Taipei Dangdai’s New Online Platform Is Keeping International Dealers Connected to the Asian Market as the Region Slowly Reopens

While the art industry is now largely focused on Frieze New York
as a barometer for the viability of virtual fairs, the best
indicator of what the Asian market may look like in the near future
comes courtesy of Taipei Connections, the current
online initiative of the Taipei Dangdai art fair, which had its
most recent in-person edition in January.

So what exactly is Taipei Connections? “This is not an online fair,” says Magnus
Renfrew, the fair’s founder. “It is more to provide a focal point
for galleries to proactively get in touch with the people that they
met in January, to keep the conversations going, and to share
elements of their programming both through the online platform, and
through the live-streaming program of talks which has received a
great response.”

The initiative—which does include
viewing rooms and the ability to inquire about
purchases—continues through
May 10.

“We wanted to initiate something
that could try to help bring our galleries and our audiences closer
together,” Renfrew added, noting that the whole initiative
came together very quickly: in
less than a month, from inception to execution.

According to the event’s organizers, as of May 6, there have
been more than 60,000 total visits to the site, mostly from users
in Taiwan, with strong contingents from Hong Kong,
Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Mainland China, as well as
Europe and the United States. Live-streamed events thus far have garnered more than 14,600
views.

Roughly 85 percent of the fair’s 99 exhibitors from its January
edition took up the invitation to participate.

To date, exhibitors surveyed by Artnet News shared positive
feedback, if not actual sales information. Event organizers say
they have fielded reports from galleries on
sales ranging from five to six figures in US dollars.

“It’s a significant effort
from the fair organizers that is very much appreciated,” said Jal
Hamad, director of Madrid’s Sabrina Amrani Gallery.
“We are aware that sales at
this moment are quite hard to achieve, so our main goal was to
present and promote our artists, while reconnecting with the Taipei
Dangdai audience, and extending our commitment to the fair and to
the region.”

Laura Zhou, director of Asia for the White Cube gallery, called
the initiative “an immensely
valuable channel to remain connected with the collectors in this
market at a time when we are all restricted in our ability to
travel, socialize, and network.” She added that the gallery “will continue to
adopt more of these online engagement channels alongside the
face-to-face interactions that are made during art fairs and our
gallery exhibitions.”

“We do think the Asian market is gradually picking up,”
added Cindy Lim of the Tang Contemporary gallery in Beijing.
“We managed to sell a couple of works by Zhao Zhao, Qin Qi, and Arx
Lee, to name a few, to [collectors in] China, Europe, and the US in
spring 2020.” Lim added that
with the right pricing strategy and high-quality works, “clients
still commit to sales quickly.”

While the gallery has reopened its two Beijing locations in
the 798 art district, its
Bangkok locations remain closed due to Thailand’s lockdown
measures.

“Our gallery director, Zheng Lin,
firmly believes that exhibitions and programs are a crucial power
driver in the recovery of the art market and getting our lives back
onto the normal track,” she said.

The post Taipei Dangdai’s New Online Platform Is Keeping
International Dealers Connected to the Asian Market as the Region
Slowly Reopens appeared first on artnet News.