Sydney, Seoul, Shenzhen, New York—the first week of September brought fairs to major cities around the world. Whether five fairs in four distinct geographies are either compatible or competitive remains to be seen, as major economies are struggling to recover their pre-pandemic balance and galleries are stretched by the demands to expand their collector base globally.

Seoul

In the five-year partnership between KIAF (Sep 6–10), run by the Korean Galleries Association, and London-based, American-owned Frieze Seoul (Sep 6–9), the two fairs occupy different floors at the Coex convention center during the same week. Their dates coincide but their audiences are complementary. Frieze Seoul is an international art fair with a significant Korean focus, while KIAF is more oriented toward the domestic market and younger collectors.