Under the motto “Art as human language”, Arteba, the most important fair in Latin America; arrives again at Costa Salguero Center in a space of 11,000 m2 in which the most diverse productions of modern and contemporary art converge. A commitment to culture, in a year of economic difficulties, notorious absences and a global market in retraction, but also with novelties and proposals that aim to expand public and reinforce their role in the international calendar.
Although the costs of a stand can exceed 40 thousand dollars and inflation erodes cultural budgets, each edition seems like a great act of faith. This year holds numbers that demonstrate their resilience: 67 galleries from 16 countries, more than 400 artists and an agenda of activities that combines exhibition, training and debate.
“This is not just a fair, it is a meeting point. A platform that projects trajectories, drives new voices and connects territories,” summarizes Larisa Andreani, president of the Arteba Foundation. The definition contains a commitment: to sustain, in full crisis, an appointment that has been consolidated as one of the most relevant in the Latin American circuit and that this year strategically coincides with the proximity of the Biennial of San Pablo, to attract curators and international collectors.
A difficult context
The previous one of this edition was not simple. The absence of at least six recognized galleries – among them cosmocosa, floating island and Gachi Prieto – and the debates around the presence of a auction house marked the internal climate. To this were added the highest costs that led several galleries to reduce the size of their spaces, while the number of partners, patron and sponsors that joined the financing was increased.
In a global market that, according to UBS and Arts Economics, fell 12 % in 2024 and became more conservative, The challenge is to attract buyers in a segment that is moving towards works of less value. Even so, the Selection Committee sought accessible proposals and artists with projection, pointing to a new generation of young collectors.
“It is true that many have gone, but we receive this edition with great enthusiasm and great expectations -testimony one of the exhibitors, Gabriel Cott of Cott Gallery -. Cott.
News and proposals
The Mariano Ullúa Marplatense installation, commissioned by Andreani (which celebrates its eight decades) and cured by Florencia Cherñajovsky, will be in charge of receiving visitors in this edition. In its tour, as has been happening a few years ago, Arteba is divided into two central sections: the main one, with 44 galleries of recognized experience and every year with greater federal and international presence, from Ruth Benzacar and Barro to Vermelho (San Pablo) and Galerie Jocelyn Wolff (Paris); and Utopia, the category that groups 19 emerging galleries, spaces managed by artists, organizations with and non -profit and other experimental marketing platforms.
With an eye on insertion in the world of international art, the Museum Acquisition Programwhich turns 20 and already achieved that almost 400 works by Argentine artists would enter national and international collections such as Reina Sofía, Tate Modern and Guggenheim and institutions of Salta, San Juan, Córdoba and Buenos Aires. This year this action will be completed with the International Dialogue Zone program cured by Aimé Iglesias Lukin (director and curator in Chief of America’s Society, New York) that will bring together four foreign galleries in a cycle of conversations about the links of Argentine art with the world. A classic that always attracts is the island of editions, in alliance with the Proa Foundation, which will focus this year on the expansive language of music and sound art and include talks and presentations of the participating publishers and spaces dedicated to producing material linked to the subject.
Another good news is the sum of a new distinction to existing ones. To the outstanding prize on site, which promotes young projects; The Pinamar, which selects an artistic project to carry out in that city and the remox to the best stand; This year is included The Volf Award that will award three million pesos to an artist whose works are linked to gastronomy. And as a gold brooch, the traditional distinction to collecting, which this year will reward Marion Eppinger.
Public and accessibility
To foster collecting, the First work Santander will allow buying pieces of up to $ 3,000 in credit card installments and there will be free advice of curators to guide first -time buyers. According to Andreani, the average age of collectors is going down, with more presence of young entrepreneurs and professionals who begin their collections early and look for artists of their own generation.
The gallery owner Mauro Herlitzka is optimistic about the result of this edition. “If there is a correct quality and price, it must work well. More than a collectors’ litter, there are new interested in incorporating art in their homes and jobs, interested in other artistic and aesthetic interests.”
Forming new generations of collectors is essential for the continuity of a market in strong retraction.
The fair also maintains its social side: for the second year, the Gourmet Dining room beauty and happiness Fiorito will offer dishes whose benefit is reinvested in a community dining room.
Argentina to export
The choice of dates – from August 29 to 31, with pre -opening for guests and press on 27 and 28 – seeks to take advantage of the international flow generated by The Biennial of San Pablo. The visit of figures such as Manuel Segade, director of the Reina Sofía Museum, representatives of the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Art of Lima and more than one hundred collectors from a dozen countries. “It is a meeting ritual, with a variety of proposals and the possibility of interacting directly with the artists,” says Andreani.
If Arteba 2025 manages to combine sales, visibility and new audiences, he will confirm that art, even in difficult times, remains essential.
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