International Contemporary Art Fair in Madrid
India as ARCO Guest Country
(February 11 – 16, 2009)
Following the success of ARCO’08 and its restructure, which drew over 190,000 visitors to Madrid for one of Europe’s top contemporary art fairs, ARCO will continue being celebrated in halls 12, 14 and 14.1. ARCO’09, which will be held February 11-16 2009, will feature India as Guest Country and it will include the
following programmes:
GENERAL PROGRAMME
International galleries presenting works that span the avant-gardes, modernism, contemporary classics, and the art of today. Approximately 160 galleries from over 30 countries will present painting, sculpture, installations, photography, video, new media, drawing and engraving. Galleries applying for this section will not be able to apply for participation in ARCO 40, but they will be able to apply for the other sections.
ARCO 40
After the success of this new programme in the past edition, ARCO 40 will again put together galleries that represent the most contemporary of new art practices. Within an area measuring 40 square metres per gallery, ARCO 40 will exhibit projects created during the last three years by no more than three artists. This section will be placed in halls 12 and 14, together with the General Programme. Galleries applying for this section will not be able to apply for participation in the General Programme, but they will be able to apply for the
other sections.
SOLO PROJECTS
Designed for site-specific works, this programme complements the General Program and ARCO 40, with projects of only one artist creating specific work for the fair. These solo projects will be proposed by a team of international curators, providing new insights into the global contemporary art scene. The number of selected projects will be reduced.
EXPANDED BOX
This programme focuses on the ongoing expansion of art practices towards new formats and contexts. e-BOX embraces current influences and tendencies surrounding the use of technology in art and accommodates works requiring a non-conventional exhibition space. e-Box encourages the wider acceptance of new media art in the art market. The selection will be made by a curatorial group.
There will be two types of exhibiting settings:
1. Modular stand of 30 m2 approx. addressed to new technologies and electronic art.
2. Screen space in which there will be 4 different spaces for big format video-projections.
PERFORMING ARCO
ARCO’09 continues with this section addressed to galleries that wish to present visual artists proposing live art (performances). In addition to the galleries applications, a prestigious team of international curators will also present proposals and will supervise the programme. This section is aimed at galleries exploring the potential of performance as a visual art practice and provides a rare opportunity to present performance works in the context of a contemporary art fair.
PANORAMA: INDIA
A selection of Indian galleries and projects by Indian artists.
ARCO URBANO
ARCO needs to extend its contents and provide the Fair with sections to enrich it. In this case, we have created a section called ARCO URBANO, a work platform for the art made for outdoor spaces.
ARCO INSTITUTIONS
This programme is designed to raise awareness about public and private institutions that are committed to contemporary art, creating collections, building exhibition venues and implementing programs supporting contemporary art practices.
CONTEMPORARY ART PUBLICATIONS: To encourage a thriving and broad-based, international art press, this section will provide Art Magazines and Publishers with and integrated space within the Fair, with two differentiated zones for each of the above mentioned kind of publications.
The main feature of ARCO’09 is unquestionably the fair’s new location, which will greatly improve its ability to serve visitors, galleries, artists, and arts professionals alike. The fair’s new programs and sections will expand the potential for interaction between these various constituencies. Yet ARCO’s core mission remains the same—to promote and support contemporary art galleries and art practices from Spain and abroad.
