ASIA NOW Paris has announced its eighth edition, bringing together 70 galleries and 200 artists from 63 countries to present the best of Asia’s contemporary art scenes at a new location: the Monnaie de Paris.
The historic Paris Mint, housed in an 18th-century palace with open-air courtyards, will be filled with art indoors and out during the fair. This grand setting in the heart of Paris is spread over 1.2 hectares on the Left Bank of the Seine, a short walk across the river from the Louvre and the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault collection.
During the fair, this vast venue will be transformed into a creative village. Alongside an increased number of galleries, the fair will host collaborative, artistic, ecological and agricultural projects, including interdisciplinary performances by the Japanese artist Natsuko Uchino, whose practice treats clay as a living form and mixes ceramics with environmentalism, art with architecture.
ASIA NOW explores the diverse art scenes from West Asia to Southeast Asia through more than forty countries from Central Asia and the Subcontinent to the Asia Pacific region. Some 70 international galleries will take over the entire site to present a selection of the best emerging and established artists from these regions and their diaspora.
Director and Founder of Asia Now, Alexandra Fain, said: “Asia Now Paris aims to shine a light on contemporary art across Asia – the broader geography, the artists, galleries, institutions and collectors, to provide a European hub where they can participate in a more global conversation during Paris Art Week. Our continuing efforts to focus on various regions, generations and now practices across art communities in Asia positions Asia Now as the leading contemporary art fair dedicated to pan-Asian artists and projects and Asian diasporas.”
Highlights
NFT Focus – This new edition explores the craft and tactile experience of creation, both physical and digital. The artist Cai Guo Qiang, known for his work with gunpowder, will present his NFT project “Your Daytime Fireworks”, supported by TRLab, founded by Xin Li-Cohen and Audrey Ou. This is a unique interactive artistic project in which collectors transform into artists, learning to “light” their fireworks NFT.
“Gulf Futurism”, after Sophia Al Maria – a film program curated by Odile Burluraux, curator at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, presenting a selection of videos by women artists from West Asia that explore the cultural, sociopolitical, and environmental questions that affect the Persian Gulf region. This selection features video works by: Sarah Abu Abdallah, Ahaad Al Amoudi, Sophia Al Maria, Monira Al Qadiri, Farah Al Qasimi, Sama Al Shaibi, and Larissa Sansour.
Places – In-situ projects at La Monnaie during Asia Now, with artists including: Trevor Yeung; Natsuko Uchino; Meekyoung Shin; Wang Du; Wang Keping; Park Chae Biole; Bita Razavi, one of the artists at the Estonian Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale with the project ‘Orchidelirium’, and the trio Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian, also currently on view in Venice with their off-site installation ‘Alluvium’. Sopheap Pich will present his recent sculpture “Kapok”, with the support of the Institut Français, a work inspired by the kapok fruit used in Cambodia in fabric weaving.
Performance program – Ayako Rokkaku (König Gallery); Nikhil Chopra (Galleria Continua) and Neda Razavipour (AB – ANBAR Gallery, with the support of the Yassi Foundation); Aung Ko (Intersections Gallery and A2Z Art Gallery); Nge Lai (Intersections Gallery and A4Z Art Gallery).
Talks and round tables – programmed by the progressive women artists association Thanks for Nothing, who will lead four round tables and two workshops, with the participation of Artists at Risk for the support of artists in danger, from Asia’s artistic scenes and its diasporas.
The art fair will take place during Paris Art Week, coinciding with Paris + par Art Basel, October 20th to 23rd, 2022. For more information about the upcoming fair, visit www.asianowparis.com
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