ARCOlisboa 2024 is a firm fixture in the Portuguese capital
From 23 to 26 May 2024 in Lisbon
ARCOlisboa, the fair organised by IFEMA MADRID and the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, will hold its 7th edition from 23 to 26 May at the Cordoaria Nacional, making the Portuguese capital once again one of the most attractive and interesting centres of art and culture in Europe, and a meeting place for collectors, gallery owners, artists and professionals from all over the world.
Featuring 82 galleries from 14 countries, ARCOlisboa will showcase Portugal's art scene in a broad dialogue with Spanish and European art. The Fair will be organised into three areas: the General Programme, made up of 59 galleries; the curated sections, OPENING Lisboa, with a selection of 16 galleries; and As Formas do Oceano (The Shapes of the Ocean), made up of 7galleries.
This year, Portuguese galleries represent more than 34% of the fair, with a total of 28 galleries participating. There are 54 galleries that make up the international segment, which stands at 66%. Many of the galleries are European, with a significant number from countries such as Spain, Germany, France and Austria.
Art programme
At the heart of the fair is the General Programme, which continues to grow and will include 59 galleries selected by the Organising Committee, with a number of galleries taking part for the first time, such as Charim, adn gallery and L21. A number of participants are back again after missing some editions, as is the case of Ehrhardt Flórez, Piero Atchugarry and Graça Brandão, while others, such as Janh und Jahn and Foco, have returned to the general section after taking part in OPENING Lisboa last year. These are joined by regular fixtures of the fair, like Bruno Múrias, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Francisco Fino, Madragoa, Pedro Cera, Vera Cortês, as well as Carreras Mugica, Helga de Alvear, Mayoral, Leandro Navarro and Carlier | Gebauer, 193 Gallery, Document.
Also taking part are, SOLO projects – as part of the General Programme – which will present an in-depth look at the work of international artists. Among them are: Ixone Sádaba, ATM; Vicente Blanco, Galería Silvestre; Carmen Ortiz Blanco, House of Chappaz; Miguel Ángel Tornero, Juan Silió; Juan Baraja, La Cometa; Elvira Amor, MPA / Moisés Pérez de Albéniz; Miguel Fructuoso, T20; Christian García Bello, The Goma; Michele Tocca, Z2o Sara Zanin Gallery; and Edin Zenun, Zeller Van Almsick.
Meanwhile, the OPENING Lisboa section will explore new artistic languages and spaces in order to attract new content to the fair. Along these lines, and via this programme – for which the galleries were chosen by Chus Martínez and Luiza Teixeira de Freitas – the fair will explore 16 galleries, such as 4710 Gallery, Artnueve, Elvira Moreno, Lohaus Sominsky and Salgadeiras, which are making their debut, as well as Bianca Boeckel, Encounter, Portas Vilaseca, Nave and Romero Paprocki, which are back again, as is Anca Poterasu, winner of the OPENING Lisboa 2023 Award.
The OPENING Lisboa space will be custom designed by the Portuguese architectural studio Feeders.
This year, and for the fifth year in a row, ARCOlisboa will present the OPENING Lisboa Award. The judging panel, made up of professionals from the sector, will recognise the best booth in the section, gifting the winner the cost of setting up the booth at the Fair.
The artistic content of this year’s edition is rounded off by the programme As Formas do Oceano, curated by Paula Nascimento and Igor Simões, and will feature projects that focus on relations between Africa and the African diaspora and other latitudes. It will include a total of 7 galleries: from Paris, 31 Project and Christophe Person; Casablanca, African Arty; Lisbon, Colectivo Amarelo; Brasilia, Karla Osorio; Italy, LIS10 Gallery; and Rio de Janeiro, Nonada.
ArtsLibris is once again present at ARCOlisboa with some thirty national and international exhibitors. Located in the Torreão Nascente da Cordoaria, access is free for the general public. Contemporary art magazines will also play a leading role in this space. In addition to being a place specialising in art publications, photobooks, contemporary thought, self-publishing and digital publications, it offers attendees a range of presentations and debates in the ArtsLibris Speakers Corner, where participating publishers will talk about their publications and editorial lines.
As a theoretical contextualisation, ARCOlisboa will offer its traditional programme of debates and reflections which, with the support of Fundação Millennium BCP, will continue to promote the fair as a driver of thought on contemporary art. The Torreão Nascente will host the Millennium Art Talks, organised by EGEAC and curated by Marta Mestre and Ángel Calvo Ulloa.
The general public will also have the chance to enjoy this special encounter with contemporary art from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 May. To make the fair accessible to an even greater number of people, it will allow persons under 25 to enter free of charge on Saturday 25 May from 15.00 onwards.
ARCOlisboa will be a veritable week of art for the city, collaborating, as in previous editions, with the main local art institutions, and offering a parallel cultural programme for national and international guests, including openings and visits to exhibitions and private collections as well as other events.
ARCOlisboa is jointly organised by the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, with the support of DGARTES, Fundação EDP, Fundação Millennium BCP, Fundação Vasco Vieira de Almeida, MEXTO Property Investment, Turismo de Lisboa, Bellissimo Cafés / Marca Grupo Nabeiro, Super Bock Group, El Corte Inglés, Santogal, Art works, Ruinart, Casa Cadaval e Quinta do Casal Branco and with the local coordination of Café Pessoa.