New art fair Pavilion to offer Taipei and Hong Kong ‘a different kind of experience’
Pavilion offers a slower alternative to the ‘hyper-accelerated pace’ of Asia’s big contemporary art fairs, says one of its co-founders
A new Asian art fair concept will take place in Taipei from January 22-26, followed by a Hong Kong edition in March.
Called “Pavilion”, the fair is the brainchild of Willem Molesworth and Ysabelle Cheung, the founders of Hong Kong gallery PHD Group. The pair were also behind Supper Club, an alternative art fair that ran from 2024 to 2025 with late-night opening hours.
The organisers say that the Taipei fair will share the ethos of Supper Club, which aimed to encourage a new kind of viewing and collecting experience based on building “earnest connections” between collectors and experimental artists and providing a break from the intensity of the commercial art market’s “hyper-accelerated pace”.
The choice of venue in Taipei embodies Pavilion’s tempo and community spirit, Molesworth says. The Grand Courtyard is a century-old Japanese colonial complex in Taipei’s historic Da’an district consisting of low-rise buildings with terraced roofs and an outdoor garden with ample seating.
It previously served as quarters for staff of National Taiwan University, but the compound was badly damaged by fire in 2013.
Now restored as an events and exhibition space, the venue will show experimental art by 18 Taiwanese and international galleries in a booth-free arrangement, with extra space provided by two trucks parked on-site.