Shana Nys DambrotOPaf represents the growing movement of art spaces fluid in definition and bonded by an intention to operate in other places outside traditional contemporary art systems. OPaf 2020 features 43 art project spaces from the U.S. and Mexico in an alternative art fair structure designed specifically for these unconventional projects.
As the organizers recently shared with the Weekly, “OPaf (when it happens IRL at Battery Leary-Merriam in San Pedro) is by design a pretty “hands-off” affair — meaning, simply, our goal as a fair representing alternative art spaces is to provide the freedom to participants to present themselves however they see fit while responding to the site. When the pandemic forced us to move to an online version of the event, we decided to treat the OPaf website like the physical site — as a gathering place for participants to respond to.”
OPaf 2020 also includes online iterations of OPaBf (Other Places art Book fair) curated by The Fulcrum Press, and OPPPAFFF (Other Places Projects Performances and Fun Food Fair) organized by Asha Bukojemsky. The awarding of the first annual OPaf Prize, a cash prize for best booth presented at the conclusion of OPaf 2020 on October 31, will be selected at random. On view online through October 31; opaf.info.
Still from Sterling Wells’ video performance for the NEW LOW booth (OPaf)
Outback Arthouse in Elysian Park (OPaf)
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