- Bringing
Art Beyond the Gallery Walls: Nine Historic Spaces Along Yanping Old Street Reimagined
as Exhibition Venues
From left: Chuang Wei-chung, General Manager of Wan Chuang Soy Sauce; Michelle Hsieh, Founder of A Ma De Jia; Ho Mei-hui, Chairperson of Yunlin County Luoyang Cultural and Educational Foundation; and June Yu, Director of STARFISH.
Transforming
Xiluo Old Street into an Art Fair
Xiluo flourished through the development of the Zhuoshui River region, agriculture, and commerce. Today, Xiluo Old Street retains historic shops, traditional businesses, and traces of everyday life from different periods. Rather than constructing a conventional exhibition venue, A Ma De Jia will transform existing spaces into exhibition sites. Following the axis of Xiluo Old Street, the fair will connect nine venues, including historic buildings, traditional houses, and distinctive local spaces. Visitors will walk between exhibitions while experiencing the rhythms of everyday life in Xiluo. Each venue offers its own spatial scale, natural light, materials, and history. Participating galleries will respond to the architectural character of their respective locations, rethinking how artworks are displayed within each space. At A Ma De Jia, galleries do not use standardized booths, but houses that are steeped in history and memories.
Bringing
Taiwanese and International Galleries to Xiluo
The inaugural edition of A Ma De Jia will bring together galleries from cities including Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and beyond, presenting contemporary art and works by artists across generations. Participating galleries include ABOOK COLLECTIVE、Artemin Gallery、Hanart TZ Gallery、HdM Gallery、Hiro Hiro Art Space、Kiang Malingue、PTT SPACE、RIVER ART GALLERY、Rossi & Rossi、Soil Space、YIRI ARTS, and others. In contrast to the fast-paced viewing experience of large-scale international art fairs, A Ma De Jia aims to create a more intimate environment for collecting, conversation, and exchange.
Rather
than moving from booth to booth, collectors will travel along the old street,
encounter different architectural spaces, and connect with galleries, artists,
and local residents. Art, collecting, and travel thus become interconnected
parts of a shared experience of place.
“Enabling
Residents to Take Pride in the Land That Raised Them”
Michelle
Hsieh(謝盈盈),
Founder of A Ma De Jia, explains that the original motivation behind the fair
was not simply to create another platform for the art market, but to explore whether
art could bring meaningful change to a place. “I want to create an art fair
that can genuinely benefit a place. When art comes here, it should not simply
be exhibited for a few days and then leave. I hope that, through art, more
people will rediscover the value of this land, and that the people who live
here will take pride in the land that has nurtured them. For me, artworks
acquire their true meaning when they can build meaningful relationships with the
land and the people who inhabit it.” said Michelle. This vision is also central
to the decision to hold A Ma De Jia in Xiluo rather than in a conventional
metropolitan exhibition venue. The organizing team hopes that when galleries,
artists, collectors, and cultural practitioners from different cities arrive in
Xiluo, they will discover more than artworks. They will also encounter historic
houses, traditional shops, an old street, and the people whose lives are rooted
in this place.
Why“A
Ma De Jia”?
Michelle Hsieh, founder of A Ma De Jia, further shared:“ We all come from different backgrounds and places, yet I believe many of us share similar memories of our grandmother’s home. It is a place filled with warmth, acceptance, and love—a place we long to return to, no matter how far we have traveled. I want to bring this feeling into the art fair.
Although we have chosen to hold it in a small town like Xiluo in Yunlin County, our commitment to artistic quality will not be compromised by its location. We aspire to uphold the same level of professionalism and excellence as leading international art fairs, while preserving the warmth and character of the land itself. I believe that the best art does not necessarily have to emerge from a major city. Truly good art can invite the world into a small town and, in doing so, give more people a reason to find their way home.”
Through
this vision, A Ma De Jia hopes to become more than a gathering place for the
art market. It aims to offer a different way of discovering and understanding a
place. Visitors may come to Xiluo for a particular artwork, yet leave
remembering a building, a local flavor, a piece of history, or even a town they
had never known before.
From
Xiluo, Reimagining the Possibilities of an Art Fair
In recent years, the Asian art market has continued to evolve, with cities such as Taipei, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore forming an increasingly interconnected art network. A Ma De Jia takes a different approach by starting in a town beyond the major metropolitan centers and exploring an alternative model for the art fair. Rather than replicating an urban art fair in a rural setting, A Ma De Jia begins with Xiluo itself—its culture,architecture, and everyday life—making the town an integral part of the fair's content and experience.
Alongside
gallery presentations, the program will feature VIP collector itineraries,
artist and gallery exchanges, cultural walking tours, and local experiences,
inviting collectors from Taiwan and abroad to discover Xiluo in greater depth.
As art enters historic houses,collectors explore the old street, and residents
see their hometown through a renewed perspective, A Ma De Jia hopes to leave
behind more than a ten-day event. It aspires tonurture a renewed sense of
belonging to, and pride in, the land.
【EXHIBITION
INFORMATION】
A
Ma De Jia Contemporary Art Fair
●
Dates: December 11 (Fri) – December 20 (Sun), 2026
●
Opening Hours: 11:00 AM–5:30 PM daily; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
●
Location: Xiluo Old Street and nine distinctive venues in and around Xiluo
Township,
Yunlin
County, Taiwan
●
Main Venue: Xiluo Yanping Old Street Cultural Center, No. 92, Yanping Road,
Xiluo
Township,
Yunlin County, Taiwan
●
Organizers: Hsieh Hsieh Art and Culture Advisory and Consultancy Limited ; Feng
Tay
Cultural and Educational Foundation; Xiluo Township Office
●
Co-organizers: Louyoung Cultural & Education Foundation; Pingyuan Community
College
; Clocktower Café; Yong-Feng Grain Store; Xiluo Cultural Family
●
Sponsors: FUNWOO CO., LTD. ; Wuan Chuang Soy Sauce; FindArt
●
VIP Program: Collectors' preview, art exchanges, local cultural walking tours,
and
special
events
Participating
Galleries(Listed alphabetically):
1.
ABOOK COLLECTIVE(Taipei)
2.
ANTENNA SPACE(Shanghai, Hong Kong)
3.
Artemin Gallery(Taipei)
4.
Ben Brown Fine Arts(London, Hong Kong, New York, Palm Beach)
5.
Capsule Shanghai(Shanghai)
6.
gdm 爍樂畫廊
Galerie du Monde(Hong Kong, Taipei)
7.
Hanart TZ Gallery 漢雅軒(Hong
Kong)
8.
HdM Gallery(Beijing, London, Paris)
9.
Hiro Hiro Art Space(Taipei)
10.
Kiang Malingue 馬凌畫廊(Hong
Kong, New York)
11.
PTT SPACE(Taipei, Shanghai)
12.
RIVER ART GALLERY 大河美術(Taichung)
13.
Rossi & Rossi(Hong Kong, London)
14.
Soil Space 應力空間(Tainan)
15.
Tabula Rasa Gallery(London, Beijing)
16.
YIRI ARTS 伊日藝術計劃(Taipei,
Jakarta)