Contemporary Art Fair Asia NOW Breathes Fresh Air and Diversity
Asia Now, the first Parisian art fair devoted to highlighting the Asian contemporary art scene is celebrating its 9th edition. This year, the fair founded and directed by Alexandra Fain, is held at the Monnaie de Paris and brings together over 60 exhibitors.
Since its creation, Asia NOW has been offering a selection of leading international galleries representing the Asian art market. Each year the fair pursues its aim of exploring the scope proposed by the Asia Society, which stretches from Japan to Iran, and from Central Asia to the Pacific, spanning West, South and South-East Asia.
As a committed fair, Asia NOW focuses as much on the so-called “peripheral” areas as on those identified as centres of power, culture and influence. The fair strives to showcase emerging and established contemporary practices based on the Asian art scene, thus acting as a platform echoing the richness and diversity of the artistic landscape.
The Cour d’Honneur is the home to a Chaikhaneh, or tea room, designed by the artists to welcome visitors for a tasting session. To mark the occasion, Slavs and Tatars have also created a Reading Room, a lounge for reading on daybeds, making it easier for people to meet and talk.
The centrepiece of the programme – an exhibition of 14 contemporary artists curated by Slavs and Tatars with the kind support of Christine d’Ornano with Sisley – explore the role of textiles in the region’s cultural practices. The weaving of ikats, an example of a vernacular textile, is often referred to as “abr-bandi”, a term of Persian origin that stands for ‘to knot clouds’. In the 21st century, at the heart of the information age, this knotting of clouds suggests another horizon: that of data and digitisation, as much as that of dyes and fabrics.
On the opening day, we ran into Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Guy Savoy, Sonia Sief, Isabelle d’Ornano, Sarah Andelman, etc.
Photos : Jean Picon
