“We hope to make Taipei Dangdai the most important event in the art scene around the world and in Asia,” was co-director Robin Peckham’s speech opening, speaking in Mandarin as a nod to the local market. Returning for a second year, Dangdai’s (台北當代) goal is to put Taipei on the map for the art world.
Asia is already a leading force in the global art market, and it is only expected to grow in importance in the upcoming years. However, which cities play a key role is constantly changing — especially in light of unstable business in Hong Kong over the last year.
“Taipei city is vibrant and collectors are hungry,” said Mariko Kawashima, director of Axel Vervoordt Gallery Hong Kong, one of the newcomers this year amongst 99 galleries — 23 of which have spaces in Taiwan.
Photo: Ella Csarno
Dangdai’s co-founder Magnus Renfrew said there is interest from galleries around the world in potentially joining next year.
COLLECTORS DO THEIR HOMEWORK
International galleries were impressed by the Taiwanese crowd.
Photo: Ella Csarno
“For a small country, it’s astonishing that there are so many collectors,” said Rachel Lehmann, co-owner of Lehmann Maupin. “They do their homework very well, and they collect in depth.”
It was a sentiment echoed by gallerist Sean Kelly.
“People here are very sophisticated, they understand quality,” Kelly said.
Photo: Ella Csarno
Though Kawashima said they are still learning about Taiwanese collectors, Kelly believes in bringing recognizable names and leading works to Taiwan. Indeed, the number of artworks from world-renowned artists like Marina Abramovic, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei (艾未未) or Julian Opie have gone up considerably.
Galleries reported successful sales. David Zwirner sold multiple artworks within the first two hours of the fair, mostly to Taiwanese collectors. TKG+, the contemporary branch of Taiwanese Tina Keng Gallery (耿畫廊), said they were happy with the results, and, perhaps more importantly, made connections to new collectors.
NOT JUST FOR PROFIT
Backed by the Ministry of Culture, the Bureau of Foreign Trade and Taipei’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Dangdai provided a platform for many artists who were never presented in Taiwan before.
Oscar Murillo, co-winner of last year’s Turner Prize, who hosted a talk at the “Ideas” program of the fair, where he said that collaboration with a local institution is on the horizon for him.
Lehmann Maupin are also working with the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (臺北市立美術館) on a show about Erwin Wurm curated by Jerome Sans, and a solo exhibition with Tony Oursler at Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art (高雄市立美術館).
THINKING LONG TERM
Shanghai and Hong Kong used to be absolute centers for the market in Asia, but international galleries have started diversifying, setting their foot in multiple cities. This mindset comes as political tension in Hong Kong caused a dip in the business of galleries last year.
“The art world is not isolated,” said Lehmann, “but with long-term strategies it’s easier to adapt to change.”
Arthur de Villepin, founder of Villepin, a gallery opening in Hong Kong in March added: “The energy of Hong Kong is beyond the political situation. The fact that it dilutes itself in the region is not a bad thing.”
Alongside his father, former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin, he hopes to open a salon-like space where long-term relationships with artists and collectors can be built.
“Cultural difference is richness to me,” he said.
Ultimately events like Dangdai continue to lay the foundations of Taipei as a safe haven for art. Taipei Dangdai will return again in January next year, promising a longer lineup.
“Long as I remember, the rain’s been coming down,” the song says. The last couple of weeks of wet certainly make it feel that way. The global media has recently observed the change of hitting a 1.5 Celsius degree rise in average temperatures in the next five years has risen to 50 percent. As many scientists have observed, once that level of warming is hit, the planet will reach a slew of tipping points. 1.5C is thus a major threshold. Nature has been sending us ever more urgent distress signals: murderous heatwaves across the Indian subcontinent, giant sandstorms in Iraq, collapsing
May 16 to May 22 Lin Wen-cha (林文察) and his “Taiwanese braves” (台灣勇) arrived in Fujian Province’s Jianyang District (建陽) on May 19, 1859, eager for their first action outside of Taiwan. The target was local bandit Guo Wanzong (郭萬淙), one of several ruffians who had taken advantage of ongoing Taiping Rebellion to establish strongholds in the area. A strongman leader of the notable Wufeng Lin Family (霧峰林家), Lin had impressed Qing Dynasty rulers five years earlier by helping expel the remnants of Small Knife Society (小刀會) rebels from Keelung. Lin’s forces routed Guo’s gang in just 11 days, earning a formal
A weekend getaway where you can escape the summer heat, commune with nature among trees that sprouted before the time of Christ or enjoy landscaped gardens and comfortable accommodations is within easy reach of northern Taiwan. Experience a traditional garden with Chinese and Japanese influences, birdwatching, ecological tours of old-growth cypress forest and one of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) namesake villas set among orchards with a beautiful view of the Lanyang River (蘭陽溪) valley, all in the Makauy Ecological Park (馬告生態園區). The Northern Cross-Island Highway connects Taoyuan and Yilan counties, passing through misty conifer forests as it climbs over the Snow Mountain
In the world of Chinese-speaking media, “Sydney Daddy” is an Australian YouTube phenomenon: a kind of Alan Jones for Mandarin-speakers, who has found unexpected success, not just in Australia but throughout the diaspora. From his home in Sydney, Edgar Lu, 41, does a talk-back style program two or three times a week, interviewing politicians and local community figures or ranting on issues he cares about. “I think by Australian standards, I’m center-right,” he says. He says he’s not “anti-CCP [Chinese Communist Party], but at the same time, I don’t particularly care what they think.” YouTube offers a platform that is free from the censorship
RSS