Champions
Senior members of the network in each city. They identify, introduce, advise and host. They are trusted for their taste and their relationships, not for selling.
Orchid Way Collective is not simply a gallery, not simply an art fair, and not simply an online marketplace. It is a trusted network that connects Asian artists with collectors, curators, cultural institutions and private hosts, through intimate exhibitions and lasting relationships.
We do not need a gallery in every city. We need extraordinary people in every city: the ones who know which artist nobody outside their city has seen yet, and who can open the right door to show that work well.
How a discovery travels
Discover
A Spotter or Champion finds the artist
Curate
A curator gives the work its story
Present
A host offers a remarkable setting
Connect
Collectors and institutions meet the artist
Collect
Works find lasting homes
Repeat
New voices join the network
Each exhibition brings new collectors, hosts and Champions into the circle, and each of them brings new artists. The network grows because good work travels through trusted people.
Who we work with
Spotters
The scouts. Young curators, professors, gallery staff, architects, designers, photographers and collectors who tell us what the wider world is missing.
Curators
The people who turn a discovery into an exhibition: why this artist, why now, and how the work connects to history and place.
Hosts
Collectors, hotels, members clubs, foundations, design houses and private estates who open remarkable spaces for an evening of Asian art.
Collectors and patrons
The people who acquire, commission, introduce and support. Our best collectors often become hosts and Champions in turn.
Institutional partners
Museums, universities, foundations, galleries and cultural organizations that give the network depth, scholarship and reach.
What makes a Champion
We look for people who are early rather than famous. The ideal Champion can reach artists, collectors, institutions and venues within two introductions, and says, without hesitation, "I will call three people tonight."
Discovery
Finds artists before they become established.
Network
Knows collectors, curators and cultural leaders.
Taste
Has shown real artistic judgement over time.
Trust
Artists and collectors listen when they speak.
Access
Can open doors to private spaces and events.
Cross-border
Understands Asian art beyond a single country, and the Western institutions around it.
The private exhibition
Every Orchid Way exhibition shares the same shape. It is small by design, so that people actually meet each other and the work.
The artist
One to five artists, chosen with care.
The story
A serious curatorial thesis, often drawn from our Paths.
The place
A garden, residence, townhouse or cultural space that becomes part of the work.
The audience
Thirty to one hundred invited guests: collectors, curators, patrons and friends of the artist.
The experience
Food, music, architecture, objects and conversation, with a short talk from a historian or curator.
The record
Photography, film and writing, so that each exhibition lives on after the evening.
An evening in Tokyo
A Champion introduces us to a young ceramic artist whose work has never been shown outside Japan. We study the work and its lineage. A private collector offers a garden residence. The Collective produces An Evening of Contemporary Japanese Ceramics: forty guests, a handful of serious collectors, two curators, the artist, Japanese tea and a fifteen minute talk on the tradition behind the work. Afterward, the exhibition lives online, and the artist has new friends in three cities.
When the venue becomes the curation
Tokyo
A private Japanese garden. Garden, Water, Stone.
Seoul
A traditional hanok. Tradition, Reimagined.
Hong Kong
A harbour residence. Island, Mountain, Sea.
Singapore
A tropical garden estate. The Living Garden.
London
A private townhouse. Ink, Line, Memory.
Paris
A historic hôtel particulier. East Meets West.
Our chapters
We are beginning with three founding chapters and growing city by city, through people rather than offices.
Founding chapters
New York, for collectors and institutions. Tokyo, for depth of craft and tradition. London, as the international bridge.
Next
Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Paris, the meeting points of the Asian art world.
Later
Taipei, Shanghai, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Sydney.
The Orchid Way Circuit
Rather than permanent galleries, the Collective is building an annual rhythm around the moments when the Asian art world gathers.
January
Singapore
March
Hong Kong
April
Tokyo
May
New York
June
London
September
Seoul
October
Paris
November
Southeast Asia
Paths give every show its story
Our Paths, from gardens and sakura to shores, temples and sacred form, are the intellectual layer beneath every exhibition. The Champion finds the artist. The Path provides the cultural narrative. The host provides the setting. Collectors provide the audience. The artist provides the work. Orchid Way connects them.
Become a partner
We discover, contextualize and bring the world closer to Asian art. If you know an artist the world has not yet found, a space that deserves an evening of extraordinary work, or a community that should be part of this, we would like to meet you.
Become a Champion Host a private exhibition Nominate an artist
Curate · Preserve Heritage · Empower the Future
Return to the work
Orchids remain on every path. Keep walking through the Collective, or write to us.
