Samurai Art Expo Utrecht

[paulb]

Dear All
I am pleased to inform you about a new and exciting event taking place in The Netherlands in June of this year.
Samurai Art Expo will be held in Utrecht between the 15th and 17th of June.
The organisers are bringing dealers from Japan, Europe and the USA together under one roof to offer European collectors a broad range of high quality swords, fittings and related art.
Alongside the commercial event The NBTHK European Branch, together with the Token Society of Great Britain, have organised an exhibition of important work from within private European collections together with a series of presentations on both swords and fittings which will run throughout the show.
This is the first such event to take place in Europe for many years and it is hoped it will prove to be the foundation for future annual shows.
We look forward to welcoming members of the nihonto message board community for what we are sure will prove to be a very enjoyable and informative show.
For more information about the event and to take advantage of “early bird” discounts on tickets please visit the Samurai Art Expo website
www.samuraiartexpo.com

 

[Brian]

Please add to the calendar above. It is the best resource for events out there.

[DaveT]

Hi Paul, I was talking to Ian Champman about this after seeing the Facebook poster.

I would like to attend for the 3 days.

Do you need any help with a UK Token table? I'm happy to volunteer a day or so to help.

[paulb]

Hi Dave

very happy to see you there. Thanks for the offer of help. I hadn't considered a UK Token table but its something to consider. lets discuss off line and see if it has mileage.

thanks and regards

Paul

[Marius]

I will be there, without fail.

[Nickupero]

Will be an exciting event, I will be an exhibitor there and hopefully be able to meet some of you in the flesh. Don't mean to hijack your thread Paul, the flyer posted was the preliminary one made to get the word out at the recent Antique Samurai Armor & Arts Fair, for social media we can use this freshly printed version. If anyone has issues downloading and needs the file feel free to email me.

 

SAE_PRINT NO BLEED_Flyer_Final.pdf

[paulb]

no problem at all Nick

I look forward to seeing you there

[Nickupero]

Same here Paul, will be great!

[Jussi Ekholm]

Unfortunately I am almost sure I cannot attend to this one. But I hope it will become a yearly tradition in Europe to have a big show like that.

 

Here are few questions:

 

Has the place changed from Amsterdam to Utrecht recently? I could swear the last time I checked (earlier this year or in december) the venue was Schipol Airport hotel and there was option to rent a room at discount price for the stay as I calculated my total trip prices to there and that in mind.

 

Also is the early bird 3-day ticket now 90€ as I am quite certain it used to be 120 or 150€ earlier on the site? What is the special 3-day ticket that is is the flyer that Nick posted for 50€, is it only for lectures?

 

I know it's still 100+ days until the event but I am slightly confused about the details, I was really surprised now that I saw that the city had changed.

[Gakusee]

Both the venue was changed and the prices were reduced recently. This is due to feedback received around security, ease of obtaining permits and making the experience smoother and more attractive for everyone.

 

What you have here is the final outcome.

 

There are two adjacent hotels to the Expo, and the main organisers are negotiating some preferential rates at the moment.

 

Utrecht is a short train ride from Amsterdam, for those who wish to stay there during their trip.

[paulb]

Hi Jussi

Sorry you can't make it. I can understand why you are confused and yes there have been some changes. As with all first time events the organisers had to think on their feet a little and respond to various unexpected issues. 

The original venue was Amsterdam, however such an event requires local municipality and police approval and the Utrecht venue had much better facilities and greater experience in setting this type of show up so the organisers decided to move. 

Pricing has been reduced. After discussion with people who have run other shows the organisers felt the initial charges were a little optimistic for a first show. I understand that anyone who has paid the original full amount will receive a refund (I have not had official confirmation of that but have no reason to doubt it)

As said before we have been sadly lacking an event of this type in Europe. I have watched with envy for years the range of shows appearing in the USA and hoping we could do something similar here. At last we have the chance.

As a first event I am sure there will be things we wont get right and that we will need to improve on but with sufficient support and enthusiasm from the European (and any other) Nihonto community I think this could become an important annual event

So if not this time Jussi we will see you the next time round:-)

[Nickupero]

Thank you Michael for setting the record straight. This will be a yearly event, the intention is for it to be like the DTI of Europe, but with other forms of Samurai related art, not just swords. It might also be something similar to the big US shows that take place once a year. There is no direct affiliation with any current ongoing events, the organizers are a small group of very well known and reputable Japanese and European dealers and they also want visitors to have an Educational experience. The prices on the flyer are the updated ones, the 50€ 3 day pass covers full entry for 15th, 16th, and 17th.

[Marius]

Both the venue was changed and the prices were reduced recently. 

 

 

Michael,

 

The new reduced prices are not reflected on the website yet. Anyway, still some time to buy the ticket

[Gakusee]

Marius

Give us 48 hours. Things are fluid and dynamic. I suggest buying tickets next week to avoid reimbursements etc.

As a first event, there are some small teething issues but actually things are getting changed for the better.

[Keiji]

I think I will attend the event with Italian friends, it will be a pleasure to meet you ????

[Marius]

@Michael,

No rush And many thanks

 

@Francesco

That was long overdue  

[Andi B.]

I'm looking forward to attend!

We should wear NMB member's name signs so we can recognize each other on the fair...

[Shogun8]

Is there any information on the lectures - titles, topics or speakers?

[Nickupero]

Good idea Andi! Was at the DTI this year and I'm sure I missed some of you there without even knowing.

 

John here is the link of the lectures and events with the people presenting. Keep in mind things could still be modified in the near future but it should be what is written. The direct link is provided https://samuraiartexpo.com/talks-schedule-2/

Also the prices have been updated to what is on the pamphlet.

[Shogun8]

Thanks, Nick! Very nice website!

[Jussi Ekholm]

 

Just booked everything, no way I'll miss this. I'll just have to do some workarounds in June as I've been waiting for this event for a long time.

 

I'll be the hairless guy with strong Finnish accent. I'll hope to meet all the NMB members participating, and no need to be shy around me, I am really easy to talk to. I guess I'll spend most of the Saturday listening to educational program as so much great stuff on program. Unfortunately I'll have to leave early on Sunday morning.

[paulb]

That's great Jussi.

I will be in the educational bit for most (probably all) of the day so make sure we get the chance to meet up

The event has been some time in the planning but looks to be coming together very well. I think those that attend will have a great opportunity to see and buy excellent work and spend some time meeting fellow enthusiasts face to face. Hopefully we can all learn from each other and have the chance to enjoy the experience with like minded people

[Markus]

Argh, would love to go but flights are insanely expensive from here, like $1,800-for-a-roundtrip-for-that-time insanely expensive    Have to see if I am somehow able to secure funds...

[DaveT]

.......and it's your turn to buy the drinks.

[Markus]

Oops, didn't know that I'm behind with drinks. More than happy to catch up 

[vajo]

This sounds great. 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Apparently there are some difficulties with the tickets. I just got refund by Paypal as the account I paid to never registered through Paypal.

 

I was wondering as there is now new page reservation for tickets, will there be limited number of tickets, or can you just buy ticket from the door?

[paulb]

Hi Jussi,

I was talking to the organisers last week. Apparently there have been some teething issues regarding payment and they have had to form a Netherlands registered company (I'm doing this from memory so not sure it is totally accurate). 

The net result is that the ticketing process should be fully functional this week. Once we know that it is working properly I will post more info here regarding the educational programme and related exhibition. What I can tell you is based on what I already know of the exhibits it is likely to prove an extremely worthwhile event

I hope to meet a lot of NMB members there

[ROKUJURO]

.....

We should wear NMB member's name signs so we can recognize each other on the fair...

That was a proposal I made already to Jean, and I think he will come up with something useful/ practical to print out. 

 

I will be there on Saturday and Sunday.

[Jean]

Ok guys, I’ll be there on Saturday but as I am with my wife and my sister, I’ll have to visit the town, so it will be only a couple of hours stopover, perhaps a bit more if I can negotiate