TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 5th installment of Taipei Dangdai will take place at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, bringing together 79 leading contemporary art galleries from Taiwan and the world.

Scheduled to run May 10–12, the art fair showcases both emerging artists and highly sought-after established artists, with a particular emphasis on artworks exhibited in Asia for the first time. Talks and forums will also be held over the three days of the art fair, covering topics of interest to art collectors such as "Collecting as Culture” and “Making Antiques Contemporary,” per a Taipei Dangdai press release.

Taipei Dangdai is associated with two other Asian art fairs — ART SG (Singapore) and Tokyo Gendai — and are collectively referred to as The Art Assembly, powered by well-known art fair organizers Sandy Angus, Tim Etchells, and Magnus Renfrew. Taipei Dangdai has been led by Magnus Renfrew from the outset (2019), and his previous endeavors in Asia include ART HK (2007–2012)  and Art Basel in Hong Kong (2012–2014).

Taipei Dangdai is an upstart art fair when compared to the much older Art Taipei, which was founded in 1992. This can be an advantage as Taipei Dangdai is pitched to a wider contemporary art scene in Asia rather than the domestic art scene dominated by colleges and academia. 

For the first time, Taipei Dangdai will host a special exhibition area, "Before Thunders: An Exhibition of Taiwanese Artists." This is done with support from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. It aims to introduce Taiwan’s diverse art scene to a broader audience. 

Another new concept at Taipei Dangdai is the themed exhibition, “Evoke.” This area will focus on solo exhibitions of important artists in art history such as Ozioma Onuzulike and Anne Samat, presented by Marc Straus. Both artists look back on their cultural heritage and explore contemporary issues such as global climate change through their creations.

A public exhibition area for displaying large-scale immersive installation art, "Node,” makes a return. It reimagines the possibility of traditional art fair booth space. This year's two focus works present large-scale sculptures with craft-related themes. Local artist Julia Hung (洪郁雯) uses textile technology to capture the flow of time in space.

The final addition to the art fair is Cafe Culture, a rest area at the back of the exhibition site displaying a large-scale art map of Taiwan. This allows viewers an overview of current exhibitions at museums and art institutions across Taiwan, including Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taoyuan Museum of Fine Arts, Guandu Museum of Art, and Winsing Art Place.