13 Reasons to see ART13

1. Set in the iconic Olympia exhibition centre the event couldn't look more spectacular. Also the scale of the building has given the organisers plenty of space to set up so although the exhibition is proving popular there are no worries about not being able to have an unobstructed view of the pieces.

2. Getting mathsie 70% of the galleries present haven't exhibited in London before so it is a chance to discover some incredible galleries.

3. You can walk through the awe inspiring 'Boat' by Zhu Jinshi. This is an incredibly installation piece made from bamboo, cotton and 8000 sheets of rice paper brought to Art13 by Pearl Lam Galleries. Walking through it the buzz of noise from the exhibition centre is dulled and it has an almost timeless and otherworldly feeling.

Taking a stroll through the 'Boat'

4. Take a friend and it is a truly lovely day out.

5. It is incredibly easy to get to, just a hop skip and a jump away from Kensington Olympia station and at the weekend you can even get there via the district line.

6. It includes a truly diverse range of art from across the world. It was particularly interesting to see so many Asian and Middle Eastern artist being represented.

7. If your strength is waning then Champagne and afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason's champagne bar is always a very pleasant option. It was the final cherry on the top of my truly fantastic day. A little bit of luxury never hurt anyone and our lovely waitress Fiona was very welcoming.

8. If you head to the publications section you can sign up for the art newsletter free trial. You get the current issue on the spot and the next one sent to your home. Considering they are usually £8. 50 a pop this more then covers the very reasonable £11 ticket price.

9. With a price range of £100- £500 000 it would be a great opportunity to invest in some of the worlds up and coming artists. Of course there is no pressure to buy anything so if this isn't your intention then just enjoy looking around and taking note of some names.

10. Not only can you take a look at the work of some of the artists of today you can look at some of the Young galleries. A section of the exhibition has been dedicated to 18 galleries which have only been around for six years.

11. I would recommend taking a notebook and a pen as it is nice to be able to look up a couple of your favourite exhibitors once you are home and it would be a shame to forget the names. A couple that really stood out for me were Lee Jaehyo, Jonathan Yeo, the spine tingling (literally) sculptures of Alessandro Brighetti exhibited by the Scaramouche gallery

Alessandro Brighetti

Halim al Karim's haunting eyes and Eternal Love pieces, Hadieh Shafie's striking and poetic pieces which include repeated rolls of paper all printed or hand-written with the Farsi text Eshege "Love" exhibited by the Galerie Kashya Hilebrand, 

Yi Hwan-Kwon's incredible sculptures that play with our perception of dimensions and Chris Andrew Jones' The Visible Index with its dolls house like construction which you could look at for hours. 

Detail Chris Andrew Jones The Visible Index

Frankly this is just the tip of the enormous iceberg.

12. There are a couple of performance pieces going on throughout the day in the performance booth. When we went there was a mock seance with two ladies seated at a table pushing something backwards and forth. There was a pencil or pen attached to the item they were both moving around so a mark was being left on the paper draped over the table.

13. There is the lovely Saatchi book shop and a £5 catalogue if you are looking for a memento of your day.

For more information and to book tickets for this weekend click here.