BnA Alter Museum

AN ART MUSEUM YOU CAN STAY IN

“Often characterized as “art museum you can stay in,” the BnA Alter Museum hotel in Kyoto offers 31 permanent art pieces in which you can spend the night in. With such a unique and refreshing hotel experience in Japan, it often overshadows the fact that BnA makes art sustainable for Japanese artists.

A sustainable business that translates into sustainable art

The Japanese art scene has a few unique obstacles. Firstly, there isn’t a strong buy-and-display culture for artwork. Revenue for Japanese artists through this method is thus restricted. Another obstacle would be the limited exposure available to Japanese artists. High competitiveness and limited galleries mean that Japanese artists have to vie for space against international artists. These are some reasons why it is difficult for contemporary artists to make a living in Japan, even though they are talented.

Therefore, BnA Alter Museum was the ideal solution to tackle these obstacles. BnA invited Japanese artists to design the rooms of the hotel. Whenever a guest stays in the room, a portion of sales goes to the respective artist. This creates a continuous stream of income for Japanese artists. BnA also has two other hotels with similar business models, BnA HOTEL Koenji and BnA STUDIO Akihabara.

Selecting contemporary art leaders of various creative communities

BnA looked at different creative communities in Japan, and identified artists that are the most representative. In a way, BnA curates the top contemporary Japanese artists we should all be paying close attention to. However, they don’t curate the works.

“These artists were also selected for their imagination and capability to visualize 3-dimensional art spaces, since this is not the traditional piece of canvas. We gave freedom to the artists and art directors to create a hotel experience through their own expressions,” shared CEO and founder Yu Tazawa. “We wanted this to be their masterpiece. Materializing the art was also a big collaboration project, because it involved not only the artists, but also specialists like electricians and carpenters.”

The hotel acts as a platform filled with serendipity

An awesome business supporting the income of the artists is just the crust of the goodness. At the creamy center lies an ecosystem that connects people, in particular artists.

“This is really a platform for Japanese artists, to allow them to connect to the world,” shared Tazawa. “We have a lot of guests who are artists themselves. Many come from the U.S., the U.K. and other European countries. So these are excellent opportunities for networking for both sides.”

A Kyoto hotel for art and social good

So, if you are looking for a place to stay in Kyoto while doing some good, consider staying at BnA Alter Museum. “There are a lot of photos of BnA online, but photos can only say so much. Unlike visiting the museum and viewing an art piece, you are interacting with the art in BnA Alter Museum,” encouraged Tazawa. “You are spending a personal 24 hours with the art. Your emotional state at certain times and different moods of morning and evenings offer will affect your interaction. Your experience with the art will constantly change.”

Link here to read more about BnA Alter Museum.

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(updated 28 July)