The London-based nonprofit art space Yan Du Project (YDP) has appointed Billy Tang as its new artistic director, just ahead of the opening of its new headquarters in October. Tang will begin his role this month at the organization's new location in a Grade I-listed townhouse on Bedford Square in London.
YDP represents the second nonprofit venture established by Yan Du, who is recognized as an ARTnews Top 200 Collector. Du previously launched the Asymmetry Foundation in London in 2019. While Asymmetry Foundation has focused specifically on nurturing curators and promoting understanding of Sinophone contemporary art, YDP aims to broaden its scope by concentrating on Asian and Asian diaspora artists across a wider spectrum.
Tang's appointment comes just three months after he concluded his tenure at Para Site, one of Hong Kong's most prominent art institutions, where he served as executive director and curator for three years. The move represents a significant homecoming for Tang, who was born in London to parents who arrived in the UK as refugees following the Vietnam War in the early 1980s.
"Having worked across a spectrum of institutional structures worldwide, I am driven by the desire to come full circle, bringing my hard-won experience back to the city that has been a profound source of inspiration for me as both a curator and a Londoner," Tang told ARTnews in an interview.
Tang's career trajectory has taken him across Asia's dynamic art scene over the past decade. In 2013, attracted by China's rapidly expanding art market, he relocated to Beijing to work as a curator at Magician Space. He later joined Shanghai's Rockbund Art Museum as senior curator in 2018, before taking on the directorship at Para Site in 2022, just as Hong Kong was lifting its prolonged COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Reflecting on his time at Para Site, Tang noted that his role involved "rebuilding momentum" after the pandemic disruptions. "The program structure I developed collaboratively with my team made Para Site evolve from a grassroots space into a more formalized one—something I consider part of my legacy," he explained. "It's not a young organization anymore. It's normal for an organization to rethink how it wants to renew and what its priorities are."
Regarding Hong Kong's current art scene, Tang offered a candid assessment: "It's still a center, with collective possibilities and a fantastic place to work. However, it's not an easy city to navigate, so it's important to acknowledge its challenges rather than underestimating its complexities." He pointed to ongoing political and economic challenges that continue to shape daily life in the city.
What ultimately drew Tang back to London was not only the city's formative influence on his early career—where he first discovered nonprofit work through positions at institutions like Camden Arts Centre—but also YDP's distinctive mission. For Tang, the project represents an opportunity to pursue a unique institutional model rooted in the UK while redefining global connections through the perspective of Asia and its diasporas.
"It has the potential to be a platform where artists can experiment beyond a Western-centric framework," Tang said, expressing excitement about the opportunity to build momentum at an organizational level, not just through individual exhibitions.
Unlike most traditional art spaces, YDP will operate with a flexible program structure. Rather than committing to a predetermined number of exhibitions each year, Tang envisions a program that can evolve organically, whether by shifting thematic focus, extending previous lines of inquiry, or addressing overlooked areas from previous years. "Emerging and experimental practices need time and freedom to grow on their own terms," Tang explained. "YDP can be the lab where that happens but also a platform to introduce international voices to the UK for the first time."
Tang cited pioneering figures like Filipino artist David Medalla as inspiration, noting Medalla's key role in advancing Asian visibility in Western contexts and his instrumental work in shaping global discourse through the short-lived Signals Gallery, which he co-founded in 1964.
While both Asymmetry Foundation and YDP are backed by the same founder, Tang emphasized that they operate as separate entities with distinct missions. "While Asymmetry focuses on curatorial practice, YDP is dedicated to supporting a wide spectrum of artistic practices," he said. "It's important, especially in these early years, for YDP to find its own voice." He added that the two organizations could eventually collaborate as part of a broader cultural ecosystem.
YDP's launch comes at a particularly significant time for the UK, following recent far-right street protests that saw more than 110,000 people participate in what was described as the largest nationalist rally in decades in the heart of London. As the child of refugees, Tang acknowledges that diaspora narratives are complex and multifaceted. "There are always contradictions in histories and in the idea of identity," he observed.
For Tang, contemporary art serves as a vehicle to explore these complexities and give voice to stories that have yet to be fully told. "In an increasingly polarized world, you have to actively build bridges so cultures can speak to one another with nuance and mutual understanding," he concluded, outlining his vision for YDP's role in fostering cross-cultural dialogue through artistic expression.
