Director Alexandra Fain Expands the Vision of Asia NOW

Since its launch in 2015, Asia NOW has stood out as the only European fair dedicated to showcasing both historic and emerging art scenes from across Asia, represented by galleries from around the globe. Collectors and visitors travel from all over to experience immersive installations and performances by leading international artists. For its 10th edition, the fair takes over La Monnaie de Paris with an expanded lineup of projects and performances. Founder and director Alexandra Fain reflects on how the fair has evolved, from its growing programming to the introduction of the RAK Art Foundation Prize and a slate of must-see exhibitions.

Alexandra Fain on This Year’s Fresh Talent

WHITEWALL: Who are some of the fair first-timers visitors should keep an eye out for?

ALEXANDRA FAIN: This year’s edition welcomes an exciting wave of first-time participants. Among the galleries joining the fair for the first time are Art Arario (Seoul),  Capsule Shanghai (Shanghai), Klemm’s (Berlin), and BAIK ART (Los Angeles, Seoul, Jakarta). In addition, the NOW ON section introduces a new generation of galleries founded after 2015, such as Gallery2 (Seoul) and IAH Gallery (Seoul), spotlighting the vitality of emerging art scenes.

Asia NOW also inaugurates The Third Space, a new section dedicated to experimental practices, hybridity, and collaboration between galleries with a presentation curated by Sahil Arora (Method Art Space, Mumbai) alongside Rajiv Menon Contemporary (Los Angeles) titled “We Were Always Neighbours” bringing together emerging artists from India and Pakistan into a common space of artistic and cultural kinship; a project proposed bu Lê Thiên-Bào (Galerie Bao, Paris) with Ingahee Gallery (Seoul) presenting artist Koo Jiun’s Androgynous God series, about reimagining the beings of Buddhist cosmology; and a presentation by HATCH Gallery of Iranian artist Laila Tara H, featuring two kaftan-shaped works in fabric and paper, paired with a sound piece that transforms the installation into a place of memory, inheritance, and delicate resonance.

We also celebrate the return of galleries already part of the Asia NOW family. Among them: Esther Schipper (Berlin, Paris, New York, Seoul), carlier | gebauer (Berlin), Sabrina Amrani (Madrid), Yeo Workshop (Singapore), NIKA Project Space (Dubai, Paris), Tabari Art Space (Dubai), P21 (Seoul), Kaikai Kiki (Tokyo), Gallery Side 2 (Tokyo), Galerie BAO (Paris), and O Art Space (Lahore).

“Opening a space where new connections and perspectives can take root,”

-Alexandra Fain

WW: Asia is obviously an incredibly diverse continent. Is there a region where we’ll see new or increased participation from?

AF: This year, Asia NOW places West Asia and South Asia at the very heart of its programming, with an unprecedented number of projects from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Lebanon, Turkey, Qatar, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. These regions—long treated as the “blind spots” of traditional fairs, are now asserting themselves as cultural ecosystems, and Asia NOW provides the stage for their voices to resonate.

From West Asia, highlights include Ahaad Alamoudi’s recurring activation Ghosts of Today and Tomorrow, presented by the Saudi Visual Arts Commission; Under the Aegis of the Moon, a performative installation by Han Mengyun, presented by AFALULA (Saudi Arabia) punctuating the fair with light and sound. Mohammed Al Faraj transforms the entrance of La Monnaie with palm tree prints echoing his native Al Hasa, while Alserkal Advisory (Dubai) presents The Cut Line by Lebanese artist Pascal Hachem.

From South Asia,  we have a program from the Lahore Biennale Foundation (Pakistan), curated by John Tain. Colomboscope (Sri Lanka) presents a performance by Chathuri Nissansala and a conversation between Hajra Haider and Saadia Mirza, alongside a screening of works by Subas Tamang (Nepal). The Kochi-Muziris Biennale (India) contributes a rich program including a session with Nikhil Chopra and Shwetal Patel, as well as a video program from the Jaipur Centre for Artists’ Cinema. 

Together, these initiatives, spanning installations, performances, conversations, and screenings, signal a profound shift of cultural gravity. By amplifying these quieter but urgent voices, Asia NOW 2025  continues to reframe Asia not as a  geography, but as a  methodology and movement, opening a space where new connections and perspectives can take root.

WW: Are there any solo booths or themed presentations that are not to miss?

AF:  Absolutely.  carlier | gebauer presents Philippine artist Maria Taniguchi, while Galerie Sabrina Amrani dedicates its space to Manal AlDowayan, one of Saudi Arabia’s most important contemporary artists on the international stage. Her practice interrogates traditions, and collective memory, AlDowayan represented Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale 2024, and her work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York), Louvre Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).

Mohammed Al Faraj (represented by Mennour and ATHR) will transform the right peristyle of La Monnaie with a monumental installation combining photography, sand, trunks, and palm trees. Hatch Gallery presents Laila Tarah H’s immersive installation Life Jackets, addressing the migration crisis, and 91530 Le Marais highlights a  textile work by Desire Moheb Zandi. 

Among the newcomers, Arario Gallery offers a multigenerational presentation of Korean artists : Kim Soun-Gui, Lee Jinju, Cha Hyeonwook, and Park Wunggyu exploring how East Asian aesthetics evolve from deep traditions into contemporary practice.

This Season’s Must‑See Exhibitions

WW: What exhibitions around Paris are you excited to see this season?

AF: Asia NOW at La Monnaie de Paris of course, with the VIP preview on Tuesday October 21! We’re excited to see what our Parisian galleries present. Galerie BAO , Nika Project Space, PRON, and Backlash also unveil new exhibitions this season, making October in Paris a moment where institutional gravity and the vitality of  galleries meet in dialogue.

WW: How is contemporary craft positioned as a cornerstone of the fair?

AF: Since its inception, the fair has championed craft as a vital thread between tradition and contemporary expression. Over the years, this commitment has taken shape through projects such as the 2018 Japanese Platform, the 2022 exhibition Mingei curated by Nicolas Trembley, and last year’s Go for Kōgi, The Mingei Spirit: Minimalist by Nature—all of which explored how traditional techniques like ceramics, weaving, and plant-fiber textiles can be reframed as contemporary art.

This year’s Craft Exhibition continues that trajectory, spotlighting three artists who have each been finalists in different editions of the LOEWE Craft Prize. Racso Jugarap (Philippines) presents textile works that intertwine mythology, diaspora, and queer identity. Sumakshi Singh (India) creates embroidered installations tracing memory and spiritual space. Wan Bing Huang (China) expands the language of craft into surreal landscapes through drawing, animation, and installation.

Together, these presentations reaffirm Asia NOW’s long-standing belief: that craft is not ancillary, but central to contemporary practice—a living methodology that carries tradition forward while opening new avenues of experimentation.

“The fair has championed craft as a vital thread between tradition and contemporary expression,”

-Alexandra Fain

WW: This year also marks the launch of the RAK Art Foundation Prize. Can you tell us about this new award?

AF: We’re proud to introduce the RAK Art Foundation Prize, a new award that will debut at Asia NOW 2025. The prize will be awarded to two artists participating in this edition of the fair, offering them a one-month residency at The Art Station in Bahrain, supported by the RAK Art Foundation.

During their residency, the selected artists will collaborate with local artisans to develop new work in line with the Foundation’s values of heritage, continuity, and craft. The residency includes travel, accommodation, and a production fee, with a dedicated exhibition at the Foundation to follow.

The 2025 jury brings together a distinguished group of voices: Benedicta Badia (France); Emre Baykal, Director of Arter Foundation (Turkey); Sara Raza, Director of the Museum of Modern Art, Tashkent (Uzbekistan/USA); Salma Tuqan, Director of Nottingham Contemporary (UK/Palestine); and curator Anissa Touati (France/Morocco). The residency period runs between December 2025 and December 2026, with winners announced during the fair. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, October 24.