(LEAD) Korea lures Asia's art collectors to its biggest art market next month

(ATTN: ADDS photo, more details in para 3, 9-10)
By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's biggest art fair is set to open next month, with a variety of art-related events for domestic and international art fans and collectors, its organizer said Thursday.

The 15th Korea International Air Fair (KIAF), which runs from Oct. 12 until 16 at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul, has invited 170 galleries from 16 countries.

Taiwanese artists, represented by 11 galleries, will be extensively featured during the event as the country is the guest of honor this year. Chen Kuangyi, professor of National Taiwan University of Arts, will lead an artist talk session with young Taiwanese artists Kuo Chihhung, Lin Yuching and Wei Hsingyu. Emerson Wang, director of Art Taipei 2016, will give a lecture on the country's contemporary art scene.

The annual art market is hosted by the Galleries Association of Korea and supported by various relevant agencies and institutions including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Arts Management Service (KAMS).

At the media briefing Thursday, Park Woo-hong, chairman of the association, told reporters that the organizers have invited a total of 130 high-profile collectors, journalists, critics, art directors and gallery owners from overseas.

Those invited include big names like Hong Kong entrepreneur Adrian Cheng, CEO of New World Development and creator of the K11 Art Foundation, one of the world's biggest art collectors. Also invited are Adam Sheffer, president of Art Dealers Association of America; Georgina Adam, editor-at-large of The Art Newspaper; and Robert Manley, deputy chairman of Philips.

"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," said Chairman Park. "We hope they can spot the potential of Korean art by attending the art fair."

Alongside the market, there will be "K-Art Conversation," a forum organized by the KAMS where panelists talk on various topics ranging from ways to promote collaboration between art and business to the trends and prospects of the Asian art market to art in the digital era. Adrian Cheng, industrial designer Alan Chan, and Jonathan Watkins, director of London's IKON Gallery, among others, will join the talks.

For those who can't physically come to the fair, works at the KIAF will be available to see on Artsy, an online platform dedicated to art news and auctions starting next Thursday, a week before the opening. The organizers expect the cooperation with the website to help boost Korea artists' global profile.

Meanwhile, KAMS will simultaneously run "2016 Korea Gallery Weekend" from Oct. 13-16 at the cultural center Nemo in Hanam-dong, southern Seoul. Each of the participating 20 Korean galleries will showcase who they consider to be the most promising young artists to major collectors.

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

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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