ARTBO International Art Fair reopens to the public in person in Colombia’s capital city

After three years of being held virtually due to the COVID-19 health emergency, the ARTBO International Art Fair returned today to Bogotá’s great hall of the Corferias fairgrounds.

With the participation of 51 galleries from Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Belgium, Chile, and Colombia and the exhibition of works by more than 300 artists, ARTBO celebrates its 16th edition with a varied agenda of talks, large-format works, and avant-garde proposals selected by a committee of prominent curators from the world art scene.

According to Maria Paz Gaviria, manager of Platforms of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, the entity in charge of organizing the fair, the three years of absence of the event at the fairgrounds generated an exacerbation of virtuality.

It “reminded us of the importance of presence, the privilege of having spaces for cultural exchange, of being able to visit them and hold conversations without the mediation of a screen,” said the official in a statement.

Likewise, gallery owners representing the most outstanding artists of the international scene pointed out to Xinhua the importance of revitalizing the art business with a personal contact that was notoriously affected by the pandemic.

“We are delighted because the pandemic hit all of us gallery owners very hard; with the return to face-to-face, the works are shown, and collectors like to see what they are acquiring and feel the works,” Mauricio Gomez Jaramillo, director of Doce Cero Cero gallery in Bogotá.

On this occasion, ARTBO is divided into commercial and non-commercial sections, where works by both world-renowned artists and emerging ones, whose path is just beginning its journey in the circuits of the galleries of the countries participating in the event, are exhibited.

In the works exhibited in the different spaces of the venue, there is a notorious recurrence of themes referring to loneliness, isolation, the importance of caring for nature, and the relationship between humans and all species, topics awakened by the pandemic in the conscience of the artists.

“I liked the works; it is an important moment, returning from the pandemic there are new thoughts, it is an important moment of art now,” Laura Villarosa, an Italian artist whose works are part of the Zipper gallery in Brazil, told Xinhua during the opening of ARTBO for the media.

For Villarosa, who composes delicate works of art with threads, fabrics, and wool representing waterfalls, rivers, and lagoons, after the COVID-19 pandemic, “everything is very changed, it is important to maintain the awareness that everything has changed, that humanity and nature have entered a new era for the world,” she said.

The academic component of the fair will be led by French curator Simon Castest, director of strategic initiatives at LUMA Arles. Their forum entitled SPF 666: Gothic Provençal raises relevant current issues such as the environmental crisis, colonialism, and magical thinking.

ARTBO will also offer, until October 30, it’s closing day, workshops and laboratories designed to bring the public closer to artistic practices and that this year will address issues related to how the production of art can promote the restoration of social ties that were affected during the COVID-19 health emergency.