Asia Week New York 2023 Predicts a Colorful Spring

The Flowering of Asian Art in New York 

Photos: Lavina Melwani

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith winter, snow and blizzards in the forecast for New York in the coming months, it is happy news to know that you can look forward to the warmth and beauty of art and schedule it on your calendar with the celebration of Asia Week New York 2023. There will be wonderful art from all parts of Asia, and this is a spring ritual since 14 years, with art lovers congregating in New York for an endless feast of exhibitions, museum shows, panel discussions and art auctions, all highlighting Asia.

So mark March 16 to March 24 on your calendar.

Over 26 international galleries and six auction houses —Bonhams, Christie’s, Doyle, Heritage Auctions, iGavel, and Sotheby’s–will participate in the 2023 edition of Asia Week New York.  The collaboration of international Asian art galleries and auction houses with numerous museums and cultural institutions makes Asia Week New York  a week-long celebration filled with a non-stop gallery open houses, Asian art auctions as well as museum exhibitions, lectures, and special events.

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ecently the powers that be – gallery owners, museum representatives and dealers  gathered with media at a reception at Fu Quimeng Fine Art Gallery in Manhattan to discuss the upcoming festival.

“It’s going to be a very, very lively, different mix of dealers than we’ve had traditionally, but it’s part of the market and the market change and we’re all very excited about it,” said  Dessa Goddard, Chairwoman of Asia Week New York. “Participants from Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, and the United States unveil an extraordinary array of museum-quality treasures from China, India, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, and Korea.”

Mike Hearn, the Douglas Dillon Chairman of the Asian art department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was also there to map out the plans at the Met for next year. “It’s going to be exciting as always for us to host the reception on the initial Monday for Asia week. And even though we were suffering with COVID last year, I think we had somewhere above 450 people who turned out that day.” It is the most anticipated event of the Asia Week happenings and draws hundreds of art aficionados to the Met.

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]earn shared the highlights of the upcoming exhibitions at the Met celebrating the diversity of Asia. “In the past we had an escalator space that was straight out of  the Department of Motor Vehicles and now it has a wonderful exhibition that’s going to be there for maybe a couple of years by a Taiwanese contemporary artist named Michael Lin. You could walk right by the ceramics and never know that that was the source of inspiration for Michael who has taken details of those ceramics and turned them into wallpaper in this escalator space. So it’s very dramatic, very colorful. I’d like to just keep it there!”

There will also be a collaboration of Western and Asian ceramicists showcasing traditional and contemporary inspirations. Hearn added, “It’s a real collaboration, and this is the future for Asia and I think for the Met, that we’re going to be able to work with other departments in the museum effectively.”

Also at the Met is Kurt Barrett’s exhibition on Ganesha who is the Lord of new beginnings that just opened last month as well as rotations of Tibetan and Nepali art and sculptures. “We’re so proud of the fact that we can celebrate Asia with the kind of depth and quality that only New York dealers make possible. What it is, it’s really a community effort and we’re so grateful.”

Indeed there will be something for all passions and tastes including Ancient and contemporary Chinese art, Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art, Ancient and/or Contemporary Japanese Art, Ancient and Contemporary Korean Art. Here’s a peek at some of the art from participating galleries.

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Large Fahua Porcelain Jar with the Eight Immortals
Ming dynasty
15th-16th century

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]sked if things have changed  over the last  two years of COVID  and if visitors are getting more universal in their tastes rather than sticking with what’s from their community or country, Hearn noted, “That’s a really a hopeful wish. I think that that there is still a lot of pride in seeing each of these Asian cultures represented. I really hope that it’s that rather than saying, ‘Well, how did these things got to America?’”

“But obviously we want people from every Asian culture to come and say, ‘I expect my country to be well represented in an encyclopedic museum.’ And Asia doesn’t have those museums. And that’s a characteristic of the Enlightenment that began with the British Museum and ask yourself how many of those things did Napoleon carry back? That’s the nature of art. And it’s always been booty and treasure, but it has also been a source of inspiration and enlightenment. And so we’re trying to embrace that point of view.”