Biggest Art Fair In South Korea Opens Next Month!

The biggest art fair in South Korea is set to open next month with related art events for domestic and international art collectors and fans.

According to the event organizers, the 15th Korea International Air Fair (KIAF) will run from October 12- 16 at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in Seoul with a total of 170 galleries from 16 countries that will also participate in the event.

The guests of honor for the event this year are the Taiwanese artists which are represented by 11 galleries. A professor from National Taiwan University of Arts, Chen Kuangyi, will lead a talk session together with the amateur Taiwanese artists namely Lin Yuching, Wei Hsingyu, and Kuo Chihhung. The director of Art Taipei 2016, Emerson Wang will also give a lecture about the contemporary art scene in Taiwan.

The yearly art market is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS) and the event is hosted by the Galleries Association of Korea. Park Woo-hong, the chairman of the galleries association, announced that they invited a total of 130 high-profile collectors, critics, journalists, art directors and gallery owners from abroad that will also participate in the event. Those people invited are big people like CEO of New World Development and founder of K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong entrepreneur Adrian Cheng, president of Art Dealers Association of America Adam Sheffer, deputy chairman of Philips, Robert Manley, and editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper, Georgina Adam.

"In many cases, members of the Asia Pacific Art Gallery Alliance recommended collectors from their respective country, who has a proven art-purchasing history and reputation. We hope they can spot the potential of Korean art by attending the art fair," Chairman Park said.

Moreover, for those people who won't be able to attend the art fair, the works from the KIAF will be displayed on Artsy, which is an online platform that shows art news and auctions. The website helps to boost the global profile of South Korean artists.

The 2016 Korean Gallery Weekend will simultaneously run by the KAMS from October 13-16 at the cultural center Nemo located at Hanam-dong Seoul.

"KIAF is not just a place to buy and sell art. It is where people connect through art. Hopefully this art fair consolidates the global network of the Korean art market and help artists actively advance to a bigger overseas market," said Kim Sun-young, president of KAMS.