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WEEKENDERS Hong Kong 2026
Hours: Monday, 23 March: 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
WEEKENDERS
Artists:
Ryo Kikuchi and Souya Handa
Layla Yamamoto (Invited Artist)
March 23 - 28, 2026
Opening Reception: 6pm - 8pm, MArch 24
Hours: Monday, 23 March: 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tuesday, 24 March – Friday, 27 March: 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Saturday, 28 March: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Venue: Sanaio Gallery HK (Wilson House, 19-27 Wyndham St, Central)
Souya Handa Projects is pleased to announce its participation in Weekenders, a "suitcase art fair" held in conjunction with Hong Kong Art Week from March 23 to March 28, 2026. Our booth will feature artworks by Ryo Kikuchi and Souya Handa. Souya Handa also serves as the artistic director for the fair.
Through the works of Kikuchi and Handa, our presentation reconsiders the essence of media. As we look through flat, transparent glass plates to access images and information, the existence of the medium itself often fades into the unconscious. Although we feel a sense of direct access to information, we cannot avoid the inherent biases introduced by media, realizing that it is intangible, formless, and ephemeral. In other words, there is no absolute essence that is universally shared or that transcends time.
We invite you to experience the philosophical journey behind the shiny surfaces of the presented artworks.
We are also honored to present works by Layla Yamamoto, an invited artist of the fair. In her series I hate flowers, Yamamoto converges imagery from shoujo (young girl) anime with floral motifs inspired by the works of Georgia O’Keeffe. Through this juxtaposition, the artist challenges the traditional canon that objectifies women, instead reframing anime within a context of feminist and queer empowerment.
We invite you to experience this new horizon of anime representation and explore its potential for subversion and strength.
Images for Reference
Ryo Kikuchi (b. 1991, Aomori) is a painter holding a Ph.D. in Art and Design. His practice explores the transience, inaccessibility, and phenomenality of objects. In works such as his "void" series, Kikuchi employs visual effects that alter the painting's appearance depending on the viewer's vantage point.
Recent solo exhibitions include "Soft Essence" (EUKARYOTE, Tokyo, 2025), "The Outline of Being, The Being of Outlines" (MEDEL GALLERY SHU NISEKO, Hokkaido, 2024), "unreachable" (GALLERY MERROW, Tokyo, 2023), and "parousia" (EUKARYOTE, Tokyo, 2023). He also recently participated in the group exhibition "EUKARYOTE GROUP SHOW 2025" (EUKARYOTE, Tokyo, 2025).
Souya Handa (b. 1994) is an artist and independent curator who grew up in Hiroshima. His projects explore the relationship between technology and social ethics, as well as issues surrounding Asian and Japanese identity. He holds an MFA from Tokyo University of the Arts and an MASc from the University of Tokyo, where he researched 1980s Japanese video art. He was a 2024 New York Fellowship grantee of the Asian Cultural Council.
Recent solo exhibitions include "Artificial Peace" (Nguyen Wahed Gallery, New York, 2026). Recent curatorial projects include the traveling exhibition "Take it Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error." (Hiroshima, Tokyo, New York, and New Jersey, 2023–2025).
Layla Yamamoto (b. 1995, Tokyo) is an artist whose practice explores Japan's sociopolitical landscape, reflecting feminist and postcolonial perspectives. Her works examine Japan's nuclear power history and systemic sexual violence in the postwar period, and offer reinterpretations of anime and manga culture through feminist and queer lenses. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Recent solo exhibitions include "After the Quake" (Souya Handa Projects, Tokyo, 2021). Recent group and two-person exhibitions include "Whose Desire?" (NIOAA GALLERY TOKYO, organized by WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, 2026), "In the beginning, Womankind was the sun - Weren't we?" (Kotaro Nukaga Three, Tokyo, 2025), and "Take it Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error. [Manhattan Project]" (apexart, New York, 2025).
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