News & events > New Format for Frieze London & Frieze Masters 2020
09 Oct 2020 - 16 Oct 2020

New Format for Frieze London & Frieze Masters 2020

This October sees the return of Frieze Sculpture in Regent's Park and a hybrid programme of online and offline activity, reaching audiences worldwide via Frieze Viewing Room,111 hours of Frieze LIVE broadcast online, as well as celebrating the vibrant art scene in London. The app and web- based platform will be live from 9 to 16 of October.

Over 200 of the world’s leading galleries to participate online in the second edition of Frieze Viewing Room, bringing together work ranging from the ancient era to today’s emerging and established artists. Frieze Week programming both throughout London and online to include Frieze SculptureLIVEFrieze Talks and major museum shows across the city. As a response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this new hybrid model combines the global online reach of Frieze Viewing Room with a commitment to the creative spirit of London.

The Frieze LIVE programme has been announced. For the 2020 LIVE Programme, Frieze will present The Institute of Melodic Healing (IMH), an “institute of sound and performance” located at 9 Cork St, London and broadcast online from 6–11 October. Curated by Victor Wang (王宗孚), the programme will last for 111 hours, rethinking the parameters of live art during a time when distance, the body, and movement are regulated in post-Covid Britain. The IMH aims to promote community and healing by thinking through sound and body, to emphasize that listening and feeling is as important as seeing, and to support artistic experimental development.

With over 200 participating galleries from Frieze London and Frieze Masters, the second edition of Frieze Viewing Room will benefit from major new developments to the user experience. The app and web- based platform will be live from 9 to 16 of October, with invitation-only preview days on 7 to 8 October, and present an extraordinary cross- section of artwork originally intended to be shown at Frieze London and Frieze Masters 2020.

Among the highlights:

  • Focus, the Frieze London section, supporting the participation of galleries aged 15 years or younger and providing a platform for young talent.
  • Museum Shows: An online guide to participating galleries, museums and partner organisations throughout the city will be published on Frieze.com with highlights including exhibitions such as ‘Artemisia’ at the National Gallery, Cameron Rowland at the ICA and Bruce Nauman at Tate Modern, as well as a new video commission for the Frieze Artist Award, 2020.
  • LIVE: Frieze London’s showcase for Live art will be curated by Victor Wang (王宗孚) (Artistic Director and Chief Curator of M WOODS Museum, Beijing). For the first time LIVE will take place at 9 Cork Street, where Wang, alongside a group of artists, will establish a temporary institute of sound and performance art inaugurated as the Institute of Melodic Healing, during Frieze Week. The LIVE programme will include a series of live and online performances by artists and guests specially selected by the Institute.
  • The Frieze BBC Radio 3 Debate: For the third year running Frieze will collaborate with BBC Radio 3 to present a debate focused on Museums in 21st Century, moderated by Anne McElvoy (Journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking). The debate will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking at 10pm BST on Thursday 8 October and then available worldwide as a BBC Arts & Ideas podcast.