First of all, congratulations at being appointed as the new director of ARCO. This year
ARCO is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
How are you going to celebrate it and what do you think about being the first man to
run the fair?
Thanks. The next edition of ARCOmadrid will be a huge celebration of these 30 years of history.
We have planned a special programme of activities that includes a retrospective exhibition of
photographs of the fair curated by Andrés Mengs. There will also be special events to commemorate
the anniversary and a special series for collectors directed by Rosa Martínez.
Everyone imprints the job they perform with their own character, and this is particularly true in
my case, as I am faced with such a thrilling challenge. To me, what matters is the person behind
the project, regardless of whether it’s a man or woman. And ARCOmadrid has always had enthusiastic
teams that believed in and still believe in what they do.
There has been talk about novel changes in this year’s edition. How will we note these
changes?
It will be a smaller fair where all the spaces will be used. We want the public to focus entirely on
the galleries, which are truly in the spotlight at this fair. It will be more comfortable to visit; we
will foster exchanges among gallery owners, collectors, the public and artists. We made a special
effort to include more Latin American galleries.
What new projects will be unveiled at this year’s edition?
In addition to the 30th anniversary, ARCOmadrid will continue to focus on the quality of the
galleries, with fewer curated programmes and a greater focus on Latin American and emerging
European galleries. In this year’s edition, the event Solo Project: Focus Latin America will
contribute to further strengthening these bonds with Latin America and will help collectors
once again see the best in emerging Latin American creation without singling out any one
country in particular. In turn, the selection in Opening: Young European Galleries will be a
proposal that tries to draw a scale map of emerging creation in Europe today. Another of the
new features in the forthcoming edition of ARCOmadrid will be the professional encounters
at which an expert from the sector will gather together 15 or 20 fellow experts so that they
can exchange opinions and projects behindclosed doors and also interact with the galleries
present. ARCOmadrid’s new proposals are centred on the galleries and designed to foster
exchanges among all the participants.
In the previous edition of the “guest country” section, the city of Los Angeles was invited;
this year the concept is changing and a country, Russia, has been invited as the special
guest. What difference is there between both formats?
In the globalised world today it makes no sense to talk about frontiers; the place is what matters.
The past edition was the city of Los Angeles and this year it will be Russia. With this invitation, the
fair consolidates its focus on emerging markets with a vast potential, such as Russia, a market with
a longstanding history of artistic creation which has experienced steep growth since the dissolution
of the Soviet Union. The selection made by the curator Daria Pyrkina for ARCOMadrid will show the
generational diversity of the art scene in the country. With Russia as the guest country, ARCOmadrid
is examining the emergence of a European country with a vast artistic potential, with galleries and
interesting institutions.
In this year’s edition, the size of the fair is apparently being cut back. How will this
affect the number of participating galleries?
This year there are fewer galleries, a trend that could already be made out in recent editions. We
have cut back on the curated programmes because the intention is for the public to concentrate
on the galleries. After all, as I said before, they are the true stars of the fair. ARCOmadrid is a
fair of galleries.
The number of galleries that can attend ARCOmadrid depends on what?
The Selection Committee is in charge of choosing the participating galleries according to their
quality and the solidity of their history. There is no predetermined number before this process;
rather once the definitive list has been approved, the space in the pavilions is distributed.
What percentage of domestic and foreign galleries do you think ARCO should have?
The percentages are not important; rather the measure of quality is what the Selection Committee
values above all else. Domestic and international galleries go through the same selection process.
What place does ARCOMadrid currently hold on the international art scene?
Our fair is among the most important ones on the international circuit, on par with Frieze, Art
Basel and FIAC. Within this scene, ARCOmadrid still retains its unique hallmarks which are still
attractive to both the public and the participating galleries after 30 years
.
What measures have you devised to promote ARCO abroad?
In recent months we have stepped up the promotion of ARCOmadrid outside Spain with several
presentations and press conferences held in cities like Paris, Moscow and Sao Paulo. We are
also working on a joint programme with Promomadrid to spread the image of Madrid as a
hub of art and culture in which the fair plays a leading role.
What is ARCO’s percentage of foreign buyers and collectors and how could
that increase?
It is difficult to give a specific percentage, although we have noticed that the percentage of
international collectors is on the rise compared to the early years of the fair, when the buyers
were mainly local. A huge effort has been made to promote the guest programme and
bringimportant collectors from all over the world to Madrid. Each gallery brings its contacts with
collectors, who are the usual buyers for them and whom they invite to come to the fair, which
stimulates the contacts and sales at the event.
What is the guest programme at ARCO and to whom it is targeted?
The international collectors’ programme is one of the fair’s prime engines. ARCOmadrid will
invite a group of 150 international collectors, active buyers whose presence guarantees and
provides business to the participating galleries. Plus, along with the support of solid, renowned
buyers, the event is also reinforcing its commitment to latent buyers and art lovers buy
launching the First Collectors project. This initiative – spearheaded by Elisa Hernando, director
of the Arte Global consultancy – will offer an art investment consulting service for amateurs
or people who are not used to buying works of art. This service will be complemented with
the presence of museums and institutions like Maison Rouge from Paris or the Association of
Collectors of Portugal, among others. The buying committees of these organisations will visit
the event with the goal of buying new pieces for their institutional collections.
Can the ARCO fair be viewed as a bridge between Ibero-America and Europe?
Traditionally it has been, and this is natural because of the cultural ties that bind us with Latin
America. This dynamic was quite strong in the first few decades of the fair, although now
globalisation has multiplied markets and the mobility of both artists and gallery owners. The
new technologies and the diversification of the market have changed the schemas in this sense,
making them much less rigid than what they used to be.
Regarding the crisis, how was this new edition planned and how might it affect it?
Expert analysts of the art market are beginning to talk about how this crisis is beginning to recede
in this market. Auction figures are gradually making a positive comeback, and new bidding records
are being reached for certain artists. In this sense, we are positive about the fair, but we are always
cautious and watchful. We are working and concentrating our efforts to ensure that ARCOmadrid
reaches sound figures, and we’ll do everything within our power to make sure that it does.
Finally, what would you tell the public to encourage them to visit ARCO?
I would tell them to enjoy the fair, to plan their visit well if they are short on time because they
wouldn’t want to try to see it all. It’s better to visit one pavilion in depth than to try to visit every
single stand and be unable to stop and see anything well.
