By Rubén G. Lopez
The 43rd edition of ARCOmadrid will take place from March 6 to 10 at the IFEMA Madrid venue. 205 galleries from 36 different countries will attend, with a majority of international firms and an estimated 100,000 visitors.
The great annual event for contemporary art, which was traditionally held at Ifema Madrid every February, has been moved this year to the first week of March . There are two reasons for this change, as Maribel López, director of ARCOmadrid, explained yesterday during the fair presentation: "Firstly, this change of dates was convenient for us due to the necessary architectural setup times. In addition, in February there were families who couldn't come because it coincided with White Week." Be that as it may, this new location in the first week of March is here to stay, as she added: "The first sign that this edition was going to be of exceptional quality was the high number of proposals received from galleries, the highest in history from ARCOmadrid».
Thus, a total of 205 galleries from 36 countries They will show their best works at the Madrid fairgrounds between March 6 and 10. "We will have 65% international representation, with a significant presence of Latin American art," said Juan Arrizabalaga, general director of Ifema Madrid. Specifically, 171 galleries of Painting, sculpture, installations, photography, video, new media, drawing and engraving will be part of the general program of the fair and another 46 will be part of the curated programs.
The central theme chosen for this edition of ARCOmadrid is The shore, the tide, the current: an oceanic Caribbean . As the fair director explained, this idea "will include a very special architectural project, whose objective is to showcase very interesting and unpredictable projects of a Caribbean that opens up, in movement, flexible, and open, where people and ideas come and go."
For all this, the first of the curated programs The exhibitions planned for this edition will be directly related to the Caribbean Sea and will feature 19 galleries from 10 countries. Two more curated programs will be added: Opening, a space to showcase the works of 15 galleries with an operating history of less than seven years, and Never the Same. Latin American Art, with 12 galleries representing the different Latin American countries that share the culture.
Impact throughout the city
“ARCOmadrid is celebrating its 43rd anniversary, which is a symbol of maturity, credibility and confidence,” stated Arrizabalaga, adding that it is IFEMA Madrid’s responsibility “to contribute to and boost the art market, for which the support of institutions, museums, art centers, galleries and other professionals is key.” Precisely for this reason, the main event at the Madrid fairgrounds will be joined by spaces related to the fair in the Casa de América, the Complutense Art Center, the Casa Encendida or the Reina Sofía Museum .
This extension of the exhibition to different cultural centers in the capital, along with some of the scheduled activities, will have the main objective of introducing national art to attendees from other countries. That is, in fact, the essence of the event. International Collectors Program , which will attract "more than 350 art lovers, including several museums and around 200 professionals, to whom we propose to get to know Spanish art from the hands of our commissioners," said López.
The expected attendance at this edition of ARCOmadrid "will be similar to that recorded last year," stated the director of the show, setting the bar at more than 95,000 visitors registered in 2023. "To ensure that their experience is artistically and vitally very positive," he added, "they will have a new gastronomic space , similar to an open market.
Visitors to the show will also be able to attend its traditional Forum, where collecting, institutionalism, women in the visual arts, and artist book publications will be discussed. And they will have at their disposal initiatives such as First Collectors by Fundación Banco Santander , an advisory service for new buyers, or Young Collectors , which will allow more than 50 young international collectors to visit the fair.
On a more professional level, the ARCOmadrid organization has planned different Meetings between Spanish and international galleries and museums , as well as an institutional dance. The reason for all these initiatives, as López emphasized, is "to think of artists, works, and projects that are anchored in the present, but with a look toward the past and a projection toward the future." Because what the show essentially aims to achieve, he concluded, is «building art history» .
