Premier fair ends with strong sales

BASEL- Hürriyet Daily News

The 44th edition of Art Basel closed on June 16, with galleries reporting exceptionally strong sales across all levels, as Basel once again became the central meeting place for the international art world.

Art Basel attracted a record 70,000 visitors, generating attendance of 86,000 over the six show days. Representatives and groups from over 70 museums around the world attended the show, alongside major private collectors from North and South America, Europe and Asia.

Many visitors to the show commented on the exceptional quality of the work being exhibited, which was undoubtedly reflected in the strength of the sales made by galleries across all sectors of the show throughout the week. Many exhibitors reported stronger sales on the opening preview day of the show than ever before.

Art Basel presented 304 galleries from around the world exhibiting the work of over 4,000 artists, with many choosing to present thematic and solo-artist exhibitions. Galleries from across the globe debuted at the Basel show this year, coming from Turkey, as well as from Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

Art Basel stages the world’s premier art shows for modern and contemporary works, sited in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition.

Fears over Istanbul Biennial

The special edition of Art Basel highlighted the ongoing protests in Istanbul and discussed the effects of protests on the upcoming Istanbul Biennial. “The organizers stress that the biennial will go ahead despite the dissent, which has spread to the Turkish capital, Ankara, and the southern city of Adana,” said the special edition, and Fulya Erdemci, the curator of the biennial, was quoted as saying, “The organizers of the Istanbul Biennial are reconsidering plans to use Taksim Square and Gezi Park, sites of ongoing anti-government protests, as venues for the 13th edition (“Mom, Am I Barbarian?”, 14 September-10 November). “We are still considering including [them]. However, it is too early to discuss the details.”