THE Art Expo
Malaysia celebrates its seventh year in 2013 as the longest running
uninterrupted art fair in South-east Asia. It’s founder Vincent Sim Tiak Choo
(now a Datuk), raised the seed-funds through selling part of his vast 40-year
Chinese art collection in a booming China art market and by mortgaging two
properties. It was to fulfill a dream,
of creating a friendly marketplace of commerce and fraternity for some of the
finest art from all over the world, with Kuala Lumpur as the hub. That was in
2007. The rest, as they say, is history.
Datuk
Vincent Sim’s vision is simple, like the man himself. He opted for ‘An Art Expo
with a Heart’ instead of shooting for the sky in a crowded elitist market. Over
the years, the AEM has come to be known for:
1) Special
Tribute Pavilion to honour Living Legend Artists – Dato Chuah Thean Teng, Datuk
Syed Ahmad Jamal, Dr Chung Chen Sun, Cheah Yew Saik, Taiwan’s Li Chi-Mao, South
Korea’s Jang Soon-Up;
2) Charity
causes – developing a promising group of autistic artists under the HeArts Club
and charitable shows;
3) China
Pavilions with the likes of animation wizard Miao Xiao-Chun and Chinese brush
grandmaster Wang Xi-Jing and many other reputable artists in Chinese brush
techniques and contemporary art practices. Miao even launched his world
premiere of his latest, Neo-Cubism Project, in the 2012 AEM;
4) Embassy’s
Row, opening new flanks of diverse expressions from more far-flung countries
like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba and Ecuador.
5) It has
midwifed Special Projects like the Malaysian Sculpture Now; and the Malaysian
Art Idol: New Directions, Different Voices.
In 2008, the
AEM organised a paint-in of 250 artists on a single piece of cloth 888-feet
long, and presented it to the China Olympics organising committee, invited
several artists to Beijing to paint their impressions and held an exhibition in
Kuala Lumpur.
Top foreign
artists, past and present, have passed through its portals. To name a few: Liu
Hai-Su, Li Ke-Ran, ‘Pop Art’ Grandmother Yayoi Kusama, M.F. Husain, Chen
Yi-Fei, Yue Min-Jun, Fang Li-Jun, Wang Guang-Yi, ‘Penguin Man’ Vincent JF
Huang; Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Zao Wou-Ki.
 |
| Some of the participating galleries |
This year,
62 galleries from 27 countries take part in Art Expo Malaysia 2013 and more
than 2,000 pieces of artwork will be exhibited. Those who are interested in
joining Art Expo Malaysia 2013, the details are as follows:
Time: 10am –
7.30pm (22nd September, 10am – 6pm)
Date: 19th
-22nd September 2013
Place:
MATRADE Exhibition & Convention Centre
For more information, please log on to www.artexpomalaysia.com
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