Efe Madrid
Madrid
Updated Wednesday, February 21, 2024-14:43
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Arco
faces its 43rd edition with the presence of
205 galleries
- 65% foreign -, the Caribbean as a central theme and a new date in March that will be maintained in future editions. "We have rejected nearly 200 requests for participation," said
Maribel López
, director of the fair, at its official presentation this Wednesday in Madrid.
The most important contemporary art fair in Spain will be held
from March 6 to 10
in
pavilions 7 and 9 of Ifema
and arrives surrounded by expectation. Everything indicates that it will have "exceptional quality," predicted its director, who has also announced that the fair will definitely be moved to March and will not be held again at the end of February, as was tradition. The reason given by López is the agenda of the collectors who usually visit the fair.
With this change, the Madrid event will now coincide with
TEFAF
(Holland), the most important ancient art fair in Europe, but will avoid coinciding with
Frieze
in Los Angeles and
Art Dubai
.
The good reception of the new date has encouraged the organization to definitively move to these editions, López explained.
More international weight
Of the 205 galleries present this year -210 in 2023-, 65% are foreign. A total of
171 are integrated into the general program
- the heart of the fair - and the rest are part of some of the curated programs such as
Opening
(younger galleries) or
Never the same
(from Latin America).
Of the 135 galleries present this year, about 30% are Latin American. In total, there are
38 galleries from 13 Latin countries
, with special weight from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
The shore, the tide, the current: an oceanic Caribbean
is the theme chosen for this year, with
Carla Acevedo-Yates
and
Sara Hermann Morera
as curators, and will include 23 artists related to the Caribbean. "The commissioners wanted to include the word
oceanic
in the title because it speaks of a Caribbean that is opening up," she noted. "It is a Caribbean in motion, flexible."
The program of international collectors invited to the fair amounts to around 400 people, while the number of professionals - curators, museum directors and other agents in the sector - will be around 200 people, from around 40 countries.
Juana de Aizpuru will be missing
Some of the galleries that have confirmed this edition are
Lelong
,
Cayón
,
Leandro Navarro
,
Elvira González
,
Helga de Alvear
,
Marlborough
,
Perrotin
,
Mayoral
,
Sabrina Amrani
,
Travesía Cuatro
or
Chantal Crousel
.
Juana de Aizpuru
, the founder of the fair, who announced her retirement last December and will not participate for the first time since its founding, will be
missed this year .
López assured today that the fair aims to maintain last year's sales and attendance figures.
In 2023, 95,000 people visited the fair
, which represented the true recovery after the Covid pandemic.
The first three days (March 6, 7 and 8) will be dedicated to the professional public, while the last two days (9-10) will be open to the general public.