Doing business means networking
Edek Bartz
The year 2005 saw an astounding boom of new and established art fair events which, with all their merits in the presentation of artists and their work and the galleries’ fabulous efforts, were driven by a strong focus on the society-aspect of the art scene. Parties and business seemed to be the perfect match.
What else could be the main aim of an art fair but offering the participating galleries the perfect environment for successful business? The first edition of VIENNAFAIR in April 2005 has already proven that Vienna has a very high business potential as a dynamic marketplace for contemporary art in Central Europe. The second edition of this aspiring art fair will even increase this event’s unique setting and appeal.
But it is not only the offered business opportunities that make VIENNAFAIR worth participating for galleries, it is also the second most important business factor in art: networking and communications. No other art fair in the world offers young and unknown galleries from the new EU member states such a platform to enter the international art world. Equal partnership is the keyword for the concept to include these galleries in the fair’s architecture next to internationally renowned galleries, giving the newcomers a chance to enhance their professional status. It is this combination that makes VIENNAFAIR so interesting for collectors and art lovers, offering the best from two different worlds and the possibility to become more familiar with the international contemporary art scene and to gain confidence in the growing art world of the CEE countries.
Another line of the VIENNAFAIR program will even deepen the understanding for the rising importance of the art scene in Central and Eastern Europe. A special part of the event will be devoted to the presentations of museums and exhibition halls and provide a further opportunity for new promising contacts and discoveries. While a series of lectures and panel discussions will throw light on networking possibilities between the art world and the business world, another part of the program will focus on the possibilities art has within the economic development of the CEE countries.
Besides these information programs, VIENNAFAIR will also lay special emphasis on sculptures as a field of corporate collecting–an issue that is not yet substantially developed in Austria and Eastern Europe. The sculpture park of VIENNAFAIR, located in front of the fair’s entrance hall, will not only present works from renowned artists but will be the perfect setting for presentations to company owners and entrepreneurs.
VIENNAFAIR will of course keep up its private collectors’ program and will–as it already did for the first edition–invite collectors especially from eastern countries to put them in touch with international collectors and last, not least, give them a chance to demonstrate that the gallery scene back home is definitely worth a closer look.
With its second edition, VIENNAFAIR is in a row with prestigious art fair events all over the world and is set to be a strong competitor in the field. Vienna itself has always been a place where different cultures meet and profit from each other in manifold and intricate ways. So we are sure to make this event a definite gain for both its visitors and the galleries. For more info: www.viennafair.at
