From 26 to 29 March, Art Paris Art Fair brings together 140 galleries from some 20 countries at the Grand Palais. Headed by Guillaume Piens since 2012, the fair focusses on discovery and presents a wide panorama of modern and contemporary art. Art Paris Art Fair also shows design, photography and art books. The fair has undergone a profound renewal with 51% of both newcomers and galleries from abroad. Since 2012, a rigorous selection process and a multi-disciplinary, dynamic approach to contemporary creation have resulted in a constant rise in the number of visitors to the fair.

With a strong international focus, the fair has positioned itself as a pioneer in the exploration of regions of the world whose artistic creation is seldom, if ever, shown in France. Art Paris Art Fair looks at a different geography of the art world that takes visitors off the beaten track to places like Casablanca, Bangkok, Zürich, Moscow, Bucharest or Singapore.

After Russia and China, Singapore and Southeast Asia are guests of honour for the 2015 edition. This platform is directed by Iola Lenzi, a curator, researcher and Southeast Asia specialist who curated the exhibition The Roving Eye: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia, shown at the ARTER Foundation in Istanbul (September 2014–January 2015). A dozen Singapore-based galleries including Art Plural Gallery, Art Seasons Gallery, Chan Hampe Galleries, Element Art Space, Yeo Workshop, iPreciation or Sundaram Tagore Gallery will demonstrate the diversity of talent from Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. A programme of talks and video screenings will complement this presentation of what is a little known but booming art scene.

The general sector will also include a number of galleries and artists from Southeast Asia including Thai artist Navin Rawanchaikul at Adler Shubashok, Burma’s Aung Ko at Primo Marella, Vietnam’s Dinh Q. Le and Bui Cong Khanh at 10 Chancery Lane, and from the Philippines, Manuel Ocampo at Nathalie Obadia and Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan at Hélène Bailly.

This year’s general sector has undergone deep changes with the arrival of Modern art galleries such as Boisserée (Cologne), Luca Tommasi (Milan), Shchukin (Paris, New York), Michel Vidal (Paris), as well as others dealing in contemporary work such as Plutschow and Andrés Thalmann from Zürich, Flowers from London, Andreas Binder and Tanit from Münich and Istanbul’s Sanatorium and Krampf Gallery.