Oh FIAC! Cancelled, Postponed and Online Art Fairs

News Frieze London Cancelled, Replaced by Online Viewing Room Sam Gaskin

London‘s much-anticipated Frieze Week will take place 5–16 October minus the marquee events it’s named after. Frieze London and Frieze Masters were cancelled back in July, joining the ranks of major art fairs scheduled for the fall, including FIAC in Paris, that have been nixed or bumped deep into 2021. Melbourne Art Fair has even cancelled its 2021 event, postponing until February 2022.

Despite the long list of art calendar cancellations and postponements, there are some alluring events going ahead online in 2020 — including Sydney Contemporary Presents 2020, Frieze Viewing Room, and TEFAF Online. There’s also a new online-only fair by digital art specialists Daata, and the ‘Viral Edition’ of London’s Art Car Boot Fair arranged after their first online event reportedly crashed due to excess site traffic.

A few in-person art fairs are also going ahead in 2020, including Asia Now in Paris, and Shanghai‘s ART021 and West Bund Art Fair. Art Basel has also laid out plans for its Hong Kong fair to return in March 2021, where it will share the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre with rival art fair Art Central for the first time.

Dates for major art fairs scheduled to take place during late 2020 and early 2021 are listed below in alphabetical order. This list will be updated as new information becomes available.

ARCOmadrid (Spain)

Scheduled: 26 February–1 March, 2021
Now: 7–11 July, 2021

Art021 (Shanghai, China)

Scheduled: 12–15 November, 2020
Now: As scheduled

Art Basel in Hong Kong (China)

Scheduled: 25–27 March, 2021
Now: As scheduled

Art Car Boot Fair (London, United Kingdom)

Scheduled: 20 September, 2020
Now: Cancelled, replaced by Viral Edition, 4 October, 2020

Art Cologne (Germany)

Scheduled: 23–26 April, 2020
Now: 18–22, November, 2020

Art Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

Scheduled: 25–28 March, 2020
Now: 17–20 March, 2021

Art Fair Tokyo (Japan)

Scheduled: 20–22 March, 2020
Now: 18–21 March, 2021

Art Jakarta (Indonesia)

Scheduled: 28–30 August, 2020
Now: 27–29 August, 2021

Art Taipei (Taiwan)

Scheduled: 23–26 October, 2020
Now: As scheduled

ART X Lagos (Nigeria)

Scheduled: 6–15 November, 2020
Now: Online, 2–9 December, 2020

Asia Now (Paris, France)

Scheduled: 21–24 October, 2020
Now: As scheduled

Daata Art Fair (Online)

Scheduled: 6–25 October, 2020
Now: As scheduled

Dallas Art Fair (United States)

Scheduled: 1–4 October, 2020
Now: 15–18 April, 2021

FIAC (Paris, France)

Scheduled: 22–25 October, 2020
Now: 21–24 October, 2021

Frieze London (United Kingdom)

Scheduled: 7–11 October, 2020
Now: Cancelled. Replaced by Frieze Viewing Room, 9–16 October

Frieze Masters (United Kingdom)

Scheduled: 7–11 October, 2020
Now: Cancelled. Replaced by Frieze Viewing Room, 9–16 October

KIAF ART SEOUL (Korea)

Scheduled: 25–27 September, 2020
Now: Cancelled. Replaced by Online Viewing Room, 23 September–18 October, 2020

Melbourne Art Fair (Australia)

Scheduled: 4–7 February, 2021
Now: 17–20 February, 2022

Sydney Contemporary (Australia)

Scheduled: 9–13 September, 2020
Now: Cancelled. Replaced by Sydney Contemporary Presents 2020, 1–31 October

Taipei Dangdai (Taiwan)

Scheduled: 15–17 January, 2021
Now: 21–23 May, 2021

TEFAF New York Fall (United States)

Scheduled: 30 October–4 November, 2020
Cancelled. Replaced by TEFAF Online, 1–4 November, 2020

West Bund Art & Design (Shanghai, China)

Scheduled: 11–15 November, 2020
Now: As scheduled. —[O]

Main image: FIAC Paris, 2019. Photo: Charles Roussel.