After months of gossip and frantic speculations, Art13 London has finally opened at Olympia Grand Hall this afternoon. First impression: the venue is stunning. The London crowd has gotten used to the stuffy atmosphere of a temporary tent, but here the elegant 19th-century architecture brings real cachet to the event. Some said it was very “Grand Palais.” Second impression: Art13 London – brainchild of ART HK’s founders Sandy Angus and Tim Etchells – has honored its promise to be truly international, with exhibitors from countries including Iran, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. None of the main Western blue-chip galleries are present, but this has the advantage of making up a selection that feels fresh and truly different. Curators from some of London’s top institutions were out in force, as well as some serious collectors, including the Rubells, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Anita Zabludowicz, and Art13 London advisory board member Sydney Picasso. On the new collectors front, Harry Styles of British pop band One Direction went on a shopping spree, buying four works from London’s Eleven Fine Art.

Some will sneer that Art13 London has only managed to attract the U.K. galleries that won’t ever make it into Frieze London, and foreign galleries which, until now, had very few ways of being present in the capital. There’s some truth in this, no doubt. Yet London, and the global network of buyers it hosts, is big enough for several fairs. And Art13 London has just proven that it’s ready to be a credible rendezvous in the city’s art diary.

Having had a chance to explore on the VIP opening day, here are ARTINFO UK’s picks (in no particular order) for the fair’s top ten booths: 

PIFO Gallery, Beijing, China

The bold choice of green color for the booth’s interior perfectly showcases a stunning set of abstractions by artists including Liang Quan and Wang Chuan.

Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium

Stephan Balkenhol’s figurative characters have the charm of medieval statuary — fantastically updated.

Lazarides, London, U.K.

Not one to shy away from the spectacular, Steve Lazarides’s faux-squat display was the talk of the fair as soon as it opened, featuring a Banksy painting above a small fireplace.

Performance Booth: Alice Anderson

If not technically a gallery booth, you have to applaud the fair’s inclusion of a space solely dedicated to performance art. Thirteen performances will take place throughout the fair (some several times) every day on the hour; including Alice Anderson’s “Travelling Factory” which “mummifies” LPs with thread the color of her signature mane.

October Gallery, London, U.K.

Romuald Hazoumè and El Anatsui are both stars of the fair’s artists’ projects, and October has cannily put the artists together in a more intimate display, with works including some of Hazoumè’s iconic “can masks.”

Art13 Project: Young-Jae Lee and Chen Guangwu

Of the 21 projects, one is the thoughtful pairing of artists working with two of Asia’s most ancient and celebrated art forms: calligraphy and ceramics. Chinese Chen Guangwu’s monumental ink drawings function as the perfect graphic counterpoint to a sea of bowls by the Korean Young-Jae Lee (both represented by Alexander Ochs Galleries, Berlin/Beijing).

Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, UAE

Here, Shahpour Pouyan and Asad Faulwell both tackle hefty subjects with fetching aesthetic. Faulwell’s collage, “Les Femmes d’Algers 24,” appropriates Delacroix’s Orientalist landmark in a celebration of female Algerian freedom fighters during the Independence War. Pouyan’s ongoing series of “projectiles” conjure up an unsettling push and pull, between the seduction of the traditional Iranian craftsmanship and horror of the nuclear threat.

Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong, Shanghai

Not only did Pearl Lam provide Art13 London with its most spectacular project, Zhu Jinshi’s behemoth rice paper tube “boat,” she also put together a thoughtful presentation of Su Xiaobai’s work — a first outing in the U.K. for Gerhard Richter’s former student.

Maria Stenfors, London, U.K.

Gathering the work of the German Julia Pfeiffer, Swedish Astrid Svangren, and Polish Mela Yerka, Maria Stenfors’s tightly curated display demonstrates once again that sometimes the quiet, anti-spectacular approach can also be the most convincing.

Gallery Sumukha, Chennai/Bangalore, India

Ravikumar Kashi’s “In pursuit of happiness,” meticulously painted on cotton rag pulp, unravels like a surrealist collection of vignettes: both amusing and disturbing in turn.