gudskul Ekosistem). Working with ruangrupa, he developed an interest in the intersection between art, education, and community engagement, which influenced many of his curatorial projects. At YCAM, he extends this interest to include intersections with food, media, and biotechnology. His recent projects include Dance Floor as Study Room (2024, YCAM), PROJECT MRT: Natureless Solution (2025, YCAM), and Roppongi Crossing 2025 (2025, Mori Art Museum). Bartolomeus considers himself a generalist and always tries to learn new things through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and art projects that he participates in at various places.
