Asia NOW – A Contemporary Art Fair & Production Platform for Artists’ Projects.

*This post is presented by Asia NOW.

This year, 2024, marks the 10th anniversary of Asia NOW, which has established itself as a unique and committed fair in the international panorama of major contemporary art fairs. 

Founded and directed by Alexandra Fain, Asia NOW is the only fair in Europe dedicated to the presentation of historic and emerging artists from across Asia, represented by galleries from around the world. 

Since its inception in 2015, a program of special projects has embodied the spirit and identity of Asia NOW, allowing collectors and visitors to discover a journey of monumental works, performances and installations by leading artists on the international scene.

Asia NOW is a platform that encourages dialogue around a curated program. It includes: an international selection of galleries presenting artists from global Asia, and an ambitious platform dedicated to installations commissioned for this edition: projects and performances specific to the spaces of La Monnaie de Paris.

Under the artistic direction of Radicants, the international curatorial cooperative founded by Nicolas Bourriaud, the tenth anniversary edition of Asia NOW presents an entirely new exhibition entitled “Ceremony,” in which ceremony takes the form of cultural practices, a celebration of ancestral wisdom and a critical tool that both reinforces and transforms the collective, traditions and hierarchies of power. The artists invited by Radicants are mediators of human experience. They value the power of coming together to resonate with the community spirit of Asia NOW.

In the exhibition spaces of La Monnaie, artistic practices take the path of hospitality, conviviality and social cohesion. Going beyond mere representation, they explore ceremonies through mutual care and exuberant expressions of life, inviting us to consider how artistic expression can facilitate the processing of loss and trauma, particularly in these times of conflict and political upheaval. 

Asia NOW bears witness to the need for ceremonies that foster empathy, resilience and a vision of a more interconnected existence.

Asia NOW
PARIS ASIAN ART FAIR
10th Anniversary Ceremony
October 17–20, 2024
La Monnaie de Paris

Asia NOW commissions two site-specific installations

Sumayya Vally
The artist and architect Sumayya Vally, founder of Counterspace, will present L’Eau dans une main et le Feu dans l’autre, commissioned by Asia NOW, under the artistic direction of Kathy Alliou, and supported by the MTO Sufi Art and Culture Museum, which will program a series of daily performances that will activate the vessel according to its Sufi spirit. This performative installation draws  its energy from its organic and natural material, combining earth, air, fire and water. The circular space created by  the stacking of cooked and uncooked jars seems to denote inner states that can be washed away and dissolved by  water. Composed of the empty and full forms of the ceramics, this pavilion seems to merge temporal dimensions  and material. The pavilion will be activated daily at 12pm and 6pm. 

Britto Arts Trust
An association of artists based in Dhaka, Britto Arts Trust has been commissioned to present a specific installation that invites visitors to enter an ecological, social and diasporic space shaped by the Bengali palan and pakghor. The palan, a traditional vegetable garden often tended by women and children, supports the pakghor, a family kitchen that doubles as a communal living room. Throughout the fair, artists will be present, cooking and sharing their food with those who wish to share food and conversation.

“Ceremony”, the curatorial platform of the 2024 Guest Curator, Radicants/Nicolas Bourriaud

This year’s guest curators, the international curatorial cooperative Radicants, founded by Nicolas Bourriaud, transform the Monnaie de Paris into a vibrant, immersive ceremony, focusing on performative programs, video, dance, music, oral traditions and rituals. An exhibition that unfolds across the entire site, blending the sacred and the profane, from culinary rituals to the communal exuberance of festivals. The artists invited by Radicants explore the unifying power of community celebrations - including dances, processions and festivals - as vectors for interpreting shared human experience.

Artists participating in the exhibition organized by Radicants:

Bobby Yu Shuk Pui (VI, VII), Charwei Tsai (Mor Charpentier), Marcos Kueh (Ron Mandos), Leelee Chan (Capsule Shanghai / Klemm’s), Zadie Xa (Thaddaeus Ropac), Trevor Yeung (Galerie Allen), Nil Yalter, Minja Gu (NIKA Project Space), Qian Qian (Richard Saltoun), Özlem Altın (The Pill), Yohan Han (Parliament), Natsuko Uchino (Galerie Allen), Ariuna Bulutova, Isaac Chong Wai (Zilberman gallery), Mohammad AlFaraj (Athr Gallery, Kamel Mennour), Faina Yunusova (Jean-Claude Maier), Ming Wong (Carlier | Gebauer), Nina Jayasuriya (Kamel Mennour).

Exhibiting Galleries

71 galleries – exhibition galleries & galleries with special project participation 

For its 10th anniversary at La Monnaie de Paris, Asia NOW will feature 71 galleries, 40 of which will present a statement show, from 28 countries and territories across Asia, from Central Asia to the Asia-Pacific region, including West, South, Southeast and East Asia.

These galleries include exciting first-time participants such as Esther Schipper (Berlin / Paris / Seoul), Zilberman (Istanbul / Berlin / Miami), Sabrina Amrani (Madrid), carlier | gebauer (Berlin / Madrid), Kaikai Kiki Gallery (Tokyo), Nao Masaki (Nagoya), Gallery SIDE 2 (Tokyo), Shrine Empire (Delhi), Window Project (Tbilisi), FOST Gallery (Singapore), O Art Space (Lahore).

Returning participants include Perrotin (Paris/Dubai/New York/Hong Kong/Seoul/Tokyo/ Shanghai), Galleria Continua (San Gimignano /Beijing /Habana /Roma/ Sao Paulo/ Paris/ Dubai), Yeo Workshop (Singapore), The Drawing Room (Manila), NIKA Project Space (Dubai, Paris), Galerie Marguo (Paris), MOU Projects (Hong Kong), Galerie BAO (Paris). 

Asia NOW continues to highlight the NOW ON section, dedicated to young galleries showcasing emerging artists. Participants in this section include Square Street Gallery (Hong Kong), A.I. (London), Lkham Gallery (Ulaanbaatar), MOU Projects (Honk Kong), Mandy Zhang Art (London) and IDOLON Gallery (Taipei).

Highlights / Program

A curated program of performances and installations

For the first time, Asia NOW presents new creations of performances, works and installations produced in collaboration with participating institutions and galleries. 

PERFORMANCES / INSTALLATIONS 

• ANCIENT DESIRES - ONE TASTE, performance by Charwei Tsai (Taiwan) – Curator : RADICANTS

• পরিচয় / PORICHOY, 2024, site-specific installation & performance by Bishwajit Goswami (Bangladesh) – Curator : Anissa Touati 

• MAGIC MAIDS : SWEEPING SISTERS (A PERFORMANCE ART), performance by Eisa Jocson and Venuri Perera (Philippines & Sri Lanka), presented by The Columns Gallery – Curator : Asia NOW

• MEHREGAN: MAYBE A LOVE STORY, Hamid Shams (1990, Tehran. Based in Paris) presented by Simine Gallery – Curator : RADICANTS 

• DIE MÛTTER, Isaac Chong Wai (1990, Hong Kong, based in Berlin) presented by Zilberman Gallery – Curator : RADICANTS 

• FLAGS PARADE - performance by Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust (1994, based in Brussels and Paris) – Curator : RADICANTS 

• MORNING EXERCISE : “THE RISING SUN” – Strengthen The Revolutionary Body, performance workshop by Yao Qingmei (1982, Zhejiang) - Curator : RADICANTS 

• FIRE X FIRE - COMBUSTION, collaboration work between Nikhil Chopra & Uriel Barthélémi – with the support of Galleria Continua – Curator : Asia NOW 

Video Program 

A video section featuring, for the first time, Prameya Art Foundation and notable works such as “Diary of love” by Quynh Dong presented by Yeo Workshop, Polit-Sheer-Form Office with BANK, Saroot Supasuthivech with Nova Contemporary, Nakrob Moonmanas presented by Warin Lab Contemporary, Almagul Menlibayeva presented by IDOLON Gallery and “JOSS” presented by Cheng Ran & Item Idem. 

Conversation program 

A program of talks with distinguished guests and, for the fourth year running, Thanks For Nothing will host a full day of public debates. 

Commissioned Installation

SUMAYYA VALLY
L’Eau dans une main et le Feu dans l’autre 

At the invitation of Asia NOW, Sumayya Vally presents a new version of the work They who Bring Rain Bring Life, which was shown at the Dhaka Art Summit in Bangladesh in 2023. 

This new installation, L’eau dans une main et le Feu dans l’autre will be presented for the first time in the Cour d’Honneur of the Monnaie de Paris, curated by artistic director Kathy Alliou and supported by the MTO Sufi Art and Culture Museum, which will program a series of daily performances at 12pm and 6pm that will activate the vessel according to its Sufi spirit. 

In the autumn of 2024 in Paris, in its new context of appearance, this performance installation draws its energy from its organic and natural material, which combines earth, air, fire and water. The circular space created by the stacking of cooked and uncooked jars seems to denote inner states that can be washed away and dissolved by water. Composed of empty and full ceramic forms, this pavilion merges temporal and material dimensions. At the intersection of ecological and spiritual issues, L’eau dans une main et le Feu dans l’autre echoes the verses of the Sufi poet Rabia Al-Adawiyya (713–801). A physical expression of the Sufis’ inner journey, the gestures of the women who activate Sumayya Vally’s installation on a daily basis echo spiritual listening and celebrate the link between earth and cosmos.

Practical Info

October 17
10am-2pm Press Preview
2pm-6pm VIP Preview
6pm-9pm Preview 

October 18-19
10am-11am VIP Preview
11am-8pm Open to Public 

October 20
10am-11am VIP Preview
11am-7pm Open to Public 

La Monnaie de Paris
11, Quai de Conti | 75006 Paris
www.asianowparis.com | Instagram 

ENTRANCE 

Full price: €15 | Reduced price: €10*
3-DAY PASS
Full price: €30 | Reduced price: €20*
Free for children under 12 years old 

*Reduced price upon proof: Student | Under 26 | Job seekers |  People with disabilities with a companion 

Tickets available on the website and at the Monnaie de Paris.