It all began rather quietly, in May 2023, with a few conversations exchanged with the artist VLOT. At the time, he was immersed in an ambitious international project: a film about stickers, a hymn to this culture that blossoms everywhere without asking permission. Very quickly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, our ideas converged. We would create an exhibition, not simply to display stickers, but to show how street art can illuminate a city rather than degrade it.
Our curation followed three simple ambitions. First, to bring together a community of sticker artists who, for the most part, had never met each other except through the traces they left on the city walls. Second, to open a dialogue with the public about stickers and street art, a conversation that doesn’t begin with “illegal” or “vandalism,” but with curiosity. Finally, to bring these works into an art gallery, a traditional setting, and allow stickers to be seen for what they truly are: artworks carrying identity, humor, rebellion, sometime sensitive messages.
The call for participation on Instagram exceeded anything we had imagined. Hundreds of artists (we counted more than 500!) from every corner of the world, amateurs and established names alike, sent us their creations. And even months after the exhibition closed, envelopes kept arriving at the gallery, each one a small proof of how much this event had stirred excitement. It was the first exhibition of its kind in Tokyo, and many saw it as a rare chance to display their style and their voice, freely, in one of the world’s most inspiring capitals.
The preparation was intense, almost Herculean at times. Designing the exhibition, shaping the gallery space, cataloguing each contribution. This means confirming receptions, scanning stickers, and identifying artists every night for 6 months. And then, during the final week, an extraordinary little team gathered. Together we covered nearly one hundred panels, an arcade cabinet, riot gear, and an improbable collection of objects with thousands of stickers. The logistics were absurd at moments. Imagine lifting a cluster of boards with only two pairs of hands. Yet somehow everything fell into place for the opening on Saturday, December 9, 2023.
The opening reception at Night Out Gallery was a moment of grace. Faces finally matched the nicknames we had seen on city walls for years. Artists traded stickers like treasures. A community wall invited every visitor to add their own mark or create one on the spot with blank stickers available for all. For two weeks, the crowd kept returning: friends, families, curious explorers. The spirit never faded.
Something lasting was born there. Friendships formed between artists who, until then, had only crossed paths through their work. A feeling of belonging emerged. Visitors discovered that creativity wasn’t a distant, elitist concept. It was accessible, playful, democratic. Anyone could create a sticker. Anyone could be an artist, even for the brief second it takes to peel and place.
To preserve a trace of this adventure, we released two books as keepsakes of the exhibition: Stickers First Edition (200 copies, 96 pages, each fitted with an NFC chip), andStickers Extended Edition (300 copies, 344 pages). Together, they offer a unique index of sticker artists and their Instagram accounts, allowing anyone to identify a creator the moment they stumble upon one of their stickers in the streets.
Tokyo WALLS extends its deepest thanks to VLOT and to Night Out Gallery, whose unwavering support carried this adventure from its very first steps to its final moments, and made the journey not only possible, but wonderfully joyful and unforgettable.
