ARCOlisboa 2024 is a firm fixture in the Portuguese capital
From 23 to 26 May 2024 in Lisbon
ARCOlisboa, the international contemporary art 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, where it has been held in the past, 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 84 galleries from 15 countries, ARCOlisboa will showcase Portugal’s art scene in a broad dialogue with Spanish and European art. The Fair will be divided into three areas: the General Programme, made up of 59 galleries and two curated sections, OPENING Lisboa, with a selection of 17 galleries, and As Formas do Oceano (The Shapes of the Ocean), made up of 8 galleries.
This year, Portuguese galleries represent more than 33% of the fair, with a total of 28 galleries participating. 56 galleries make up the international segment, constituting 67% of the total. 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 has continued to grow this year 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, 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 17 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 (The Shapes of the Ocean), 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 8 galleries: from Paris, 31 Project, NIL Gallery and Christophe Person; from Casablanca, African Arty; from Lisbon, Colectivo Amarelo; from Brasilia, Karla Osorio; from Italy, LIS10 Gallery; and from Rio de Janeiro, Nonada.
ArtsLibris is once again present at ARCOlisboa with more than thirty local 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.
Millennium Art Talks, organised by EGEAC
As a theoretical contextualisation, ARCOlisboa will offer its traditional debate and reflection programme 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.
On this occasion, professionals such as Adelaide Duarte, Marta Pérez Ibáñez, Igor Simões, Paula Nascimento, Filipe Feijão, Mercedes Vidal-Abarca, Óscar Faria, Sara Bichão, Filipa Oliveira, Nuria Enguita, Raphael Fonseca and Beatriz Lemos will participate.
DGArtes Rede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea will be behind a session moderated by Marta Mestre, which will enjoy the presence of Américo Rodrigues, Igor Simões, Paula Nascimento, Andreia Magalhães and Ana Botella.
The Coimbra Biennial will also be featured in a talk led by Marta Mestre and Ángel Calvo Ulloa and with Dário Cannatà and Maria João Macedo, Carlos Antunes and Désirée Pedro, and Raquel Lima.
WAAU World African Artists United will also organise a talk to be chaired by Ana Balona de Oliveira and with Ekua Yankah, Mahi Binebine, Kathryn Weir, James Oscar, Igor Simões, Paula Nascimento and Matheus M. Abu as speakers.
The AAVP (Association of Visual Artists in Portugal), Umbigo magazine and the Appleton Cultural Association will also offer a talk, and Paulo Mendes, Elsa Garcia and Vera Appleton will be taking part.
And last but not least will be the presentation of the book Migalhas da História - obras selecionadas de Coleção FAS (Crumbs from History - selected works from the FAS Collection), at which Filipa Oliveira, Paula Nascimento, the book’s author, and Carolina Fortes will speak.
Collectors and professionals
ARCOlisboa has placed special emphasis on a number of international promotional activities, in addition to the buyers and opinion leaders programme, which will bring over 150 guests – collectors, institution directors, curators and other international professionals from the art world – to Lisbon. This is a key strategy to further promote this important Portuguese art market platform.
General public and venues
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.
The Cordoaria Nacional, one of the most outstanding examples of 18th century industrial architecture, will offer a series of spaces where visitors can relax as well as enjoy something to eat and drink. On this occasion, the Lounge-Restaurant, catered by Casa do Marquês, will host artworks from the Fundação EDP collection acquired at ARCOlisboa. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the terrace cafés – catered by the same company – found in the building’s two courtyards. In conjunction with sponsors Super Bock, Bellissimo Cafés / Marca Grupo Nabeiro and Ruinart, ARCOlisboa will now also extend to other parts of the courtyards to create meeting places.
Exhibitions in Lisbon
Lisbon joins hands with contemporary art to coincide with ARCOlisboa and, alongside the main local art institutions, will host – in parallel to the fair – a cultural programme for both Portuguese and international guests that will include openings and visits to exhibitions and private collections, among other events.
Organised by EGEAC, the ground floor of the Torreão Nascente will host an exhibition of the acquisitions made in 2023 by the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa for its collection.
The city’s main museums will offer interesting exhibitions such as that organised by the MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) with shows of artists such as Ernesto Neto, Luísa Jacinto and Nicolas Floc’h, among others. The MAC/CCB Museum of Contemporary Art - Centro Cultural de Belém will show João Fiadeiro; the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Chiado will show Ana Norogrando. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation will host another exhibition of Álvaro Siza, and the Kunsthalle Lissabon will show work by Iman Issa, Marwa Arsanios and Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa.
Among the wide and varied offer in the city, exhibitions will be held in other art venues as well. These include: the Quadrum Gallery with Ângela Ferreira, António Contador & Carla Cruz, Cildo Meireles, Fábio Colaço, among others; the Boavista Gallery, with João Mota Guedes; and the Pavilhão Branco, with Délio Jasse.
ARCOlisboa is co-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, Santogal, Valorpneu, Art works, Ruinart, Casa Cadaval, Quinta do Casal Branco, Fundação Altice, and with the local coordination of Café Pessoa.