21 Jun 2012

Beirut Art Fair: 2012 Edition

BEIRUT ART FAIR returns July 5 to 8, 2012 with forty international galleries of modern and contemporary art and design.
In 2011, the fair brought together 25 international galleries and proposed a number of cultural exhibitions which were appreciated by more than 10,000 visitors – collectors, journalists, artists, amateurs and professionals of the art world. The enthusiasm of the two first editions reflects a genuine artistic and economic development in the 'ME.NA.SA.' region which extends from Morocco to Indonesia. The field of contemporary art is rich with 60 museums, 6 biennales, 8 fairs, over 30 foundations, and more than 200 galleries… not to mention the number of emerging artists of high caliber, which BEIRUT ART FAIR is pleased to provide a forum of expression at the heart of the 'fertile crescent'.

A HYBRID FAIR :
For Laure d'Hauteville, who created from 1998 in Beirut the fair ARTUEL, then ARTSUD until 2005, the market potential of international art at the heart of the
'ME.NA.SA.' region is obvious. With BEIRUT ART FAIR, she intends to establish 'a hybrid fair, which is not only focused on commercial transactions, but also a strong cultural program with the participation of renowned speakers.' She goes on to say, 'Our event is supported by the Lebanese government and is expected to continue a steady growth each year.
With the participation of representatives from European cultural institutions and international auction houses and the presence of groups of international collectors,we are providing BEIRUT ART FAIR all the assets for ensuring the permanence of the event.' Thus, alongside the galleries, several exhibitions enriching the cultural program promise great discoveries branded 'ME.NA.SA.' in the domain of street art, VJing, comics, video, sculpture and installations. Catherine David was invited by BEIRUT ART FAIR to devote herself to one of the spaces of the fair for presenting a new project that has never been exposed as a part of an arts event. This is the correspondence of two big personalities of the Arab contemporary culture: the Saudi writer Abdel Rahman Munif, notable author of 'City of Salt', a five-volume novel which analyzes the upheavals experienced by the discovery of oil in the Gulf countries and the painter Marwan (Marwan Kassab Bachi), considered on the greatest Arab artists.
This set of letters (largely illustrated in the case of Marwan) – accompanied from a series of watercolor preparations made by Marwan for the book covers of Munif – show a crossed reflection on the literature and plastic, as far as the status of the intellectual and of the artist in the Arab and contemporary world. The 'Video Box' brings together the works of the most remarkable video artists of the 'ME.NA.SA.' region.
The exhibition 'This is not wonderland' conceived by Pascal Odille consists of monumental sculptures, visual and sound installations. A meandering takes place through a labyrinth, to discover aspects of the contemporary Lebanese creations with the artists themselves as the only guides.
At these 'events in the event' there is a series of conferences and round tables which reaffirm the role of Beirut as the cultural capital for the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. Professionals from the world of art, collectors, and critics are invited to exchange
their ideas on various topics in order to understand contemporary art from the ME.NA.SA. territory in all its richness and diversity.

2012 BEIRUT ART FAIR ART GALLERIES :
From July 5 to 8, 2012, forty modern and contemporary art galleries representing creations of the 'ME.NA.SA.' region in all its diversity through painting, drawing, sculpture, video, performance, street art, and comics move into the spaces of BIEL.
This year the fair broadens its scope to design with the participation of several international galleries, who have chosen to exhibit the work of their creators in Beirut this July. Among the participants, a number of galleries from previous editions return and renew their confidence in BEIRUT ART FAIR. These include Agial Art Gallery (Lebanon), Emmagoss Art Gallery (Lebanon), Galerie Janine Rubeiz (Lebanon), Galerie épreuve d'artiste (Lebanon), Raja' Nehme Sertin art Gallery (Lebanon), Art Sawa (Dubai, UAE), Ayyam (Lebanon /UAE/Syria), Galerie Al Motharaf (Saudi Arabia), Espace Kettaneh Kunigk Tanit (Lebanon /Germany).
New European galleries join this 2012 edition: Galerie Trait noir – Aroya (France), Galerie Sophie Lanoë (France), VDA Galleries (Spain), China Today Gallery (Belgium), Galerie Prinzessin Michaela Nikolajewna Wolkonsky (Germany), l'ABK ART (France) and the Galeria Sabrina Amrani (Spain). The Maghreb region is represented by Le Sous Sol Art Gallery (Morocco) participating for the first time at the fair and the gallery Le Violon Bleu (Tunisia) which is in its second collaboration.
And with respect to the galleries of the Middle East presenting at this 2012 edition, we highlight the participation of Artbahrain (Bahrain), the Tajalliyat Art Gallery (Syria), Kozah Art Gallery (Syria), Dara Gallery (Sudan), Esquisse Gallery (Lebanon), Waddah Faris (Iraq), the Joanna Seikaly Art Gallery (Lebanon) and Art Chowk Gallery (Dubai, UAE/Pakistan). The design galleries exhibiting for the first time at BEIRUT ART FAIR include the gallery Smogallery (Lebanon), Musk & Amber lifestyle concept store (Tunisia), Carwan Art Gallery (Lebanon), 20-21 Gallery (Lebanon)…


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Sylvia Beder communicationculture
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