ARCOlisboa 2025 showcases Lisbon as one of the major centres of art in Europe
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ARCOlisboa, the international contemporary art fair organised by IFEMA MADRID and the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, will hold its 8th edition from 29 May to 1 June at its regular venue the Cordoaria Nacional, once again making the Portuguese capital one of the most attractive and engaging centres of art and culture in Europe, as well as a meeting place for collectors, gallery owners, artists and professionals from around the world.
Featuring 82 galleries from 17 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 consisting of 61 galleries and a series of curated sections; Opening Lisboa with 16 galleries; and As Formas do Oceano (The Shapes of the Ocean) with 5 galleries.
This year, Portuguese galleries represent more than 37% of the fair, with a total of 30 galleries participating. The international segment accounts for 63% of the total- 52 galleries - mainly from Europe, with a significant number from countries such as Spain, Germany and Italy, as well as Brazil.
Art programme
At the heart of the fair is the General Programme, which has continued to grow, and this year will include 61 galleries selected by the Organising Committee. A number of galleries, such as Travesía Cuatro, Duarte Sequeira, Set Espai d'Art and Each Modern, will be taking part for the first time. A number of participants have returned after being absent for a few editions, such as Vermelho, Nuno Centeno, Rosa Santos, Fonseca Macedo and Galería de las Misiones, while others, like Bianca Boeckel and Nave will be present in the general section after participating in OPENING Lisboa last year. Regular participants include Bruno Múrias, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Francisco Fino, Madragoa, Pedro Cera, Vera Cortês, así como Carlier | Gebauer, Leandro Navarro, Sabrina Amrani, Zeller Van Almisck and 3+1 Arte Contemporânea, among others.
SOLO projects, which are part of the General Programme, will also be featured and will offer an in-depth look at the work of international artists. Among them, Karlo Andrei Ibarra (ATM), Klaas Vanhee (Silvestre Gallery), Amélie Esterházy (Behncke), Manuel M. Romero (Artnueve), Ricardo Cases (Ángeles Baños), Sonia Navarro (T20), Miki Leal (El Apartmento), Justin Weiler (Romero Paprocki) and Diogo Pimentão (Encounter).
Meanwhile, the Opening Lisboa section will explore new artistic languages and spaces in order to attract new content to the fair. With this in mind, this programme – with artworks selected by Sofía Lanusse and Diogo Pinto – will allow visitors to the fair to explore creations at 16 galleries, including: 4710 Gallery, winner of the OPENING Lisbon Award 2024; Beta Contemporary, Salgadeiras and Kandlhofer, who are participating for the second time; and ADZ gallery, Simo Bacar, Contemporary Cluster, Ackerman Clarke, Río & Meñaka, Moria galería, Dialogue and Salon Comunal who are taking part for the first time.
The OPENING Lisboa space will be custom designed by the Portuguese architectural studio Feeders.
At this edition, and for the sixth year in a row, ARCOlisboa will present the OPENING Lisboa Award whose judging panel – made up of professionals from the sector – will choose 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 5 galleries: African Arty from Morocco; Afronova from South Africa; Christophe Person from France; Karla Osorio from Brazil; and Reiners Contemporary Arte from Spain.
ArtsLibris is once again present at ARCOlisboa with some thirty national 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.
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 Filipa Oliveira.
The general public will also have the chance to enjoy this special encounter with contemporary art from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June. To make the fair accessible to an even greater number of people, visitors under 25 may enter free of charge from 15:00 onwards on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 May.
ARCOlisboa will be a veritable week of art for the city, collaborating, as in previous editions, with the main local art institutions, and offering a parallel cultural programme for national and international guests, including openings, visits to exhibitions and private collections, as well as other events. This all comes at a time when contemporary art in Lisbon is experiencing a period of great vibrancy, and this is also reflected in the opening of new spaces such as the Museu de Arte Contemporânea Armando Martins (MACAM) and the forthcoming reopening of the Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM). These are in addition to other landmarks such as the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT), the Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea - Museu do Chiado, the Museo Coleçao Berardo and various other institutions that consolidate the city as a must-visit destination on the international art circuit, as are, for example, the EGEAC galleries, among others.
ARCOlisboa is co-organised by the Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, with the support of Ministério da Cultura / DGARTES, Fundação EDP, Fundação Millennium BCP, Fundação Vasco Vieira de Almeida and Turismo de Lisboa, MEXTO Property Investment, WAAU (World African Artists United), Bellissimo Cafés / Marca Grupo Nabeiro, Super Bock Group, Artworks, Ruinart, Valor Pneu, Herdade Aldeia de Cima, Quinta Nova, Taboadella, and Me Lisbon by Meliã, and with the local coordination of Café Pessoa – Cultural Strategies.