Visitors comprised of a positive mix of curators, museum figures and a growing number of highly important international collectors from the U.S, Britain, Europe, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and certainly from Germany. The fair was graced by the presence of Herbert Grönemeyer, Nadja Auerman, the politician Guido Westerwelle, Monika Gruetter and Gregor Gysi, museum directors Jan Hoet, Peter-Klaus Schuster, Nicolaus Schafhausen, Graft, the Berlin "Brangelina" architects and actor Benno Führmann. The fair was opened officially by the Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit and the prizes for the best stands were presented by the senator for economics and mayor Harald Wolf.
More than 1700 journalists from 36 countries visited ART FORUM BERLIN. TV journalists and editors of lifestyle magazines were also present. The largest number of journalists travelling to Germany from abroad came from Hungary, Poland, the United States, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Italy and Spain. Especially notable was a marked increase in art critics from Russia.
Reviews at 13. ART FORUM BERLIN
Spiegel Online International, 31 October 2008
Art Forum brings the World to Berlin
"The art world is very small," says Patricia Asbaek, a Danish gallerist who sits on the Art Forum advisory board, at the fair's opening. "The world out there does not care what we do. But we have to remember: we are the real thing.”
Die Welt, 2 November 2008
The positive message of this exhibition is: The market is in motion and makes artistic quality again a purchase criterion number one.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, 31 October 2008
Successful experiments for a difficult clientele - the Berlin Art Forum on the way to an international orientation
art – Das Kunstmagazin
The fear of the crisis was looming large –but also an anticipation of surprises – the parting artistic director Sabrina van der Ley leaves the fair with an impressive presentation.
DW-WORLD.de, 1 November 2008
Gripped by Berlin International Art Fever
The Art Forum Berlin is one of Germany's most significant fairs for contemporary art.
Collectors and friends
Many new collectors from Europe and overseas came to Berlin. Top collectors invited by the ART FORUM BERLIN . The Collector’s Program included Anita Zabludowicz from London, Anette Bollag-Rothschild, Zürich, Abaseh Mirvali from Mexico City, Susan and Michael Hort, New York and Susan Goldberg, New York. There were also well-known collector friends of the ART FORUM BERLIN seen around: Themis Michos, San Francisco / Berlin, Harald Falckenberg and Larissa Hilbig, Hamburg, Wilhelm Schürmann, Aachen / Berlin, Claudia and Thomas Olbricht, Essen, Reiner Speck, Cologne, Thomas Grässlin and Nanette Hagstotz, St. Georgen, Jean-Conrad and Isabelle Lemaitre, London, Rolf and Venke Hoff from Oslo, Roman and Margot Fuchs, Vienna, Ingvild Goetz, Münich and last but not least, Sabine Dumont Schütte from Cologne.
Purchases and sales
The Federal Purchase Commission headed by Rosa Schmitt-Neubauer with Yilmaz Dziewior, Bernhart Schwenk, Annemarie Bonnet, Ingrid Mössinger and Hans-Jörg Clement acquired among other things eight drawings by Claudia Wieser (10,500 Euros) from Eva Winkeler, Frankfurt am Main. Also very satis-fied was Lena Brüning, Berlin with her joint booth developed with a shared concept with Winkeler. Says Brüning:"The Berlin fair is for young contemporary art - the most interesting art fair at the moment." SixFriedrichLisaUngar from Munich are also satisfied in their joint stand with Charim, Vienna.
Many gallery owners came to Berlin with little expectations but were surprised by the enormous interest and greeted an overwhelming number of buyers with great pleasure. Anita Beckers, Frankfurt am Main, achieved more sales of works than ever before and found that the network of business relations which were built up over time have paid off. Works by Yves Netz-hammer and Bjørn Melhus and Cornelia Renz found numerous buyers. Nina Menocal, Mexico City, like Ellen de Bruijne, Amsterdam, opinionated that a positive experience and steady sales often only follows after building up a visible presence with continuous participation in the fair. Peres Projects, Los Angeles/Berlin, continue to participate in the fair as establishing close contact with Berlin is important.
A major sculpture by Kirstine Roepstorff at Peres Project’ gallery garnered some interest in Berlin collectors. Christopher Grimes from Santa Monica was very satisfied with the sales and interest that was generated amongst the audience. Says Nancy Jaffe from Christopher Grimes gallery:"This time it has been a success for us. We enjoyed meeting the collectors and we're sure we'll keep coming back each year.
It was similar for Gazonrouge, the whiz gallerist from Athens last year, Loraini Alimantiri who says:"I did very well against all odds, met very intellectual collectors, new clients and sold everything in the booth." First time participants Plan B from Cluj, Romania received several enquiries after their works, particularly after a large painting by Adrian Ghenie which he could have sold seven times. Timothy Persons of Taik, Helsinki, experienced that artists’ works sell better at the fair when shown parallel to a presentation at a gallery. Traversée, Munich, has completely sold well and is very satisfied with their first appearance in Berlin. At Kicken, Berlin, all forms of art, from the vintage to contemporary styles sold well. An early artwork from Bernd and Hilla Becher was sold for 210,000 Euros to a private collection in Germany. Satisfaction is also at Multiple Box, Hamburg. The editor was mainly selling more classic pieces such as “Girlfriends II"by Sigmar Polke from the year 1967. Contemporary Fine Art, Berlin’s small booth was. optimally used by featuring Daniel Richter and mainly Georg Herold, who is newly in the gallery’s pro-gram. Seven works by Daniel Richter were sold for 25,000 - 40,000 Euros as well as work of Georg Herold from 45,000 - from 65,000 Euros.
Trustees and curators
At the fair were the curators and museum directors Ami Barak, Paris, Katerina Gregos, Athens, Natasa Ilic, Zagreb, Beatrix Ruf, Zurich, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, London, Christoph Vitali, Bonn, Carlos Urroz, Madrid, Fumio Nanjo, Tokyo, Valerie Smith, Berlin, Susanne Pfeffer, Berlin, Inke Arns, Essen, Sabine Himmelsbach, Oldenburg, Katja Blomberg, Berlin, Petra Roettig, Hamburg, Iara Boubnova, Sofia, Zsolt Petrányi, Budapest, Ulrike Groos, Dusseldorf , Pilar Tompkins, Los Angeles, Gabriele Knapstein, Berlin.
Many collectors and trustees of foreign and German museums have been to the 13th ART FORUM BERLIN. Among the visitors were: The Friends of the Contemporary Art Society, London, and those of the Fundación Foto Colectania from Barcelona as well as the Friends of the Kunsthalle Hamburg. Were seen at the fair:, ART PROCESS – Very Club, Paris, and, for the first time, the Friends of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. From Berlin came the Stoberkreis, the yound Friends of the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, the Deutsche Guggenheim Club, Berlin and CAA Contemporary Arts Alliance Berlin.
Once again at ART FORUM BERLIN, was welcomed an international group of curators and museums directors who visit the most important cities and places of fine art in Germany in late autumn through the visitors program of the Goethe-Institute and the German Foreign Office.
ART FORUM BERLIN TALKS
Strong appeal found in the ART FORUM BERLIN TALKS, which was again held this year on the upper floor at the Palais am Funkturm. The talk lounge has been designed by the Iran-born artist Solmaz Shabazi. The lounge design is inspired by architectural content as much as the big social-economic history of the Palais am Funkturm. One of the city’s best bar-keepers from the Victoria Bar in Berlin served drinks 60’s style after each talk event. Over the course of three days, the six panel discussions were regularly visited by over a 100 interested visitors.
Special exhibition "difference, what difference?"
The concept of curator Hans-Juergen Hafner, Berlin, saw the exhibition arranged in the alphabetical order in the parcours as well as in the Freestyle Hall. Surprisingly the concept, more conceptual and substantive in its detailed lines, has fully risen. The new form is a conquest of space and is generally praised as an interesting commentary on the commercial orientation of a fair.
Freestyle Hall in an architecture of Roger Bundschuh
The new design of the Freestyle Hall was very well received by the audience. Otto Schweins from Cologne says that the fair succeeded in making "positive modifications". The open architecture and democratic arrangement of the stands proved to provide the same opportunities and attention to galleries. Marietta Clages, Cologne, provided feedback that they had established many good contacts while Michael Wiesehöfer from Cologne found hall 11.2 (Freesyle Hall) to be a highlight. Hoet Bekaert from Ghent as well as Michael Stevenson from Cape Town were impressed by the genuine interest which collectors and visitors took to the art and artists. For them, the main objective of participating in the fair was not only to have sold well but to establish a good network of contacts.
Professional Monday
For the first time, ART FORUM BERLIN introduced his PROFESSIONAL MONDAY. As part of this curators program a group tour of the fair, exclusive exhibition visits, previews and receptions were hold, providing plenty of opportunity to get new insights into Berlin’s vital art scene. On Monday,November 3, 2008, five Berlin curators hosted several panels. Topics that were discussed included collecting under the pressure of competition and with a small budget, as well as the function of a Kunsthalle.
Prizes at the ART FORUM BERLIN
The following galleries and artists have been awarded within the framework of the ART FORUM Berlin 2008:
The winners of the two prizes for the best stands:
September, Berlin, wins the prize for the Best Single Stand, endowed with 4.500 Euro, donated by the Berlin State Initiative Project Future.
Ingleby, Edinburgh, wins the prize for the best freestyle Gallery booth, endowed with 2,500 Euros, donated by the State Initiative Project Future.
2008 marks the first time development of a digital art award [ddaa] in the framework of the ART FORUM BERLIN awarded. Endowed with 20,000 Euros, the prize draws extraordinary achievements in the field of digital art. The prize-makers is also an exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bremen, which will be accompanied by a publication.
New Artistic Directors Duo for 2009
With the 13th ART FORUM Berlin 2008, we say goodbye to Sabrina van der Ley, artistic director since 2000, with her team, and Anne Maier and her team, responsible for public relations and press of the ART FORUM BERLIN.
The International Gallery Advisory Board of ART FORUM BERLN and Messe Berlin have appointed Eva-Maria Häusler and Peter Vetsch, both formerly Art Basel, to new Co-Directors of the ART FORUM BERLIN. Both can rely on a in past years solidly founded fair, that Sabrina van der Ley as Artistic Director and Messe Berlin in association with the International Advisory Board have been successfully established on the international art market. The two Co-Directors will be able to call upon the many years of experience of Kirsten Günther as Head of Operations.
Sabrina van der Ley has been appointed senior curator at the Galerie der Gegenwart of the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Anne Maier will remain in Berlin and switches as a press officer to the House of World Cultures.
Save-the-date 2009
The 14th art forum berlin will take place from 24 September to 27 September 2009. The opening is on 23 September 2009.
