Paris (AFP)
Paris Photo, the largest annual meeting of art photography, has canceled its 24th edition scheduled for November at the Grand Palais in the French capital, due to the risks associated with the Covid-19 epidemic, the organizers.
"Following the government's announcement, which limits the scale of major events to 1,000 people against 5,000 so far, Paris Photo is forced to cancel the fair scheduled for November 12 to 15, 2020, and to postpone its 24th edition of November 11 to 14, 2021 ", they indicate in a press release.
The cancellation of this Parisian cultural event, the first international fair dedicated to photography, follows that of the International Contemporary Art Fair (Fiac).
"The government's latest decision leaves us no choice. We took this decision to cancel with immense regret, but with a sense of responsibility towards everyone," explained Florence Bourgeois, director of Paris Photo.
She recalled that "numerous exchanges with exhibitors, visitors, collectors and partners in recent days nevertheless testified to a strong enthusiasm for the maintenance of Paris Photo".
Last year, Paris Photo brought together more than 200 exhibitors - 180 galleries from 30 countries and 31 art book publishers -.
The gauge, now reduced to 1,000 people in Paris, makes it impossible to hold major autumn fairs.
The drastic reduction in the number of visitors, particularly from abroad, already gave them reduced financial prospects.
Art Paris, the second contemporary art fair after the Fiac, was maintained at the beginning of September and had been described as a success by visitors and gallery owners, which had given hope to other fairs and exhibitions.
In addition to Paris Photo, Art Elysées, a medium-sized fair planned on the Champs Elysées, threw in the towel Thursday.
Conversely, the Salon d'Automne is maintained, just like the Galeristes fair, at the Carreau du Temple, Art Shopping at the Carrousel du Louvre, and Asia Now, near the Etoile, which presents Asian gallery owners living in France.
"Our more intimate and human-sized fair format allows us to withstand gauges of 1,000 people, or even 500," Alexandra Fain, director of Asia Now, told AFP.
Art Shopping intends to present itself with a format reduced by half: "With each government measure, we have readjusted, with a larger time range" to manage flows, details its director, Myriam Annonay-Castanet.
But the possibility of a further lowering of the gauge in Paris worries the organizers of these medium-sized fairs.
As for the Biennale Paris, a major annual meeting of antique dealers which should have been held at the Grand Palais in the fall, it canceled this "physical" event but made an agreement with the auction house Christie's to allow gallery owners to sell their works of art online.
© 2020 AFP