MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2026 brought contemporary art, music, fashion and design together in Tokyo’s Tennozu waterfront district, with a press preview held on October 9. The four-day festival, running through October 12, featured more than 150 artists, exhibitions, art fairs, live performances and a special New Balance exhibition showcasing the 990v7 ahead of its wider reveal.
Tokyo’s Tennozu area became a meeting point for contemporary art and popular culture as MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2026 opened on October 9. Centered around the warehouses and waterfront spaces of the Tennozu Canal area, the festival presented a broad view of Japan’s evolving creative scene, bringing together artists, curators, musicians and brands.
Now in its fifth edition, the multidisciplinary event continued to expand beyond the conventional gallery format, combining visual art with music, fashion, product design and public programming. Visitors could move between exhibitions, live performances, talks and creative markets throughout the festival.
Contemporary Art Meets Culture
A central highlight was “REFLUX: Signs Emerging,” an exhibition led by actor and artist Mirai Moriyama as artistic director, alongside curatorial contributors Yoshida and Kentaro Watanabe.
The exhibition explored reactions, reversals and intersecting currents emerging within an increasingly accelerated world. Its approach invited visitors to engage with sensations, subtle signals and impressions that can exist before they are fully expressed in words.
Presented at TERRADA Warehouse G1, the exhibition anchored the festival’s wider exploration of how contemporary art reflects changes in society, perception and everyday life.
The program also included two art fairs: MEET YOUR ARTISTS and CO-CROSSOVER – Romantic beyond us (earth). Together, they brought artists, galleries and curatorial perspectives into conversation, offering visitors opportunities to discover emerging practices and explore works spanning different media and themes.
CO-CROSSOVER examined the intersections between artistic expression, the body, technology and the natural environment. Featuring more than 70 participating groups across 17 exhibition projects, it created a platform for diverse creative communities to meet.
New Balance Presents the 990v7
One of the festival’s notable intersections of art, fashion and product design was the New Balance MADE IN U.S.A. exhibition, which explored the heritage and evolution of the brand’s iconic 990 running-shoe series.
The exhibition presented the 990 as more than a performance shoe, tracing its development through design, craftsmanship and cultural influence. The series has evolved over decades while maintaining its connection to New Balance’s manufacturing heritage and commitment to quality.
A major attraction was the New Balance 990v7, which received a world-first physical display at the exhibition ahead of its wider reveal. The unrevealed model offered visitors a rare opportunity to see the next generation of the celebrated 990 line in person. Photography and video recording of the 990v7 display were prohibited, including for members of the media.
The exhibition extended beyond footwear, bringing together creative practitioners from different disciplines. Japanese creative collective GOO CHOKI PAR contributed artwork inspired by the MADE IN U.S.A. philosophy, while musician Ayatake Ezaki composed music for the exhibition space. Fragrance creator Kan Izumi developed a scent specifically for the presentation, adding another sensory dimension to the experience.
The collaboration demonstrated how product design can become part of a broader creative conversation. By placing the 990 series within an art festival, New Balance connected its manufacturing history with contemporary visual expression, music and other forms of design.
The brand’s participation also extended into the festival’s wider program. New Balance Day, held on October 11 under the theme “ART & SPORTS,” featured running activities, recorded talk sessions involving athletes and artists, and live music performances. The program explored the relationship between physical movement, sport and creative expression.
Music and Live Performance
Music was another major component of MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2026. Rather than treating live entertainment as a separate attraction, the festival positioned performances alongside visual art and creative experimentation.
The floating waterfront venue T-LOTUS M hosted the live program, bringing musicians and DJs to the Tennozu Canal. Opening-day performers included ZEN-LA-ROCK, Tetsuya Komuro and artist Rintaro Fuse, who presented the live installation Solaris Tokyo: Tetsuya Komuro as a Living Archive, followed by OKAMOTO’S drummer and DJ Reiji Okamoto.
The combination of music, visual expression and the waterfront setting reflected the festival’s broader ambition: to create an environment where different forms of culture overlap and inspire new ways of experiencing art.
Further performances across the four-day program included Knxwledge, ☆Taku Takahashi, Wataru Eguchi and Vickeblanka, extending the festival’s appeal beyond traditional contemporary-art audiences.
Conversations Around Art
The festival also featured talk sessions and public recordings of the art-focused program MEET YOUR ART. Hosted by Moriyama and navigator Ai Koike, these sessions brought artists, curators and guests together to discuss creative practice and the relationship between art and society.
Scheduled discussions explored subjects ranging from contemporary interpretations of ukiyo-e prints to neuroscience and the relationship between art and the brain. Neuroscientist and artist Nobuko Nakano was among the featured speakers.
These discussions offered another entry point for visitors, connecting the artworks on display with broader questions about culture, human perception and the role of creativity in contemporary life.
A Festival Beyond the Gallery
Beyond exhibitions and performances, the festival expanded into the surrounding neighborhood through SUPER ART & CRAFT MARKET, featuring selected shops and creative businesses. Market areas along the waterfront and nearby pedestrian spaces helped bring the festival into everyday public life.
This mix of exhibitions, art fairs, live music, talks, fashion and product design reflects a growing interest in cultural events that allow audiences to move freely between creative disciplines.
By using Tennozu’s warehouses, canal-side spaces and waterfront venues, MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL created a setting in which contemporary art could be experienced as part of a wider urban cultural destination. The New Balance 990v7 exhibition was a particularly clear example of that approach, bringing a major footwear design story into conversation with art and creative culture.
With more than 150 artists represented across its programs, MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2026 demonstrated how multidisciplinary festivals can connect audiences with new artistic voices while encouraging exchange across cultural boundaries.
Official Links
- MEET YOUR ART FESTIVAL 2026: https://avex.jp/meetyourart/festival/
- Official festival ticket information: https://avex.jp/meetyourart/festival/tickets/
- New Balance Japan: https://store.newbalance.co.jp/
- New Balance exhibition information: https://www.avex.jp/meetyourart/festival/programs/detail.php?id=2469
To see more images, please visit: https://www.purpobandit.com/post/meet-your-art-festival-opens
