
1. Editor’s Note: E-Issue 03
October 1st, 2021
Third time is a charm. I am beyond thrilled to present you with GAD’s latest E-Issue 03, dedicated to Tokyo.
A new academic year calls for a new Editorial Board, and this issue is a product of collective efforts from our new team of editors based in Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Beijing, and New York. We have decided to focus on the Japanese capital for this E-Issue, after the much-publicized Tokyo 2021 Olympics held earlier this summer. Masahide Matsuda’s Ripples installation graces our cover and provides a starting point to reflect on Tokyo’s art scene, from both local and global perspectives.
This E-Issue presents an ecclectic mix of interviews with artists, researchers and curators, as well as exhibition reviews in Tokyo. Many of them are close friends, whom I am honored to present you. Out of these articles, two major themes emerge: digital acceleration and the idea of archive. Both go hand-in-hand, and you will notice throughout this issue the need for artists and curators to archive their physical and digital projects as we emerge out of the pandemic. Closer to home, we are also featuring two initiatives born in the UAE – an online exhibition curated by Ruba Al-Sweel exploring digital art in the GCC and an in-depth interview with Professor Salwa Mikdadi on the opening of the new AlMawrid: Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYU Abu Dhabi.
As always, we thank our loyal GAD readers and supporters. From Abu Dhabi to Dubai, New York, and now Tokyo, we are expanding our global footprint with every E-Issue. Although our pace on social media might have slowed down this year, our team of editors is eager to keep publishing your contributions. We continue to welcome submissions via our Open Call, with special attention on our UAE readers and guest contributors.
A new academic year calls for a new Editorial Board, and this issue is a product of collective efforts from our new team of editors based in Abu Dhabi, Istanbul, Beijing, and New York. We have decided to focus on the Japanese capital for this E-Issue, after the much-publicized Tokyo 2021 Olympics held earlier this summer. Masahide Matsuda’s Ripples installation graces our cover and provides a starting point to reflect on Tokyo’s art scene, from both local and global perspectives.
This E-Issue presents an ecclectic mix of interviews with artists, researchers and curators, as well as exhibition reviews in Tokyo. Many of them are close friends, whom I am honored to present you. Out of these articles, two major themes emerge: digital acceleration and the idea of archive. Both go hand-in-hand, and you will notice throughout this issue the need for artists and curators to archive their physical and digital projects as we emerge out of the pandemic. Closer to home, we are also featuring two initiatives born in the UAE – an online exhibition curated by Ruba Al-Sweel exploring digital art in the GCC and an in-depth interview with Professor Salwa Mikdadi on the opening of the new AlMawrid: Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYU Abu Dhabi.
As always, we thank our loyal GAD readers and supporters. From Abu Dhabi to Dubai, New York, and now Tokyo, we are expanding our global footprint with every E-Issue. Although our pace on social media might have slowed down this year, our team of editors is eager to keep publishing your contributions. We continue to welcome submissions via our Open Call, with special attention on our UAE readers and guest contributors.
We start as usual with ‘What’s On in TYO’, a compilation of notable recent exhibitions held in Tokyo. We then turn to our recurring Pop(Corn) section, featuring Tokyo-based Chinese artist Nimyu. Interviewed by Sherry Wu, Nimyu reflects on her art practice and gives advice to artists wishing to make Tokyo their homebase. The interview is followed by another insightful interview with French-Syrian artist Bady Dalloul, who just premiered an extraordinary film called Ahmad The Japanese after an 8-months residency in Kyoto and Tokyo. As he is heading to Dubai soon, this interview will hopefully provide our UAE readers a glimpse into his transcultural practice. We then move to our Rapport on Tokyo’s art scene, followed by another interview with curator Alexandre Taalba about his recent exhibition “The Virtual Concreteness” at The 5th Floor, one of Tokyo’s most exciting contemporary art spaces. Akimi Ota writes a wonderful review of “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”, an exhibition questioning extreme climates and the anthropocene by artist and curator duo Seiha Kurosawa and Yoichi Kamimura. I interview Ruba Al-Sweel about “Garden of e-arthly Delights”, an online exhibition she curated at SUMAC Space, and finally, Nada Ammagui interviews Professor Salwa Mikdadi resulting in a critical and deeply personal reflection of the opening of the Arab Center for the Study of Art, a landmark archive institution for Modern and Contemporary Art from the Arab World.
As always, stay tuned for this living document and the E-Issue 03++ articles to follow. And make sure to follow us on @globalartdaily for more updates.
On behalf of GAD’s Editorial Board, I hope you enjoy reading E-Issue 03!
And as always: stay curious, stay global.
Sophie Arni
Founder, Editor-in-Chief
As always, stay tuned for this living document and the E-Issue 03++ articles to follow. And make sure to follow us on @globalartdaily for more updates.
On behalf of GAD’s Editorial Board, I hope you enjoy reading E-Issue 03!
And as always: stay curious, stay global.
Sophie Arni
Founder, Editor-in-Chief

1. GAD E-Issue 03, TYO, Fall 2021. Cover Image: Masahide Matsuda, Ripples, 2021. Courtesy of the artist.

4. Ahmad The Japanese: Bady Dalloul in Conversation with Sophie Arni and Insun Woo Image: Bady Dalloul, Ahmad The Japanese, 2021. Still. Courtesy of the artist.

5. Rapport: TYO, by Global Art Daily Editorial Board Image: HB.Nezu 2021, Photo: Akimi Ota

7. Imagining Distant Ecologies in Hypersonic Tokyo: A Review of “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”, by Akimi Ota Image: Yoichi Kamimura and Seiha Kurosawa, Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones, 2021. ©Yoichi Kamimura + Seiha Kurosawa. Photo by Hyoue Ishida. Courtesy of the artists.