CONCEPT
I want to be the first person creators reach out.
Every time I hope so, I came into contact with products made by creators
with great talent when I was a buyer in my previous job.
In order to do that, I learned and spent time with them.
Also I went to various ateliers and factories, and fabric mills to find out
their creative backgrounds.
I really respect people who make things.
I am deeply moved by their attitude when they want to be original and authentic.
And they keep fighting alone for that aim.
I changed my position after my becoming independent and came to work with a designer in making things. And I can better understand their thinking process.
Designers are still working today.
They are thinking about artwork that has not seen yet at this moment.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, I was at home and thinking about a few things frequently, just like the rest of the world.
I faced the reality that the virus muted and the changed the world accordingly.
Also I reconsidered same values and their importance to people before and after the pandemic.
How do we connect to people through artwork?
We have to find the way to tell people the message within our products under the risk of infection.
We were running around in circles, and started a new project as an online gallery named ‘galerie a’.
I’d like to introduce to you the talented creators I think are wonderful, those who are in Japan and make products by hands. [Because people’s behavior is restricted everywhere.]
Although it is an online gallery, I will actually display the artwork in my gallery, so you can see the art pieces in their specific settings.
I believe that there is an atmosphere that only physical space can express and you can get that information that can only be experienced from that space even though it’s an online gallery.
Each exhibition is for a short time but I will make you an opportunity where you can actually see the items at my gallery on the opening day[open my gallery].
In contrast, we introduce to you something that is not only visual images online, but we also attempt to present to you deeper information that we believe only a digital space can provide. We also aim to show our different expressions in many different ways.
DIRECTOR
- NOBUHIKO AKIYOSHI
- Nobuhiko Akiyoshi was born in Fukuoka in 1979.
He started his career at a local select shop in his hometown.
It started out from buying products. As a buyer, he also started going to Florence, Milan, and Paris for their fashion weeks since 2000.
His visiting the exhibitions left him with many experiences.
In his previous job, also he visited domestic and international designer ateliers, production factories, and textile mills to learn about their creative backgrounds. Also, he made every effort to convey their manufacturing stories to the members of the store and other customers who would come by.
After a 13-year career in his previous job, Mr. Akiyoshi (started his own company) as a freelance hall sales agent under the name ‘Le Berger’, which is French for shepherd.
He worked as a sales director in each contract area with creators both of domestic and foreign.
He participated in many manufacturing projects as a member of the design team, and also had been involved in directing the entire brand’s business. He established a relationship that goes beyond the role of brand whole sales.
In 2019, apart from Le Berger, he established Herd Inc. as a distributor (import agency) for domestic and foreign designers in the Japanese market.
In 2020, he launched “galerie a” a project to introduce wonderful creators to the world in new ways, in the age of a COVID-19 world.