The Other Art Fair Comes to Sydney

The light-filled, open-plan offices of Single Market Events are a hotbed of activity as not one but two art fairs prepare to launch in Sydney next month. Founded by investor Tim Etchells in 1989, Single Market Events produces a host of high-profile food, fashion and art exhibitions in Australia and around the world, including international art fair Sydney Contemporary. Now they're preparing to launch a second art fair in Sydney, aptly titled The Other Art Fair. It’s the latest feather in Etchells’ investment cap, a new art market for emerging and independent artists that will run alongside Sydney Contemporary from September 10-13. Two impressive women, Emilya Colliver and Zoe Paulsen, have been tasked with making it happen.

As we sit in a light-filled meeting room, Colliver is quick to point out the differences between The Other Art Fair and Sydney Contemporary. “Basically it’s an artist-led fair, so artists are manning their booth and selling direct to the public,” she says. Another point of difference is that all exhibiting artists are unrepresented (at Sydney Contemporary, it's the galleries doing the representing). “We want to maintain strong relationships with galleries — they play an important role [in selling artists’ works], but in this day and age artists need a new platform to showcase their work and this is what we’re doing. Giving them an opportunity to get a further reach.”

Colliver is founder and director of Art Pharmacy, a Sydney-based gallery for emerging artists, and has extensive experience working for galleries, museums and private art collections both here and in London. She also got some insight working as a tour guide for the inaugural Sydney Contemporary in 2013. In fact, Colliver calls Barry Keldoulis, director of Sydney Contemporary, her business mentor. It was he who put her forward for this job. “He said 'you should do it', so it all kind of came about that way,” she says. “I know Zoe through the MCA Young Ambassador Program. We’ve known each other for quite a long time, and I said, ‘Why don’t you come along and help me? Let’s just run it together.’” They’ve been all systems go since February.

While they are quick to define The Other Art Fair as an independently run event, Colliver continues, “We definitely wanted to do it at the same time as Sydney Contemporary, because nationally and internationally we’ve got people from all around Australia and overseas coming to Sydney at this time”.

The Other Art Fair started in London three years ago as an alternative to commercial art market giants like the London Art Fair. Colliver and Paulsen are recreating the successful London model in Sydney. A curatorial team including artist Mikala Dwyer, collector Dick Quan, MCA curator Meg Robson, public art advisor Virginia Wilson and White Rabbit’s Paris Neilson were tasked with the job of sifting through over 300 applications to choose the 75+ most promising artists for exhibition.

Eight to ten thousand people are expected to visit The Other Art Fair over the course of the four days. “What’s great about this is that it appeals to a really broad audience,” says Paulsen. “The fair appeals to first time buyers because the works are so affordable, as well as collectors and gallerists, because these are hand-selected artists.” It's tempting to see it as a chance to scoop the next big thing.

So what’s in it for punters? Paulsen explains the benefits of an artist-led fair for collectors. “If you go to Sydney Contemporary you’ll talk to a gallerist who represents the artist and can tell you about the work. But if you go to The Other Art Fair you’ll meet the artist, you’ll talk to them about the artwork — when they did it, how they did it, their emotional state, where their motivations come from or whatnot.” She adds that it’s also an important process for artists to go through. “It gives them an opportunity to learn how to market themselves. They don’t often find themselves in a situation where they have to do that. For some artists it can be really difficult and it’s not necessarily the way that they do it for years to come, but it’s still a good skill to experience. Also I think when the public are actually buying their work, it validates their practice and gives them a reason to keep on going.”

And for collectors just starting out? Colliver has three big tips: "Set a budget, choose a medium and buy what you love,” she says. “And don’t buy ‘art’ from IKEA or Freedom Furniture.”

The Other Art Fair is on from September 10–13 at Central Park in Chippendale. For more information and to book tickets, visit the Other Art Fair website.