A report in quotations from the first evening's two panels and the first session of the second day of Talking Galleries.

19 September 2011
15.30h: Welcome by
Ferran Mascarell, Regional Minister of Culture of the Generalitat
Jaume Ciurana, Deputy Mayor of Culture, Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation of Barcelona
Faustino Diaz Fortuny, Deputy Director General for the Promotion of Cultural Industries and Foundations and Patronage of the Ministry of Culture
Adriaan Raemdonck, President of FEAGA (Federation of European Art Galleries Association)
Llucià Homs, main promoter of the project TALKING GALLERIES
Bartomeu Marí, MACBA's Director



Faustino Diaz: "Galeries are the basis for the construction of value". "Galleries are a fundamental cultural sector for the economic development of knowledge". 

Mascarell: "Talking Galleries should connect Catalan art to the international trends and vice-versa". "Artists are the ones making sense of our world".

16.00 h: 'The new role of the Gallerist in the art market' with:
Casey Kaplan, Casey Kaplan Gallery (New York)
Claes Nordenhake, Galerie Nordenhake (Berlín, Stockholm)
Emilio Álvarez, Galeria Àngels Barcelona (Barcelona)
Moderated by: Ann Demeester,  Director of De Appel Arts Centre (Amsterdam)

Ann Demeester: "We are not able to project a 20-50 year future anymore"..."are galleries going to become agencies for artists or are they able to foster new experiments in a globalised 21st century?"; "Collaboration should not be an emeny of competition"; "Galleries are a site for free education"; "A gallery should perform an informal efficiency"

Emilio Álvarez: "The work of a gallery is articulated in connection with the past. Memory gives meaning, one constructs value through time". "Circuits of the artworld are closed, although the product we present is open."; "A gallery has a ongoing relationship with an artist and shows him/her continuously over time, no institution will give a solo show to an an artists 3 times"; "A gallery has a single monogamous relationship, museums have plural relationships with artists." 

Casey Kaplan: We (with David Zwirner and Friedrich Petzel amongst others) have done New York Gallery Week (NYGW) twice now, but I don't think is necessary to repeat it again and again if, for instance, Frieze New York is starting in May 2012" ; "We are taking the risks, we produce art, we research artists, basically we do it first and then everyone follows";"A gallery is about trust in your artists and them in you. Is a small family extension that grows organically. It's also about constant reinvestment in a new space, in a new piece in shipping ridiculous works to art fair to show your ambition."

Claes Nordenhake: "New art should be shown in galleries first, thereafter in artfairs, kunsthalles, etc. Not the other way around!"; "A gallerist is an eternal improvisor, a cleaner, a guard, an interior designer, a carpenter, a shipping agent, a graphic designer, a bookeeper, an art historian, a teacher and sometimes a professor, a therapist, a pimp and sometimes the lover, a storage administrator, a divorce councellor, a good banker, a sympathetic drinking companion, an arrogant bastard, an interpreter, a travel agent, a cook (professional or amateur), a waiter, a restaurateur, a philosopher (or at least in late hours of the night...), an actor, a business strategist, a secretary (where the boss is the artist)... 


18.00 h: 'Dealing with the economic crisis' with
Georgina Adam, Journalist Financial Times (London)
Robert Tornabell, Professor of Economics at ESADE Business School (Barcelona)
Soledad Lorenzo, Galería Soledad Lorenzo (Madrid)
Moderated by: Carlos Urroz, Director ARCOmadrid (Madrid)



Dr. Robert Tornabell: "The most profitable investments are first art, then gold, and then...I don't know!"

Georgina Adam: "The size of the market is U$ 43 billion: 21 bn in auction, 22 bn in dealership. The global share in 2006 breaks up in 46% for the US; 27% for UK, 6% for France; 5% for China, 16% Others. In 2010 is 34% for the US; 22% for UK, 5% for France, a huge increase to 23% for China and, 15% Others". "Today, there are 20 top auction houses, 11 of which are chinese, which did not exist a decade ago"; "Today money is not inherited, it is made"

20 September 2011
10.00 h: 'The future of art fairs' with
Victor Gisler, Mai 36 Galerie (Zurich)
Noah Horowitz, Director VIP Art Fair (New York)
Pierre Huber, Galerie Art & Public (Geneva)
Moderated by: Carles Guerra, Chief Curator of the MACBA (Barcelona)


Carles Guerra: "Barcelona was considering initiating a fair, but with ARCOmadrid nearby and seeing how profits stand now, maybe a meeting amongst professionals such as this, is the way forward"

Noah Horowitz: "The 1970s market was trade; today it's retail and event-led" ; "Going back to TEFAF's figures: 30% of the business is done in fairs, that's obviously an average figure because for some galleries fairs are 70% of their year sales"; "The VIP Art Fair is accessible, international, transparent, communicative, it is still a one-to-one relationship with the buyer"

Victor Gisler: "A gallery shows – tells – sells". "Art fairs like Art Basel have become so hugely important that they now validate quality. If an artits hasn't been shown in Basel, it may seem not valuable". "Initiatives like the VIP Art Fair are great for telling, maybe not so much for selling, but it is online, and that is the language of the next generation which you can not neglect, and one must embrace"

Biographies of the speakers
More about Talking Galleries.
Follow #talkinggalleries

Updating the 30 November blog post, here are images of the published interview between Latitudes and Marjolijn Dijkman appearing in the December issue of SUM# 05 magazine for contemporary art, pages 56–64.

If you would like to read the whole interview, please download the text from Latitudes' writing archive.

SUM is published twice a year in English/Danish by The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts' Schools of Visual Arts. Issue #5 is published with support from The Danish Ministry of Culture's grant for culture magazines and The New Carlsberg Foundation.

ISSN 1902-8970
ISBN 978-3-86895-064-9
www.sum.kunstakademiet.dk

Latitudes participa el 23 y 24 de Noviembre en el 'foro de expertos' del Máster On-line de Arte Actual: Análisis y Gestión organizado por el Instituto de Formación Contínua de la Universitat de Barcelona dirigido por el comisario y crítico David G. Torres y la gestora cultural Ester Prat dentro del módulo dedicado al 'Coleccionismo y Arte Actual' coordinado por la crítica y comisaria Montse Badia.

[Imagen: 'Self-Help', publicada en la compilación Helguera’s Artoons: Cartoons about the Art World de Pablo Helguera, via www.artworldsalon.com/blog

Desde el blog de 'Sala Rekalde: arte contemporáneo y responsabilidad pública' siguiendo al comunicado enviado el 21 Abril, donde se expresaba la preocupación por el cese de la directora de la sala Rekalde.

Más información en http://www.rekaldeadhesiones.com


29/09/09

Estimad@ amig@,

Nos tomamos la libertad de responder con este mail a tu apoyo al texto del 21 de abril de 2009 (www.rekaldeadhesiones.com) con el que exponíamos nuestra preocupación ante una serie de decisiones políticas con respecto a la Sala Rekalde de Bilbao. Lo hacemos ahora, en la confianza de contar con tu interés y porque es cuando algunas de las consecuencias de aquellas decisiones empiezan a hacerse efectivas.

La carta de apoyo convocó la adhesión de 647 personas relacionadas con la realidad del arte contemporáneo desde un gran número de países. Fue publicada en prensa y enviada a los representantes de los diferentes partidos políticos integrantes de la Comisión de Cultura de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia, encargada de evaluar la situación.

Si bien las primeras reacciones por parte de la Diputada de Cultura de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, responsable de la sala Rekalde, parecían responder positivamente a través de pronunciamientos en la prensa a nuestra demanda de refrendar el programa realizado por la sala, es sólo ahora que se hace pública la conclusión real del problema:

El cese de la directora de su cargo ha supuesto su vuelta al puesto de comisaria que ocupaba antes de su designación y que es el puesto que han venido ocupando las sucesivas responsables de la programación de la sala. La situación administrativa creada supone en la práctica que Leire Vergara, responsable del programa desde 2006, y ajena al cese decretado en abril, ha sido despedida de su puesto. Es clara la incoherencia en la que incurre la Diputada de Cultura, Miren Josune Ariztondo, que ha mostrado a través de los medios y ante la Comisión de Cultura de las Juntas Generales de Bizkaia su respaldo al programa realizado, pero que cesa por supuesta razón administrativa a quien es responsable de ese programa.

En su momento, distintas agrupaciones de profesionales (entre otros, la Asociación de directores de Arte Contemporáneo de España, el Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo y el Consejo de Críticos de Artes visuales) exigieron a la Diputada de Cultura que aplicara las recomendaciones del Documento de Buenas Prácticas en museos y centros de arte firmado por distintas agrupaciones profesionales y el Ministerio de Cultura. La Diputada de Cultura no ha anunciado, hasta la fecha, concurso público alguno para cubrir la dirección artística de la sala Rekalde. Entendemos, de acuerdo con las citadas agrupaciones, que la sala Rekalde ha adquirido una posición entre las instituciones artísticas en la que no se puede permitir prescindir de un procedimiento estimado como básico por la totalidad de los agentes e instituciones del sector.

En nuestro anterior escrito, quisimos dejar fuera de toda duda el contrastado valor que ha tenido el programa de la sala Rekalde. Ahora que incluso quienes han causado esta situación han reconocido públicamente este valor, sólo nos queda pedir que se tomen decisiones en consecuencia y que se evite la irresponsabilidad de dilapidar el prestigio internacional que Rekalde ha conseguido en estos años. Quienes hemos valorado este hecho somos además conscientes de la dificultad y la fragilidad de tales logros, sólo posibles en situaciones de confianza mutua entre los agentes del arte y los gestores de la cultura. Tras tantas equivocadas decisiones, esta confianza no puede darse ya por hecha. Seguiremos atentos a las consecuencias de este proceso con gran preocupación y determinación.

Te haremos saber si surge alguna iniciativa pública de respuesta a esta situación e intentaremos mantenerte al corriente de la conclusión de este lamentable proceso.

Otra vez gracias y un saludo,

Peio Aguirre, José Ramón Amondarain, Ricardo Antón, Xabier Arakistain, Ibon Aranberri, Aimar Arriola, Txomin Badiola, Haizea Barcenilla, Daniel Castillejo, Guadalupe Echevarría, Miren Eraso, Santiago Eraso, Inazio Escudero, Oier Etxeberria, Jon Mikel Euba, Esther Ferrer, Charo Garaigorta, Iñaki Garmendia, Beatriz Herráez, Eduardo Hurtado, Fernando Illana, Iñaki Imaz, Pello Irazu, Miren Jaio, Iratxe Jaio/Klaas van Gorkum, Abigail Lazkoz, Maider López, Asier Mendizabal, Juan Luis Moraza, Ignacio Múgica, María Mur, Isabel de Naverán, Itziar Okariz, Lucía Onzain, Moisés Pérez de Albeniz, Sergio Prego, María Ptqk, Josu Rekalde, Natxo Rodríguez, Arturo f. Rodríguez, Xabier Sáenz de Gorbea, Xabier Salaberria, Azucena Vieites

–ENG-

Dear friend,

By means of this email we are taking the liberty of responding to your support for the text of April 21st 2009 (www.rekaldeadhesiones.com), in which we expressed our concern over a series of political decisions concerning the Sala Rekalde of Bilbao. We are doing so now as we trust in your interest in this question, and because some of the consequences of those decisions are beginning to come into effect.

The letter of support was signed by 647 people related to the reality of contemporary art from a great number of countries. It was published in the press and sent to the representatives of the different political parties who form part of the Cultural Commission of the Representative Assembly of Biscay, which was responsible for evaluating the situation.

While the first reactions, in statements to the press, by the Representative for Culture of the Provincial Council of Biscay, responsible for the Sala Rekalde, seemed to respond positively to our demand for endorsement of the programme developed by the Sala Rekalde, it is only now that the real conclusion of the question is being made public:

The dismissal of the Director from her post has meant her return to the curatorial position she held before her appointment, a position that has been occupied successively by the persons responsible for designing the Sala Rekalde’s programme. The administrative situation created has in practice meant that Leire Vergara, who has been responsible for the programme since 2006 and who has no connection with the dismissal decreed in April, has been dismissed from her position. What is clear is the inconsistency of Miren Josune Ariztondo, the Representative for Culture: after expressing, in the press and before the Cultural Commission of the Representative Assembly of Biscay, her support for the programme developed, she has dismissed the person responsible for that programme for a supposedly administrative reason.

At their time, different professional groups (amongst them the Association of Directors of Spanish Contemporary Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Council of Visual Art Critics) demanded that the Representative for Culture should apply the recommendations of the Document of Good Practices in Museums and Art Centres, signed by different professional groups and the Ministry of Culture. To date, the Representative for Culture has not announced any open public competition to fill the position of artistic director of the Sala Rekalde. We understand, together with the abovementioned groups, that the Sala Rekalde has acquired a position amongst the artistic institutions in which it is not permissible to dispense with a procedure considered as basic by all the agents and institutions of the sector.

In our earlier communication, we wished to leave beyond all doubt the proven value of the programme of the Sala Rekalde. Now that even those who brought about this situation have publicly recognised this value, all we can do is ask that they take decisions accordingly and avoid the irresponsibility of squandering the international prestige that Rekalde has won in recent years. Such achievements are difficult and fragile, and are only possible in situations of mutual trust between the agents of art and the managers of culture. In the wake of so many erroneous decisions, this trust can no longer be taken for granted. We will continue to monitor the consequences of this process with great concern and determination.

We will let you know if any public initiative arises in response to this situation, and we will try to keep you informed about the conclusion of this lamentable process.

Thank you once again, and best wishes,