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ARCOlisboa 2018: experience the art, share the city
24March
Events

ARCOlisboa 2018: experience the art, share the city

IFEMA and the Câmara de Municipal de Lisboa are joining forces to hold ARCOlisboa 2018 from 17 to 20 May.

This third edition of the fair will be a celebration of contemporary Portuguese art accompanied by interesting international initiatives that will make the event again a unique opportunity to experience this city’s history, architecture and light. Lisbon is a place like no other and, similarly, ARCOlisboa is a fair like no other.

This is the third time that this celebration of contemporary Portuguese art is being held, accompanied by interesting international initiatives that will make the event a unique opportunity to experience this city’s history, architecture and light. Lisbon is a place like no other and, similarly, ARCOlisboa is a fair like no other.

ARCO sets out to introduce new artists, places and people, and this year, ARCOLisboa will be launching more new features than ever that will connect with an even wider audience.

The fair designs its timetable and its dynamics to suit the city, meaning that this coming event will be changing its schedule to be more in rhythm with the Lisbon lifestyle. From 17 to 19 May it will open to the public from 2:00 pm to 9:00 pm, while on 20 May the opening hours are from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm.
This edition is serving to consolidate the project and this sense of confidence has allowed it to increase its offering to a total of 71 gallerists from 14 countries, an increase of 22.5%.

This growth will be evident in new content, such as individual projects by artists who will be exhibited at the Torreão Poente for the first time, with extensive presentations of works by Portuguese and international artists alike. Among them are Esther Ferrer with Àngels Barcelona, José Carlos Martinat with Revólver and Mónica de Miranda with Carlos Carvalho.

Opening, a space devoted to young galleries, will this year be holding its second edition, showcasing 12 projects once again selected by curator João Laia. Some new additions are from Lisbon, like Balcony and Uma Lulik, while international galleries like Rolando Anselmi (Berlin/Rome), Bombon (Barcelona) and Copperfield (London) will also join this space that allows visitors the opportunity to discover new proposals.

The main section of ARCOlisboa will be the same size, with 51 galleries. The architecture will be again organized in a central area completely open to the outdoors, allowing natural light to flood in, making the visit a unique experience. As well as the leading Portuguese galleries that have supported the project from the start, new galleries like Krinzinger (Vienna), Helga de Alvear (Madrid), Carreras Mugica (Bilbao) or Greengrassi (London) will be presenting their projects at the fair for the first time.

One of initiatives that has been at ARCOlisboa since the beginning is As Tables Are Shelves, the independent publishers’ fair curated by Luiza Teixeira de Freitas that this year will have a special visibility. The selection of publishers specialising in artists’ publications will be extended into one of the rooms at the Torreão Nascente. This special project is a unique opportunity to start collecting from these creations in multiple editions, that help exploring the art and the ideas that inspire the creators.

One of ARCOlisboa’s aims is to harmonise the architecture of the fair with that of the building hosting it. A Cordoaria, an outstanding example of 18th-century industrial architecture, will connect with the country's most contemporary architecture at this edition. In cooperation with the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, visitors will be able to enjoy a new restaurant area, created by Atelier JQTS in collaboration with artist Carlos Nogueira, which has been beautifully designed for the Cordoaria space and for visitors to ARCOlisboa.  The fair will also feature cafés and bars, which will be open to the public, as well as a private lounge designed by Gracinha Viterbo.

Art and collecting will be among of the main topics of discussion throughout the fair, stimulated by a series of presentations that will be taking place at the Torreão Nascente. Presented by art critic Isabel Carlos, and sponsored by the Fundação Millenium bcp, the Collectors’ Forum will set out to give visitors a deeper understanding of the motives and ways in which major collectors approach their labour of love. In addition, the Museum Forum will discuss the similarities and differences between Portuguese and international museum programmes. The close collaboration between ARCOlisboa and Fundação EDP will once again be reflected in the 2nd Annual Conference of European and Latin American Museums, directed by Pedro Gadanho, director of the MAAT.

Curator Filipa Oliveira will take over one of the patios at Cordoaria for En qué estou a trabalhar? a series of conversations with a dozen professionals about their current projects. A unique opportunity to learn about matters of interest and current research by the most relevant curators and directors of institutions.

All the content present at the fair on which gallerists, curators, managers of institutions and collectors have worked so hard would be pointless if they had no impact on society. In its third edition, ARCOlisboa wants to give particular emphasis to stimulating new audiences. To achieve this, Silvia Escorcio, in cooperation with museums like MAAT, Museo Coleção Berardo, Museu Serralves, Centro de Arte Quetzal, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, among others, and with the country’s main art schools and universities, will be presenting a special programme to attract a wider audience to contemporary art, stressing its importance as a catalyst for thought about the present and its projection towards the future.

ARCOlisboa is not restricted to the physical space of the Cordoaria. The city is a unique setting that not only strengthens but also elevates the artistic importance of the fair project. The different spaces and institutions have programmes that will enable foreign visitors to understand why the Portuguese art scene is so lively. Individual exhibitions at the city's main institutions are an example of the vibrancy of the Portuguese cultural scene, and the natural way in which local artists are able to dialogue with the main international creators.

Among the individual exhibitions are those that MAAT will dedicate to Tomás Saraceno and Miguel Palma; Culturgest to Michael Biberstein; Fundação Carmona e Costa to Julião Sarmento; Kunstalle Lissabon to Sol Calero; and Pavilhão 31 to Jorge Molder. Numerous other projects will feature a selection of Portuguese and international artists, such as the PÓS-POP exhibition at the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, with participation by Teresa Magalhães, Eduardo Batarda, Ana Vieira, António Palolo, Nikias Skapinakis, Ruy Leitão, Menez and Allen Jones.

Another major area of interest will be the presence of collections. The Municipal de Lisboa will present its 2016 and 2017 acquisitions at the Torreão Nascente, while the Museu Coleção Berardo will host the No Place Like Home, exhibition, with a selection of works from the collection at the Israel Museum.

Once again, Lisbon will throw itself wholeheartedly into the world of contemporary art at this fair, with support from the Municipal de Lisboa, Fundação EDP and MAAT Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, and the Portuguese Ministry of Culture, as well as other institutions, art centres and galleries, with a diverse range of exhibitions and events, creating opportunities to meet with participants and guests at ARCOlisboa.