Date & Time: Friday, December 19, 2025 17:30-18:30 (Reception opens at 17:15)
Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo / EVENT SPACE (1F / next to the museum shop)
Admission: Free (a TABF admission ticket valid on the day of the event is required)

Language: Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) [Interpreter: Li Jia]

 

Speakers: Kaiqi Li (founder of betweenia project) × Chen Yifei (editor of Prickly Paper, hand-puppeteer) × Yo (artist) × RA3 (PICNIC MEETING / 野餐集會)

 

Spacemaking—whether conceptual or physical—remains a thread that runs through all of our practices: from carving woodblocks to setting up booths, from curating obscure collections to running community spaces as immigrants.
Initiated by betweenia project—a publishing and distribution platform based in Melbourne and active in the Sinophone world—this panel brings together four friends who first met through Guangzhou’s self-publishing community and are now dispersed across Melbourne, Berlin and Tokyo. We will reflect on both the inspirations and the struggles of carving out new spaces within and beyond the independent/art publishing system, especially when crossing borders into different contexts.
How have we each used the space of art books and fairs differently? What kinds of spaces or systems do we need next? And how can publishing continue to serve as a mode of connection—making space locally in shifting contexts, while also sustaining liminal networks across borders that allow for persistent exchange and collective reimagining?

 

Event reservation: https://peatix.com/event/4637014/view
(You will be redirected to an external site)
*As seating is limited, we recommend making a reservation in advance.
*On-site registration will be available on the day of the event, subject to seat availability.

 

 

 

Kaiqi Li
Kaiqi Li is the founder of betweenia project, an emerging publishing and distribution platform based in Melbourne while working across the Sinophone world. Trained in cultural studies, his background in inter-Asia critique shapes his practice in independent and art publishing, where he explores alternative forms of knowledge production beyond institutional and disciplinary boundaries.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betweeniaproject/

 

 

 

Chen Yifei
Chen Yifei is a roaming hand-puppet storyteller, and one of the editors of 刺纸 (Prickly Paper). Starting from zine-making as a DIY and self-organizing practice, his recent work traces the interconnected paths of activists across boundaries, exploring the forgotten history of solidarity.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobidadan/

 

 

 

 

Yo
Yo graduated from art universities in both China and Japan, and recently opened her own tattoo studio in Suginami, Tokyo. The space also offers selected goods and publications, and occasionally hosts events as a semi-open art space. Through books and activities, Yo hopes to share her cross-border experiences and connect with more friends.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sayogi_yechenyi/

 

 

 

 

RA3
A witch residing in a detective office in Koenji, RA3 opens cracks in the everyday through words and spells, and peers into what lies beyond with noise and lens. Her practice moves fluidly across sound, performance, and image, summoning fragments of the unseen.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/durdenriver/