As the first weekend of May unfolds across East Asia, two cities—Hong Kong and Tokyo—are drawing photographers, publishers, and book lovers into the quiet power of printed images.
From 2 to 4 May 2025, the 3rd Hong Kong Photobook Festival and the inaugural TOKIO ART BOOK FAIR take centre stage in their respective cultural capitals. Though separated by geography and differing in scale, these festivals speak in harmony about the enduring, transformative appeal of the photobook.
Hong Kong Photobook Festival 2025
Now in its third edition, the Hong Kong Photobook Festival returns to PMQ in Central, a heritage venue that once housed the city’s Police Married Quarters and now thrives as a creative incubator. Organised by Lumenvisum and supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the festival remains free and open to the public, emphasising accessibility and community engagement.
This year’s programme is both rich and purposeful. The popular Photobook Market anchors the event, with stalls offering a range of independent, local, and international photobooks—many of which defy conventional categorisation. Nearby, exhibitions highlight the winners of the Hong Kong Photobook Dummy Award 2025, alongside a retrospective on the IDPA Imageless Dummy Photobook Award, offering insights into evolving regional narratives and experimental formats.
On 3 May, a sharing session with this year’s award winners provides festival-goers with a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of these visual narratives. Additional workshops and talks explore topics from self-publishing to narrative design, echoing the city’s broader dialogue on identity, memory, and cultural resilience.
Amid Hong Kong’s shifting political and social landscape, this festival resonates deeply. It becomes more than a showcase of printed work—it is a gathering of voices, a meditation on visibility, and a quiet act of creative defiance.
Tokio Art Book Fair
Meanwhile, across the East China Sea, Tokyo is hosting a new, more intimate iteration of its celebrated TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR. Simply titled the TOKIO ART BOOK FAIR, this edition takes place at the elegant Shiba Park Hotel, a literary landmark with over 1,500 books embedded into its guest experience. The setting offers an appropriate atmosphere for a fair designed to slow down the act of browsing, reading, and conversation.
Limited to approximately 55 exhibitors, the fair brings together a curated collection of artists, independent publishers, bookshops, and galleries from Japan, Australia, the UK, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, and the Netherlands. Participants include notable names such as Perimeter Editions (Australia), Tall Poppy Press (Australia), The Book Society (South Korea), and Overlapse (UK), alongside innovative Japanese publishers like IACK, GIDDRA STUDIO, and Hand Saw Press.
Events unfold across three days with a vibrant mix of programming: talks, collage workshops, performances, and unexpected interventions. Among them is SORRY FAX ONLY—a tongue-in-cheek workshop hosted by SORRY PRESS that uses fax machines as a medium for collaborative image-making. Panel discussions address topics such as independent publishing, collective authorship, and the photobook’s role in contemporary visual culture.
Admission is by advance ticket only (¥1,500 general / ¥1,000 for under 25s / free for under 19s and hotel guests), creating an intentionally measured pace—an antidote to the frenetic energy often associated with large art fairs.
Though differing in tone—the grassroots community energy of Hong Kong versus Tokyo’s refined intimacy—both festivals offer something more enduring than trend or spectacle. They reaffirm the photobook’s status as a site of experimentation, resistance, and quiet introspection.
In an increasingly digitised world, the tactile act of turning pages and absorbing sequenced images still holds power. Both the Hong Kong Photobook Festival and the TOKIO ART BOOK FAIR serve as reminders that books can be conversations, protests, poems, and love letters—all stitched together with ink and intent.
Whether you’re in the bustling lanes of Sheung Wan or beneath Tokyo Tower’s modern shadow, the message is clear: the photobook is alive and well. And this May, it has stories to tell.
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