Let's forget about art fairs as they used to be: perhaps they will be more local, contingent and less attended

It is hard to say today how scenarios will change in the art world post COVID-19. Certainly we cannot expect to return to what was normal for us any time soon. I am doing many reflections at this time and I share them with you. The whole art world, and the Italian world in particular, has been at a standstill for many months. This is not to say that artists have not produced works, but the supply chain is at a standstill: not only are the galleries closed, but the borders blocked and the transportation of art impossible. Everything will start again, but it will be a gradual restart, I think progressive.

The fairs have been canceled and often moved to the fall, but we have to question their fruition. We were used to large numbers, many people gathering together in crowded spaces, numerous intercontinental travel even for a few days, hectic air travel, trains I think for a while this will no longer be the case and it will be good for our Carbon foot print too! The influx to the fairs could become contingent, limiting the admissions mainly to enthusiasts and collectors, making small groups have access to the exhibition spaces, taking turns. I think the fairs will have a smaller, more human scale. This could also be good: it would allow a more intimate relationship with gallerists, curators, and also between collectors. It would allow people to relate to darte works in a more peaceful context.

Artissima 2019. Ph. Credit Perottino Piva Bottallo / Artissima

Artissima 2019. Ph. Credit Perottino Piva Bottallo / Artissima

Artissima 2019. Ph. Credit Perottino Piva Bottallo / Artissima

As for the aspect related to the movement of goods and people, fairs for a period could have a more local character, enhancing the resources that are closer. Thinking of Artissima 2020 as a more European fair does not seem negative to me because the galleries, including the Italian ones, represent artists from all countries of the world and it will be their research and vision that will still make the offer international. In any case to date the exhibitors, even the international ones, have shown us their interest in participating in Artissima, they are responding to us and they are very eager to start again. Our dates, November 5-8, are still a long way off, and many of us hope that they will coincide with a reopening and new activities in the art world to discover the Turin scene. Gallery owners, who have already invested by supporting their artists’ productions, are looking forward to getting back on track.

As for the artists, it is not an easy time for them. They were already suffering from the economic crisis and they don’t have protection tools, such as unemployment benefits, but, if the need for action and lottimism get the better of the recession we have entered, I think a way out will be found. People, at this time of lockdown, have shown a great need for art and culture and have begun to enjoy them from home-a habit, this, that they will not lose when they get back together. I also think that private companies, in order to restart, will be able to treasure contemporary art, renewing themselves, reinventing themselves, also thanks to the creative power of artists. Collaborations between entrepreneurs and thinkers can lead to positive transformations of a system. So I think there will be new possibilities for artists, from the private sector, to education, to digital.

In this regard, we have been amazed at how readily in the contemporary art world has been activated on the web, with a view to sharing and producing content. We as Artissima have strengthened our digital activities, launching on Instagram a new project: /ge-ne-a-lo-gì-a/. A bit of a game and a bit of a survey, it was created to keep the world of Italian art alive and visible, making it easily accessible even to those who know it less. Every day, an artist chosen from among those who had participated in the Deposito dArte Italiana Presente exhibition (a project curated together with Vittoria Martini at Artissima 2017), is invited to point out two Italian artists to whom they feel connected, electing one as their ancestor and one as their ideal descendant, of course not literally but metaphorically. In addition to enhancing contemporary Italian art, the project highlights that sense of family so rooted in our culture, revealing an artistic community made up of eclecticism, originality but also a sense of belonging and friendships. We already have other digital projects under consideration: an interactive activity for children and a virtual space dedicated to bringing together artists and contemporary art lovers, but I will tell you more about that later.

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