Special Programs

The “SGC Art Collection” is the result of a collaboration between contemporary artists and the pure gold craftmakers, SGC. For this edition, contemporary artist Miyanaga Aiko embarks on a journey to uncover the stories dormant within gold and observe the passage of time suspended between the past and the future. Starting from the notion that “the gold ring or watch that brings you comfort today may once have shone in someone else’s life,” she will embrace the history of gold—a material that neither rusts nor decays but continually changes form as it travels through time—to create works that endure through ever-changing colors and forms.

Artist: Miyanaga Aiko

Supervisor: Kaneshima Takahiro
Special Partner: SGC Co., Ltd.

Website: SGC Co., Ltd.

The Ladder Project is an initiative launched by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store to support and empower emerging artists as they develop new works and pursue international careers. For its 2026 edition, the project presents a new work by Mukai Eriko, whose practice explores the invisible structures embedded within social systems and industries through performances and installations.

Artist: Mukai Eriko

Project Management: Miki Akane and Kinjo Chiharu
Cooperation: Ladder Project 2026 Nomination Committee (Sumi Naoko, Tsutsumi Takuya, and Yabumae Tomoko)
Special Partner: Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co.,Ltd.

NEW STREAM is a special initiative that creates encounters with today’s young artists who are leading the next generation of the art scene, while helping to shape their future. Encounters with the landscapes, culture, and people of a region expand the range of artists’ expression. Through this initiative, launched with the support of JINTEC, artists are invited to Kyoto. By selecting works that are accessible as first acquisitions and setting aside ten percent of sales, the project builds a sustainable, cyclical support system. Serving as a point of convergence where artists broaden their inspiration and networks, the initiative will give rise to “new streams” here in Kyoto, bringing fresh perspectives to society.

Project Management: Twelve Inc.
Special Partner: JINTEC Corporation

Okazaki Ryunosuke’s sculptures, which utilize the malleable material of fabric, proliferate within space as one form gives rise to another and connections link together in succession. What exists there is not a fixed image, but the very state of continuous creation.
Fabric, with its inherent tension and texture, is pulled, sewn, and layered; through this repetition, form slowly emerges. Rather than tracing predetermined contours, they emerge from a balance that is maintained even as it shifts.
His sculptures do not presuppose completion; form does not precede intention but emerges later, within the lag of the hand’s movement. These sculptural groups, oscillating between the individual and the collective, continuously generate a single space and visualize the very process of form in flux.

Artists: Okazaki Ryunosuke

Planning: CCC ARTLAB
Cooperation: AKIINOUE
Special Partner: Takashimaya Company, Limited

Website:
KYOTO TAKASHIMAYA S.C.
CCC ARTLAB

Since the 1960s, contemporary jewelry has followed a unique course of development, departing from the material value and commercial nature of traditional jewelry. Characterized by a freedom of materials and techniques, and at times challenging conventional assumptions and values, contemporary jewelry has become a medium for expressing the inner worlds of both maker and wearer, questioning social values through the body.
This exhibition introduces the appeal of contemporary jewelry, highlighting works that emphasize concepts and distinctive forms of expression with close affinities to contemporary art.

Artists: Aoyama Satoru, Asai Miki, David Bielander, Lin Cheung, Simon Fujiwara, Junwon Jung, Kaguraoka Kumi, Kojima Takashi, Kobayashi Mari, Minewaki Mikiko, Mishima Itto, Mitamura Midori, Nakaba Shinji, Sasaki Fumie, Sato Hiroaki, Shimoonoda Kako, Taguchi Fumiki, Yamada Mizuko, and others

Exhibition Planning: Nishizawa Hiroko
Under the auspices of: Japan Jewellery Designers Association
Special Cooperation: Kondo Hitomi (C.A.J.) and Minewaki Mikiko (HOLE IN THE WALL)
Special Partner: KUWAYAMA CORPORATION

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jewelry_ack2026/

The Pommery Prize Kyoto is an award created to support the activities of young Kyoto-based artists, marking its fourth edition in 2026. Champagne Pommery, which has a history of innovation and pioneering spirit leading the times, will hold an award for young artists who will play a leading role in Kyoto’s art and culture. The works of three finalists will be exhibited in the VIP lounge of the venue.The artist selected for the grand prize will be invited to Reims, France, by Champagne Pommery.

Jury: Aoki Akira (Independent Curator), Uo Kana (Curator, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art), and Moroi Ken (CEO, Vranken Pommery Japan)

Organizer: Pommery Prize Kyoto
Program Advisor & Project Manager: Yazu Yoshitaka (Contemporary Artist, Owner of kumagusuku)
Official Champagne Partner: Champagne Pommery
Special Thanks: Air France

Website: Champagne Pommery