To many people, art fairs may seem like highbrow, unreachably glamorous affairs. But during our conversation with Alan Koh, Director for Affordable Art Fair Singapore since 2015, he says something we should all take to heart: “You don’t have to be afraid.”
Originating in London with the aim of making art collecting more approachable, the Affordable Art Fair launched in Singapore in 2010, and has since become our longest-running international art fair. With the majority of works priced under $7,500 and prices capped at $15,000, the fair is committed to bringing art at various price points to new audiences and fledgling collectors.
Featuring 83 galleries and over 750 artists, this year’s edition celebrates the Affordable Art Fair’s 15th anniversary in Singapore. To mark the occasion, Alan recounts his personal history with the fair, tells us about its ethos of accessibility, and shares some tips for those visiting for the first time.
Chance encounters
Alan’s engagement with the art world has been facilitated by moments of serendipity. In 2007, he left the fashion and cosmetics industry to take up an opening in marketing at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. His art journey could have ended prematurely, however, if not for a fateful call from Camila Hewitson, then director of the Affordable Art Fair, in 2010.
“I was actually going to work in a bank,” Alan says to our surprise. But since the project would only be for a few months, he figured there was no harm. Happily, the first fair was a success, and he hasn’t looked back since.
15 years of the Affordable Art Fair
Having been with the fair since its arrival in Singapore, Alan has fond memories of the past one and a half decades — from a tent blowing away one year to standing nervously outside the F1 Pit Building that very first 2010 edition, wondering if people would turn up.
He recalls that the first Affordable Art Fair kicked off with a lion dance for prosperity and good luck. Featuring 50 galleries, it blew past its projected 7,000 visitors to welcome 9,500 instead, and sold 850 artworks for a $1.75 million sales total. Since then, the fair has grown from strength to strength, with 16,000 visitors and 81 galleries at the 2023 edition racking up $5 million across 1,850 artwork sales.
“Obviously,” says Alan with humour, “the lion dance worked.”
Each year, the Affordable Art Fair includes a specially curated #SPOTLIGHT section, past editions of which have focused on themes such as photography, new artists, or works below $1,000. This year’s #SPOTLIGHT stars 20 galleries who have shown with the fair since the beginning, from REDSEA Gallery to Art Forum Singapore. For these galleries to still be here 15 years later, Alan reflects, must mean that they’ve done something right. It’s a heartening testament to the long-term impacts the fair has had on the local art scene.
New artists, new galleries
Every art fair involves at least three very different groups, each with their own interests and needs — artists, galleries, and visitors.
One of the Affordable Art Fair’s goals is to support promising new artists and bring their works to a bigger stage. In the past, it’s done this through its Young Talent Programme, which ran from 2012–2019 in collaboration with ION Art. Each year, a group of emerging artists would be chosen to show at the fair, with some also selected to stage solo shows at ION Art Gallery. For the young artists — often fresh out of school and with no gallery representation — this could be an important stepping stone towards artistic and commercial success.
Furthermore, the fair encourages its galleries to show new artists, and actively seeks out new galleries to work with. This year, 248 artists and 19 galleries are new to the fair, including South Korea’s KAN and Singapore’s Intersections Gallery, showing riotously detailed mixed-media works by multidisciplinary artist Gilles Massot. Of the 83 galleries, 62, or 75%, are from the Asia-Pacific region, evidencing the Affordable Art Fair’s commitment to platforming work from this part of the world.
Making art approachable
But perhaps what most distinguishes the Affordable Art Fair is how it prioritises the fair visitor — especially the one new to art. “We’re trying to make it more accessible and break down the barriers, because people always think that art fairs are intimidating,” says Alan. “What can we do to make [them] less intimidating?”
This question guides many elements of the fair, from clearly displaying prices on the walls to coaching gallery staff to be friendly and personable. Each year, roughly 30-50% of fair attendees are first-time visitors. They need a gentle, welcoming introduction to practices such as interpreting art, speaking to gallerists, and developing their personal taste.
Hence, the fair places a strong emphasis on education — after all, Alan points out, you’re more likely to buy art when you understand it. “Our main aim is not only to appeal to seasoned collectors, but also growing the collector base from the bottom up — converting people who either didn’t dare, dislike, or have not thought about being engaged with art.”
What to expect this year
Consistent with its inclusive ethos, the Affordable Art Fair boasts all kinds of different entry points for different audiences. These include the Special Projects section, comprising interactive experiences and installations meant to help the public engage with art. This year’s projects include a homey recreation of an artist studio by Deborah McKellar, a stack of 365 rosy wooden apples by Li Shudan, a throng of busy city dwellers traced in 3D pen filament by Yerin Shin, and a cosy stop-motion video series made in wool by Andrea Love. Meanwhile, under the live Artists’ Takeover programme, visitors get to watch a different artist in action every day of the fair.
Besides seeing and buying art, visitors will also get to make art for themselves. The Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film will be offering a selection of programmes including a drop-in photo collage activity, a photography art tour, and workshops teaching everything from portraiture to printing and framing. At the Children’s Studio, little ones can make paper sea creatures to add to a community art wall.
Add to all this a limited-edition stamp rally by Talking Textiles, a special showcase by the Art Galleries Association of Singapore, and a tempting lineup of food and beverage options including a cafe and a champagne lounge, and it’s clear that visitors to this year’s fair will be spoilt for choice in more ways than one.
Matters of taste
Keen to visit the fair, but still feeling uncertain about how to start your art journey? Alan offers a few helpful tips.
First, you can visit the Affordable Art Fair website to see what galleries and artists catch your eye, and dive deeper into the histories and practices of those that especially intrigue you. If you do some research beforehand, you’ll feel less overwhelmed when you visit the fair.
At the fair itself, you’re going to see a lot of art, but you can use your phone or a writing pad to note down the kind of styles you’re most drawn to. Before you take the plunge on a purchase, ask the gallerist or artist to tell you more about how and why the artwork was created (the techniques used, the subject matter, the backstory, and so on), and see if these resonate with you. After all, Alan says, “You’re not really buying a piece of art that is [merely] an output — you’re buying a story as well.” And of course, check the label to make sure the price is within your budget!
Developing your personal taste in art can be a lifelong journey. But to Alan, being inexperienced isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, new visitors to the fair can be more broad-minded buyers, unburdened by conventional notions of what is good or bad: “They just come with an open mind and buy what they like … [I]t becomes a very personal thing.”
For those still refining their personal styles, Alan suggests simply going online and piecing a few images together, without trying to adhere to any known aesthetics or labels — “use your eyes, what you see and feel, as a guide.” It doesn’t matter if you, like Alan, love both midcentury modern furniture and edgy contemporary pieces. “There’s no right or wrong. Sometimes, when you throw everything together, it just works.”
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The Affordable Art Fair 2024 runs from 7-10 November 2024 at the F1 Pit Building. Visit affordableartfair.com/fairs/singapore to purchase tickets and find out more.
Header image courtesy of Affordable Art Fair.
This article is produced in paid partnership with the Affordable Art Fair. Thank you for supporting the institutions that support Plural.
