The first international contemporary art fair in Asia, Korea International Art Fair returns to Seoul this October for its 15th anniversary. Hosted by the Korea Galleries Association, KIAF 2016 will take place at Seoul COEX Hall, where gallery curators and artists from all over the world will exhibit their work to an international audience.

Throughout the four-day event, the fair will showcase art from 170 galleries, as artists and curators travel from 16 different countries to exhibit their work in this established art fair. Every year KIAF invites one of the attendees to be Guest Country of Honour, introducing the artists and galleries of that country to the diverse world of contemporary art and the domestic art market. Honouree countries from previous years include; Australia, England, France, China and India.

This year, Taiwan will take the place as Guest Country of Honour – presenting pieces from 11 of their galleries, including the Aki Gallery that specialises in curating projects by emerging contemporary artists. Other exhibiting galleries include the Capital Art Centre, Fish Art Centre and Beyond Gallery, from Taiwan’s capital city of Taipei. KAIF presents a variation of art pieces in different forms and mediums – these will be spread out across the fair in sections. One of the spaces, entitled Special Hallway, is an exhibition that focuses purely on installations and sculptural art pieces.

Also taking place at this year’s KIAF event is the K-Art Conversation –  a series of lectures and conversations that allow visitors to engage with the event in further depth. This year the fair hosts three events, discussing the topics of trends and developments in Asian art. The first session invites Korean and Chinese Artists Chi Hung KUO, Yu Ching LIN and Hsing Yu WEI to share their knowledge and experiences with the KIAF audience.

KIAF works in partnership with APAGA (Asia Pacific Art Galleries Association) to encourage globalisation of art sales. KIAF enhances the Asian art market by attracting global art collectors, artists and industry established names to Korea to engage in this event. A pre-catalogue of artwork will be released before the fair opens to enable visitors to view and purchase pieces from the exhibit.

KIAF 2016/ART SEOUL, 13-16 October (VIP Preview 12 October), COEX Hall A&B, Seoul. For more information, visit www.kiaf.org/2016

Credits
1. Courtesy of KIAF 2016.