Almanac 2014

ArtAsiaPacific has launched the 2014 edition of its Almanac, now in its ninth year. Its comprehensive Countries section is a detailed survey of each of the 67 nations we cover in the Asia-Pacific region—stretching from Turkey right across to the Pacific island of Kiribati—and captures all the significant cultural developments that have taken place in their respective art scenes over the past year.

Along with in-depth reports on the regional art market, a year’s worth of controversy, scandal, career moves, awards and other headline news is reviewed, while the most important art festivals and gallery and museum shows of 2013 are all debated. We also invite influential art-world figures to reflect on the major cultural events of the past year and the year to come. Aida Mahmudova, artist and founder of Yarat Contemporary Art Space in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Mella Jaarsma, artist and co-founder of Cemeti Art House in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are each proud to find their respective country’s art communities launching vital new initiatives. Sharjah Art Foundation’s president Sheikha Hoor al-Qasimi and Samoan interdisciplinary artist Shigeyuki Kihara reveal details of their busy schedules, recalling many of the year’s best moments on their global tours of their own art worlds. Chinese-Indonesian collector Budi Tek, who will be unveiling the second branch of his Yuz Museum in 2014, discusses the need for a higher standard of professionalism in China in an age of museum building. From Kolkata, Prateek Raja of Experimenter gallery points out the continuing dynamism of India’s art scene in spite of, or perhaps because of, a market slowdown. 

The Five Plus One section, in which our editors select five artists who made a significant impact with their work in 2013 and one who shows exceptional promise in 2014, features profiles of artists as varied in outlook as Richard Bell, Shilpa Gupta, Lee Mingwei, Shinro Ohtake, Sopheap Pich and Simon Fujiwara. Wrapping up this edition with our Books section, we presents the 12 books that have given us the greatest pleasure this year. A unique guide to the state of contemporary art in the Asia-Pacific, the Almanac is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the region.