AKAA is struggling, while Asia Now continues its journey

The fair, dedicated to “artistic scenes from Africa, its diasporas, and Afro-descendants,” returns to the Carreau du Temple with nearly 40 galleries. Its selection includes more than fifteen French galleries, three galleries based in Portugal, three from the African continent, one from Los Angeles, one from Cairo, and two Swiss galleries. The Primo Marella Gallery (Italy) returns after a hiatus, presenting textile works by Joël Andrianomearisoa and Samuel Nnorom. The 193 Gallery (Paris) is also back, exhibiting paintings by Modou Dieng Yacine (starting at €10,500) and featuring the monumental sculpture by Cameroonian artist Malam at the center of the fair. New exhibitors include the Christophe Person Gallery (Paris), showcasing three artists centered around the theme of water scarcity. Among them are Abou Sidibé’s series “Puisette”, featuring glass bottles adorned with metal nails, cowries, beads, and buttons; Arnold Fokam’s photo-based paintings; and a series of prints by Nyaba Léon Ouedraogo on the Senegal River deity, a work selected for the upcoming Dakar Biennale of Contemporary Art (priced between €2,000 and €6,000). AKAA’s management has adapted this year with the appointment of Benjamin Hélion as associate director alongside Victoria Mann. Already involved as an advisor, Benjamin Hélion is also the head of communication companies, Urban Art Fair, and H Gallery. The great-grandson of renowned collector Peggy Guggenheim, is also a partner at the publishing house JBE Books and president of APOJHE (the association for promoting the work of Jean Hélion, regrouping the artist’s descendants). “While the current climate is challenging for the market overall, this year, the entire AKAA team has demonstrated ingenuity and creativity ” he asserts to boost morale. For the third consecutive year, Asia Now is hosted at the Monnaie de Paris, with a selection of seventy galleries from twenty-eight Asian countries and territories, spanning Central Asia to the Asia-Pacific region, including West, South, Southeast, and East Asia. This growth also reflects the appeal of the Asian scene and market from a European perspective. The Perrotin Gallery, which opened its doors in Hong Kong in 2012 and later in Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai, returns to Asia Now with two artists: Shim Moon-Seup, a pioneer of modern sculpture in Korea, and Chang Ya Chin, whose still-life oil paintings draw on 19th-century techniques. The Galleria Continua has participated in Asia Now since 2021, this year featuring a performance by Nikhil Chopra, accompanied by drummer and electronic musician Uriel Barthélémi. However, why have Nathalie Obadia, Almine Rech, and In Situ – Fabienne Leclerc not applied this year and will not be present? In contrast, the Les Filles du Calvaire gallery makes its debut at the fair with a solo exhibition by Makiko Furuichi. The Esther Schipper Gallery (Berlin, Paris, Seoul) showcases three artists, including Hyunsun Jeon with a series of watercolors (priced between €10,000 and €20,000). The Marguo Gallery (Paris) dedicates its stand to Vietnamese-American painter Dianna Settles, whose highly detailed paintings capture “moments of joyful calm amidst the cascading crises of modern life” and evoke group portraits from the Dutch Golden Age. The Now On section, dedicated to young galleries promoting emerging artists, features exhibitors from around the world: Square Street Gallery (Hong Kong), A.I. (London), LKHAM (Ulaanbaatar), Biscuit Gallery (Tokyo), and IDOLON Gallery (Taipei). Asia Now aims “to be as much a contemporary art fair as a platform for artist project production”. This anniversary edition, themed around rituals and celebration, includes a curated exhibition organized by Radicants International, a “nomadic” curatorial structure founded in 2022 by Nicolas Bourriaud, titled Ceremony, which brings together twenty-two artists. A program of talks and films accompanies this edition. Among the announced performances in the Cour d’Honneur of the Monnaie, an installation by architect Sumayya Vally (artistic director of the first Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in 2023) is activated daily under the curation of Kathy Alliou (head of the Department of Works at the Beaux-Arts de Paris). Its title, They Who Bring Rain Bring Life, may console Parisians wearied by the rainy start to autumn.