Second edition of Taipei Dangdai puts spotlight on home-grown galleries

Taipei Dangdai is Taipei’s international art fair, the largest and most diverse gathering of local and international galleries in Taiwan. The second edition will take place at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from January 17-19, 2020. A VIP Preview and Vernissage is scheduled for January 16, 2020, which will offer collection and studio visits, special events, and privileged access to cultural institutions and foundations.

Presented by UBS, the three-day fair will showcase works from leading galleries and artists, besides influential thinkers belonging to disciplines like archaeology, art history and technology. While the first edition presented 90 local, regional and international galleries across four curated sectors - Galleries, Young Galleries, Solos and Salon – the 2020 edition will feature a total of 99 galleries, out of which 23 have permanent spaces in Taiwan. The gallery line-up involves a rigorous process of selection led by a committee of international gallerists.

Many international leading galleries like SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Artinformal Gallery, Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Lévy Gorvy, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, and kamel mennour would be joining the fair for the first time.

The Solos sector will present the works of the late Japanese painter Tetsuya Ishida at Wada Fine Arts | Y++; Korean video artist Nam June Paik at Galerie Bhak; emerging Taiwanese artist Hsu Jui-Chien at KALOS GALLERY; and established international artists Jonathan Meese at Sies + Höke; and Sheila Hicks at galerie frank elbaz.

The first edition of the fair was launched by Magnus Renfrew, who was the fair director and founding director of Art Basel Hong Kong 10 years ago. The trio Tim Etchells of Single Market Events, Sandy Angus of Angus Montgomery Limited and Will Ramsay of Ramsay Fairs Limited collectively own Taipei Dangdai now, after having sold off Art Basel Hong Kong to Art Basel in 2011. More recently, Magnus Renfrew became the fourth shareholder in Taipei Dangdai through his recently established business, ArtHQ.

The past edition attracted over 28,000 visitors in 2019 and brought together leading galleries and artists from across the world. The fair provided visitors the opportunity to not just explore established art, but also discover the work of newly emerging artists across the globe. In addition, the fair included an Ideas Programme, which united industry experts from Taipei and the international art scene, discussing the theme of how art exists in the past, present and future. This programme was attended by influencers and thinkers from multi-disciplinary backgrounds. 

About its first edition, Magnus Renfrew, Fair Director, Taipei Dangdai said,“Our aspiration is to bring new collectors into the market with our unique structure of sectors, offering quality at every price point. Art is about ideas which are common to all of us and Taipei Dangdai aspires to be a meeting place for the exchange of these ideas, providing a context which unpackages art for the wider audience and reduces the intimidation factor.”

Dangdai means ‘the present moment’ in Mandarin. The second edition will once again reflect the contemporaneity of the international art scene. The purpose of organising Taipei Dangdai is to celebrate the city’s unique and dynamic arts scene, while highlighting global creativity and the increasing importance of the wider art market in Asia.