Biggest-ever Daegu Art Fair to kick off next week

Korean art collectors are turning their eyes to Daegu, a two-hour KTX trip from Seoul, for the upcoming Daegu Art Fair 2021 as local art fairs continue to ride the unexpected wave of popularity in the art market.

Daegu Art Fair 2021, considered the third major art fair in the country along with KIAF Seoul and Art Busan, kicks off on Nov. 4 at Exco. Galleries Association of Daegu, who has hosted the fair since 2008, is jointly organizing this year’s edition with the Galleries Association of Korea with the aim of expanding the fair.

A VIP session opens next Thursday at 4 p.m. and will run through Sunday for the general public. The number of participating galleries has increased to 126 from five countries. Last year, only 70 galleries set up their booths due to the global pandemic. 

“It is the largest scale in terms of the number of galleries and exhibition space, which is 1.5 times larger than previous editions,” an official from the Galleries Association of Daegu told The Korea Herald.

Several major galleries will head to Korea’s fourth-largest city, such as Kukje Gallery, Gallery Hyundai, Leeahn Gallery, Hakgojae, Johyun Gallery, and Gallery Baton. Gallery Edel from Japan, WAS Gallery from China and Bode Galerie from Germany are also participating. Nearly 5,000 works by 700 artists will be on display.

The ticket is priced at 10,000 won for adults and 8,000 won for students. The fair opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 7:30 p.m. throughout Saturday. It closes at 6 p.m. on Sunday. 

Korea’s art market has been in full swing over the past couple of years with local art fairs recording the largest-ever sales annually. The 20-year-old KIAF Seoul raked in 65 billion won ($55.5 million) in sales with 88,000 visitors in its five-day run in early October. The 10-year-old Art Busan wrapped up in May with a record 80,000 visitors, and logged 35 billion won in sales.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)