Kicking off Asia Week 2014, the historic Bohemian National Hall (BNH) will present its first annual Asia Art Fair, previewing on Friday, March 14, 2014 and running from Saturday, March 15 - through Tuesday, March 18th.

The Asia Art Fair at BNH will feature twenty-seven international art galleries and dealers who will display artwork and antiques from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and the Near East.  The fair will offer collectors a unique and tantalizing array of high quality paintings, drawings, rugs, textiles, ceramics, carvings, sculpture, and jewelry - all under one roof.

One highlight of the fair will be a special display on the fourth floor by Peter Pap Oriental Rugs, Inc. featuring antique rugs and textiles from private collections that will be offered at an exhibition in the city immediately following the fair. Recognized internationally by collectors and decorators as one of the foremost experts in antique oriental rugs, carpets and tribal weavings, Mr. Pap will be joined by other prestigious exhibitors at BNH, including:

Alexander Gallery

Anavian Gallery

Asiantiques

Chinese Art Consultancy, Inc.

David Baker Oriental Art

Dharma Art

Eleanor Abraham Asian Art

Flying Cranes Antiques

Galerie Alexis Renard, Art Islamique-Art Indien GILISTRA Gallery Jewel of the Lotus Gallery Jeff Shore / Ancient Objects Lotus Asian Art and Antiques Gallery Mark Walberg Fine Art and Antiques Michael Bound - Japanese Art Nader & Nader Nicholas Pitcher Oriental Art Ltd.

Niki Art - Contemporary Japanese Works of Art Oriental Treasure Box Peter Pap Oriental Rugs, Inc Robyn Buntin of Honolulu Stallion Hill Gallery Tamara Hill Studio The Jade Dragon The Tolman Collection:  New York Tony Dai Chinese Art Vietnamese Contemporary Fine Art

According to Paul Anavian of the Anavian Gallery, who is organizing the Asia Art Fair, many of the exhibitors had previously shown at the Asian Art Fair at the Park Avenue Armory and the New York Arts of Pacific Asia shows. "It is our goal to fill the void left by the absence of those shows by gathering leading Asian art galleries, dealers and artists under one roof at BNH during Asia Week 2014," he said.  "The show will be vetted to assure that collectors, curators and connoisseurs will see authentic, unique and exceptional artwork and antiques from around the world."

The Asia Art Fair will be held on three floors at the Bohemian National Hall, which is conveniently located at 321 East 73rd Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), two blocks from Sotheby's.  All facilities are handicapped accessible. An onsite café will serve light refreshments, wine and other beverages during show hours.

Another highlight of the Asia Art Fair at BNH will be a series of lectures by experts in the field.

Saturday, March 15 (2 pm) -  Professor John Stevens (Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan) will discuss "Art of the Awakened Mind" (Buntin Gallery Publications).  Stevens will show examples of "enlightened art," works created by Buddhist masters, Shinto shamans, Confucian gentlemen, samurai warriors, master crafts people, and folk heroes that express  their state of "raku" or enlightenment.

Saturday, March 15 (4 pm) - Majed Seif will present "The Aesthetics of Arabic Calligraphy."  Seif is an NYU and United Nations instructor of Arabic Calligraphy, as well as a visual artist who specializes in Islamic Art-Arabic calligraphy, Arabesque and Islamic decorations.

Sunday, March 16 (2 pm) - Zhijian Qian, a specialist in modern and contemporary Chinese and East Asian art and art of the Chinese Diaspora, will present "Understanding the Contemporary Chinese Art Market: How Changing Politics and Economy Reshape an Art World."

Sunday, March 16 (4 pm) - Asian art historian, curator and scholar Lara Netting will present her latest book, "A Perpetual Fire: How Chinese Art Made the Man: the Life and Collections of John C. Ferguson (1866-1945).   Dr. Netting earned her Ph.D. in East Asian Studies at Princeton University in 2009.  From 2011-2012, she held a post-doctoral fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she completed the research for "Perpetual Fire." She has just returned from five months as a visiting research fellow at the Academia Sinica in Taipei, where she studied the extensive collection of bronze rubbings preserved at the Institute of History and Philology.

 Monday, March 17 (2 pm) "Deepen Your Understanding of Chinese Culture through Classical Chinese Dance" -  Dancer/choreographer Tysan Lerner, who was trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and in classical Chinese dance, will present a slideshow and lecture from Shen Yun Promotions International.

Monday, March 17 (4 pm) - Dr. Adriana Proser, John H. Foster Senior Curator for Traditional Asian Art at the Asia Society Museum, will lecture about the Tibetan Memorial Stupas of the Densatil.  Dr. Proser, who curated the Asia Society's exhibition Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, will introduce the original context in which numerous ancient Tibetan sculptural fragments would have appeared. The famed stupas at Densatil were made of gilt copper with semiprecious stone inlay. Eight of them dating between 1208 and 1432 stood in the main hall until their destruction during China's Cultural Revolution.

 Hours and admission are as follows:

 Friday, March 14, 2014 - Collectors preview and benefit from 5 pm to 9 pm, (admission is $180.00 to benefit the American Fund for Czech and Slovak Leadership Studies).  By invitation only.

 Saturday March 15 - Tuesday March 18, 12 Noon to 8 pm daily, $20 admission. Tickets may be purchased at the venue.  For more information, call (212) 988-1733.