Art, social good and serendipity at Kyoto’s BnA Alter Museum

If there is a pinnacle of “cool” in the hotel industry, BnA Alter Museum is no doubt there. Often characterized as “art or 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 how BnA makes art sustainable for Japanese artists.

Therefore, we approached BnA to find out what draws guests to the hotel, and understand the social good they have contributed to the art communities in Japan. CEO and founder Yu Tazawa graciously shared his time to reveal what makes this hotel a must-visit for art lovers.

A sustainable business that translates into sustainable art

“It started with just one room in Ikebukuro, listed on Airbnb,” reminisced Tazawa. This was when designer and architect Keigo Fukugaki, BnA’s co-founder, realized a better way to design rooms. Instead of putting art within the constraints of the room, what if the room was built to accommodate art? That first artistic space in Ikebukuro “BnA GALLERY Ikebukuro“ proved the philosophy correct with great success, but their guests revealed something even more important: they wanted to know more about the artist who designed the room. BnA was attracting guests who were drawn to art.

At the same time, 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

Another key element to the hotel is how BnA invites its Japanese artists. They 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 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.”

Tazawa also recalled an Australian guest (this happened at BnA HOTEL Koenji) who got so inspired that he stayed for another fortnight. This time offered a chance of collaboration where the guest drew murals for BnA’s gallery, and even putting up art shows.

These are moments of serendipity that BnA saw occurring again and again in their hotels. That is the ideal that Tazawa wants BnA’s hotels to have. And that is why inclusion of spaces for interaction is deliberate in BnA Alter Museum’s design. The cafe, bar and 10-storey vertical gallery, SCG, goes beyond their basic functions to provide that chance meetings that guests can have.

BnA Alter Museum is redefining spaces like how art does stupendously

At first, the idea of staying in an art piece is enough cause for excitement. But after understanding the core philosophies that surrounds BnA Alter Museum, we realize that the true excitement laid not in getting plugged into the art. Instead, it laid in getting plugged into the art community.

Space is not just a physical 3-dimensional thing for BnA. Of course, they were creating the space to bring out the best in art. However, by studying the function of a space, BnA has gone beyond a business model that provides artist income. It has created a platform where artists can connect their art to other like-minded individuals. BnA Alter Museum thus plays a key role in promoting Japan’s artists and creative communities.

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.”