The Single Pure Photography Art Fair in Taiwan

In 1970, Christie and Sotheby’s, two major international auction houses located in New York and London, have set up a dedicated photography auction. In continuation from that success, many photography gallaries around the world co-funded AIPAD (The Association of International Photography Art Dealers), an entity that organizes gallery openings that showcase exclusive photos. One of AIPAD’s annual highlights is the AIPAD Photography Show, held in New York. Such development of photography into the international market has been nearly four decades since then.

After the 1980s, the mingling between modern photography and contemporary art brought photography onto the international art stage. The high level of recognition for photography caused galleries and collectors to compete in terms of their photo collections. Responding to this trend, the Paris Photo was established in 1996 and to this day it remains a major annual event in the photography world by attracting visitors from around the world, ranging from museum researchers, curators, collectors, photographers, to art experts.

Ten years later this trend moved into Asia. Starting in 2008, Photo Beijing followed by the 2009 Singapore International Photography Festival and Tokyo Photo has been held. Facing this international trend, Taiwan Photo was successfully launched in 2011 as well.

With a respectively productive exhibition of Taiwan Photo since 2011, this year Taiwan Photo aims to attain a strong communication platform with the world by inviting well-known international galleries to Taiwan whilst expanding local knowledge on aesthetics. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s photo exhibition keeps enhancing international visibility of photographic art in Taiwan and enriching the public’s international views thus helping the promotion of cultural and diplomatic exchanges between Taiwan and the rest of the world.

Signed

Dr. Edward Chiu,

Chairman 2014/02