Art fairs, book fairs, art book fairs, the Lambeth Country Fair, who doesn’t like a good fair? From spectacular events attracting the general public, to smaller, specialist or professional events, international or local, fairs are in vogue and significant from both economic and cultural perspectives.
Very firmly positioned in the commercial world, many art fairs have benefited in recent years from their transformation into curated events (Art Basel, Frieze, etc.), a phenomenon parallel to the proliferation of new ones, and sometimes referred to as “new fairism” (see, for instance, Paco Barragan’s The art fair age. Milan: Charta, 2008). This proliferation remains largely unchartered (New Exhibitions of Contemporary Art lists only around 30 in the dedicated section of its website) and poorly documented.
On The Age Of The Art Fair
http://magazine.saatchionline.com/culture/reviews/books/paco-barragan-on-the-age-of-the-art-fair
New Exhibitions of Contemporary Art: Fairs
http://www.newexhibitions.com/fairs
Art fairs operate in a globalised environment, with international brands, from Frieze to the Affordable Art Fair, joining those of local origin, clustering around certain cities and times of the year (e.g. October in London, March in New York, etc.), while diversifying their appeal (and market share) by targeting specific audiences, formats, etc. with new sections or whole new events (e.g. Frieze Masters, Art Basel Hong Kong, etc.) These are just a few of those of international significance:
Abu Dhabi Art
Affordable Art Fair
ARCO
www.ifema.es/ferias/arco/default.html
Armory Show
Art Basel
Art Brussels
Art Cologne
Art Dubai
Art Fair Tokyo
Art Monaco
Art Paris
Art Toronto
Artissima
FIAC
Frieze
Muliplied
http://www.multipliedartfair.com
Paris Photo
Pinta
SH Contemporary
Sunday
Volta
Zona Maco
Book fairs
Fairs have played historically an important role in the publishing trade (e.g. Frankfurt, London), with specialist ones, from antiquarian to zines, becoming ever more numerous and popular in recent years, and art book fairs are not an exception to this trend. From large international events, like the New York Art Book Fair (last weekend of September, tbc), to local student sales, art book fairs are a useful source of information on new and established publishers and their publications, often offering the opportunity to meet authors, editors and artists, and to learn about new developments, ideas and even scholarship. The Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference (run by ARLIS/NY since 2008) and the events programme of the NYABF are of particular significance, but many other art book fairs offer a range of talks, readings, discussions, etc. that greatly enhance their value and interest. Printed Matter, organiser of the NYABF, have recently launched the inaugural Los Angeles Art Book Fair (MOCA, 1-3 February). It joins on the North American west coast the Vancouver Art/Book Fair, which held its first edition last October, and the established book arts fair Codex. On the opposite side of the continent, the first Montreal Art Book Fair will take place in the Spring, while the New York based Editions/Artists Books Fair (E/AB Fair) was held in January. You can read a recent interview with AA Bronson, ex-president of Printed Matter (also founder of Art Metropole, etc.) and main force behind the NY and LA art book fairs, where he discusses his views on art publishing, and announces his retirement from the fairs -or not: “who knows, maybe I’ll do an art book fair in Berlin”, in the Opening Ceremony Blog (1/2/2013).
Frankfurt Book Fair
London Book Fair
New York Art Book Fair
Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference
http://nyartbookfair.com/conference
Los Angeles Art Book Fair
Vancouver Art/Book Fair
Codex International Book Fair
Montreal Art Book Fair
EAB Fair
Opening Ceremony Blog: “LA Art Book Fair: an interview with founder AA Bronson”
www.openingceremony.us/entry.asp?pid=7228
Closer to home, in London, new events keep enriching what must be the busiest art book fair calendar anywhere in the world, including the revived and always seriously fun Publish and Be Damned, now resident at the ICA (2 March); the rapidly growing in size and stature Copeland Book Market (18-21 July); Kaleid 2013 (20 July); the London Art Book Fair (13-15 September), the largest event of its kind in the UK and possibly in Europe, held at the Whitechapel Gallery; the parallel -but independent- Artists Books Weekend (12-15 September); and, unconfirmed yet for 2013, but normally held in November, the Small Publishers Fair, organised by RGAP (Research Group for Artists Publications); and Handmade and Bound. Elsewhere in the UK, established artists’ books fairs are held in Leeds (8-9 March), Bristol (20-21 April), Norwich (24 May), Glasgow (tbc 2014), Liverpool (tbc) and Manchester (tbc), among others.
Publish and Be Damned
Copeland Book Market
Kaleid 2013
London Art Book Fair
www.whitechapelgallery.org/book-fair/the-london-art-book-fair
Artists Books Weekend
http://artistbooksweekend.wordpress.com
Small Publishers Fair
Handmade and Bound
International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair (Leeds)
BABE (Bristol)
www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/events/details/1587
Turn the page (Norwich)
Glasgow International Artists Bookfair
Liverpool Artists’ Book Fair
www.thebluecoat.org.uk/events/view/events/1491
Manchester Artists Book Fair
www.hotbedpress.org/manchester-artists-book-fair
After some years of relative decline and discontinued events (e.g. ArtistBook International), European art book fairs seem also to be enjoying renewed interest with new -often younger- publics, artists and publishers. The range of these fairs, often smaller and independent, sometimes ephemeral, includes (current only):
About (Mainz)
The Book Affair (Venice)
C/O Berlin Book Days
www.co-berlin.info/program/book-days
Dublin Art Book Fair
www.templebargallery.com/gallery/exhibition/dublin-art-book-fair-2012
Farenheit 39 (Ravenna)
Independent Publishing Cologne
www.facebook.com/IndependentPublishingCologne
I Never Read, Art Book Fair Basel
Libros Mutantes (Madrid)
Kioosk (Cracow)
Mainzer Minipressen-Messe (Mainz)
Miss Read (Berlin)
Offprint Amsterdam / Amsterdam Art Book Fair
http://cargocollective.com/Offprint-Projects/OFFPRINT-AMSTERDAM-2012
Offprint (Paris)
Pa/per View (Brussels, and itinerant European iterations)
Salon Light (Paris)
Zine*Fair (Vienna)
http://www.kunsthallewien.at/cgi-bin/event/event.pl?id=4814&lang=en
[Grandal Montero, G. (2013) Resources online: Fairs. ARLIS News-sheet, no. 222, March-April, pp. 3-4.]
