Two major art fairs are returning to Shanghai next month

Photograph: courtesy West Bund Art and Design

Exciting news for all the art collectors and art lovers out there: two major art fairs, West Bund Art and Design and ART021, will be held in Shanghai from Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 November.

Falling on the same few days, this year it's increasingly difficult to differentiate the two events as both fairs have attracted hundreds of galleries from across the globe, and a large number of them are participating in both. Plus, both art fairs have a focus on modern and contemporary art across different genres and cater to Asian collectors, particularly local Shanghai ones (makes sense).

The difference really lies in their locations: the comparatively older ART021 takes place at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, while West Bund Art and Design has its exhibition at Shanghai’s newest art hub West Bund.

Photographs: BANK; Sadie Cole; Don Gallery; Hive Centre for Contemporary Art; MadeIn Gallery; Kotaro Nukaga; Perrotin; Esther Schipper; White Space Beijing; P21; Yve Yang, courtesy West Bund Art and Design

If you are looking to invest in – or simply take in – works by big and familiar names at West Bund Art and Design, head out to Hall A where you’ll see pieces by Lee Ufan (Pearl Lam), Yayoi Kusama (Ota Fine Arts), Yves Klein (Ben Brown) and Marina Abramović (Lisson), or walk to Hall N where you’ll discover paintings by Joan Miro (Galerie Lelong), Francis Alÿs (Galerie Peter Kilchmann) and a new sculpture by Xuzhen (MadeIn Gallery).

In addition to the usual stalls set up by individual galleries, this year’s ART021 will add a new exhibition unit called DETOUR. Twelve invited galleries from China, Korea, Iran, the UAE, Indonesia, Thailand and more will be showing artworks that go beyond the Eurocentric geographic map and offer narratives beyond the mainstream ideology.

The first two days (Thursday 7 and Friday 8) of both fairs are reserved for VIP guests and then it's fair game for the general public over the weekend (general admission for West Bund Art and Design starts at midday Friday 8).

📍West Bund Art and Design, West Bund Art Centre, 2555 Longteng Dadao, near Fenggu Lu. Thu 7-Sun 10 Nov. 118RMB. Add WeChat ID 'WestBundArtnDesign' for more info.

📍ART021, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, 1000 Yanan Zhong Lu, near Weihai Lu. Sat 9-Sun 10 Nov. 100RMB; 75RMB (students). Add WeChat ID 'ART021' for more info.

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