ARTBO 2016

Over the past decade, ARTBO, alongside museums, galleries, universities and other art spaces, has been working with artists and institutions to transform Colombia’s art sector. As a result, the country now has established itself as a culture-rich, international destination with a vibrant and ever-expanding cultural scene. The incredible growth of the Colombian economy over the past ten years, coupled with a young population, has created a new class of emerging art lovers, keen to support local and international artists and institutions.

Every October, Colombia hosts the Art Month in Bogotá. Its key focus is ARTBO, the quintessential meeting point for the art market in Latin America that brings together national and international galleries. While in the city of Pereira, from 16th September to 14th November the 44th Salon Nacional Nacional de Artistas will take place.
The Salón Nacional de Artistas is the longest running and best-known state-funded program to support contemporary art in Colombia. It was created in 1940, as part of the educational policy of the national government, to strengthen the bonds between artists and their audiences. Titled AÚN, the 44th edition of the Salón Nacional de Artistas will see more than 100 artists reunited under the artistic direction of Rosa Angel and the curatorial of Victor Albarracin, Inti Guerrero and Guillermo Vanegas. The curatorial team will approach the temporality and the historic references of the more than 77 years of the Salón, reviewing the environment and the territories that create, recreate and question the stories that have built the idea of nation, constituting itself as a territory in development. The Salón will have three different components: exhibition, formation and editorial; and the curators have kept in mind the options in which an arts exhibition can transcend its aesthetic component to become an agent of local transformation.

ARTBO is one of the most important contemporary art fairs in Latin America. Growing from 12,000 visitors during its first edition to 35,000 visitors last year, it is considered a key player in the international art circuit. In 2016 ARTBO, which runs from 27-30 October 2016, will host 74 galleries from 28 cities in its 12th edition.

The fair has been defining in the internationalization of the Colombian art scene, bringing countless collectors and representatives of art institutions to Bogotá who invest, not only in art, but also in the tourism and cultural sectors.

In addition to a thoughtful selection of national and international galleries, ARTBO also offers a high quality cultural circuit and academic program that is completely unique on the international scene. This year ARTBO has invited international curators such as Jens Hoffmann curating Proyectos; Pablo León de La Barra (in collaboration with  Erika Florez) curating Referentes; Fernando Escobar curating ARTECÁMARA; María Belén Sáez de Ibarra curating SITIO; La Silueta curating Libro de Artista; and Magali Arriola and Mario Garcia Torres curating Foro, which this year includes a new section of Conversations with Collectors curated by Abaseh Mirvali.