TABF TALENT AWARD

TABF 2025 will host the TABF Talent Award, an award open to all exhibitors, with the aim of discovering and supporting new talent. This year, for the first time, the fair will take place over two separate weekends with a completely new lineup of exhibitors each week. Three judges will be joining us each weekend, and each judge will select one exhibitor they most strongly wish to endorse. Winners will be announced at 1:00 PM on the final day of each weekend. The six recipients will receive a special TABF trophy designed by artist Yuri Hasegawa, as well as an additional prize presented by their respective judge.

WEEK 1 Judges

Norio Nakamura
Graphic Designer / Art Director

Additional prize: Complimentary booth at the next TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR ※1

Norio Nakamura was born in Kawasaki and graduated from the Fine Arts Department at Nihon University College of Art. After working at Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., he established his independent practice in 1997. Primarily a graphic designer, Nakamura works across a wide range of fields including advertising, picture books, corporate identity, digital content, video, illustration, and book design.

Greger Ulf Nilson
Art Director/ Designer/ Curator

Additional prize: Sigma BF ※2

Greger Ulf Nilson is an art director, designer, and curator driven by a deep fascination with the art of photography. Over the years, he has created an impressive range of art books in collaboration with some of the world’s most renowned photographers. He has served as both an editor and book designer of the first two photography books published by the Sigma Foundation.

SPRINT
Experimental publishing platform

Additional prize: Inclusion of the work in the SPRINT archive

Founded in Milan in 2013, SPRINT is an experimental publishing platform that also hosts an annual art book fair. For this award, the judges are the platform’s founder, artist Dafne Boggeri (right in photo), and the photographer Ilenia Arosio (left in photo), a member of the SPRINT team.

WEEK 2 Judges

Naonori Kato Editor, NEUTRAL COLORS
Daisuke Kano Designer, NEUTRAL COLORS

Additional prize: Inclusion of the work in “NEW COVER,” a project curated by NEUTRAL COLORS ※3

Naonori Kato
Editor and founder of the independent publishing house NEUTRAL COLORS. Centering on the eponymous magazine, he publishes books and artists’ books while pursuing an economically sustainable mid-scale publishing model.

 

Daisuke Kano
Graphic designer. Working freelance since 2019, he serves as art director of the magazine NEUTRAL COLORS and focuses primarily on cultural and artistic projects—photobooks, monographs, and printed promotional materials for museum exhibitions (posters, flyers, etc.). Since 2022 he has been a part-time lecturer in the Printmaking Department at Tama Art University.

Roger Willems
Director, Roma Publications

Additional prize: Sigma BF ※2

Born in 1969. Graphic designer. Co-founded the independent art publisher Roma Publications with the artists Mark Manders and Marc Nagtzaam in 1998. In addition to publishing their own books, Roma Publications serves as a platform to produce and distribute works by contemporary Dutch artists, focusing on the field of contemporary art.

Renée Ting
Director, Singapore Art Book Fair

Additional prize: Complimentary booth at the next Singapore Art Book Fair ※1

Renée Ting is the founder of Thing Books, a centre for art book events & initiatives in Singapore, and director of the annual Singapore Art Book Fair.

※1　Recipients are responsible for their own travel, accommodation, and all other expenses related to participation.
※2　Additional prize provided by Sigma
※3　Certain restrictions apply to the inclusion of the work