Tribal Art Fair online set for April

Following on from the success of the previous online Tribal Art Fairs (TAF) held during lockdown in autumn 2020 and spring 2021, Tribal Art Fair online is scheduled to take place again from April 21 to 25 at www.tribalartfair.nl/onlinefair and is free to access.

An established and important international event for tribal art from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas, the Tribal Art Fair has been held annually at De Duif in Amsterdam since 2003.

The pandemic saw the organiser, Finette Lemaire of Galerie Lemaire, switch to an online fair in 2020.  Such was the success of the first online event that she introduced another online fair last Spring, returning to organise the 19th TAF back at De Duif in October 2021.

Over the years, TAF has amassed an impressive following of collectors, dealers, museum curators, interior designers and discerning members of the public.

This Spring 2022, some 25 galleries are showing up to 50 of their latest acquisitions. As items sell, each dealer will refresh their stock for sale online by adding up to another 10 pieces on April 23, all for sale. The eight Dutch galleries participating are joined by experts from the UK, USA, Spain, Germany, France, Austria and Belgium.

As well as selling masks, statues, textiles, jewellery and utensils, all handcrafted and authentic, TAF is known for hosting an inspiring lecture programme, which opens up to all online.  This year’s notable speakers include award winning author and collector Wolfgang Grulke talking about his recently published book Adornment by Nature, Adornment, exchange & myth in the South Seas. The anthropologist Tom Powell Davies’s presentation features Asmat woodcarving and relations with ancestral spirits. Bruce W. Carpenter gives a short introduction on his book Gods, Heroes and Guardians, in which he tells more about some beautiful examples of keris and keris hilts from Indonesia. The full lecture programme can be found on the website from the beginning of April.