Ocula provides curated online access to significant contemporary art fairs, which take place around the world. At these fairs the audience will discover a range of art, from works by emerging artists to established artists, covering an array of media from oil painting to fine art photography, to drawing. As new art centres are emerging, more and more art fairs dedicated to the promotion of art are starting too.
Read MoreThe United States is home to numerous contemporary art fairs. The Armory Show and the Frieze Art Fair in New York are both recognised as being major international events for the presentation of contemporary art for sale from the world's leading galleries. Art Basel in Miami Beach ranks among the world's most fashionable and busy art fairs, featuring over 200 of the world's most influential contemporary galleries, with a particular emphasis on Lain America. Other important art fairs in the USA include those in Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto.
The international art fair is the manifestation of an ambition to host a major art event in a city with growing arts infrastructure. In bringing together contemporary artworks from across a region and beyond to one space, there is a resultant energy and commercial focus. Art Basel in Hong Kong, is now the leading art fair in Asia, with over 200 of the world's top galleries participating in March every year. Other art fairs vie for attention and the most successful also have the support of the city in which they are based. Art Stage Singapore, Art Tokyo, Art Fair Philippines and the Korean International Art Fair are all of significance. New art fairs have emerged in Shanghai and Taipei reflecting the growing interest in contemporary art in those cities.
Held in the unforgettable Beaux Arts architecture of the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais in Paris, FIAC and Art Brussels continue to exhibit the best in contemporary and modern art. Taking place in October, Frieze in London's Regent Park is a contemporary art fair that along with its New York version are recognised as where the direction of contemporary art can be seen at its best. The most prestigious art fair in Europe is Art Basel in Basel. Established in 1970 the Art Basel art fair is now the most important art fair in the world and has a number of satellite fairs that accompany events around the fair. Other important contemporary art fairs are Arco in Madrid, the new Art Dusseldorf and the increasingly influencial Artissima in Turin, Italy.
Dubai is undoubtedly the heart of the Middle Eastern contemporary art show calendar. For over a decade, Art Dubai has been the premier art fair in the region, its directors bringing a unique sense of glamour to the exhibition programme. The contemporary art fairs in Istanbul have recently had some doubt cast over them due to Turkey's political climate, but Art Istanbul and Contemporary Istanbul are still important. The India Art Fair has grown in stature and is becoming a must on the international calendar.
The Sao Paulo and Rio de Janiero art fairs are both noted for their breadth of galleries participating from the huge scope of the contemporary art world of Latin America. Smaller fairs have popped up in Santiago and Bogota which are worth attention.
Despite only being inaugurated in 2013, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair has rapidly gained prominence and is now counted as one of Australasia's leading arts events. From Australia's creative hub of Melbourne, SPRING 1883 provides a vibrant celebration of contemporary art with an experimental gallery focus. The relaunched Melbourne Art Fair in 2018 will bring a much needed return of a fully managed art fair to Melbourne with serious intent to present the best in the region and beyond. In New Zealand there is the Auckland Art Fair which is a mostly local affair showcasing highly regarded New Zealand contemporary art in a waterfront venue.
