00:00Les 87 galeries provenant de 31 pays ont attiré 17 000 visiteurs à Doha pour cette première édition d'Art Basel au Qatar.
00:14Pour dresser un bilan de cette première édition, je suis ravie d'être en visio avec deux acteurs culturels de la région.
00:21Alfredo Camerotti qui est curateur et directeur du musée Média Majidis Museum
00:27et Arwanda Scalero qui est curatrice indépendante.
00:31Merci beaucoup d'avoir accepté cette interview.
00:35Arwanda, on va commencer avec vous.
00:37Pouvez-vous nous donner vos premières impressions de l'affaire ?
00:41Quels sont vos impressions initiales de l'affaire ?
00:46Merci, Sibyl.
00:49Oui, je veux dire, la première édition de l'affaire est une grande édition de l'affaire n'est pas seulement une autre affaire,
00:59mais une affaire qui va changer toutes les règles d'une autre affaire.
01:05Pour beaucoup de raisons, parce que Doha est une petite ville.
01:11C'est-à-dire que l'affaire, Arbass el-Qatar, a tous les gens de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée.
01:21C'est-à-dire que l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée.
01:31C'est-à-dire que Doha est une petite ville.
01:37C'est-à-dire qu'on peut parler avec tous les gens que tu veux, avec les galères, avec l'artiste, avec le réalisateur de l'arrivée,
01:46et c'est ce qui est incroyable.
01:49Car, par exemple, si tu es dans une autre affaire, tu dois passer à l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée.
01:55Arbass el-Qatar est une ville de l'arrivée de l'arrivée de l'arrivée.
02:02Alfredo, comment tu as une autre point de vue ?
02:06Comment tu as joué ces cinq dernières jours ?
02:11Thank you for having us, by the way.
02:15I would agree with Avronda that it was a contained art fair across two venues
02:23and a number of public spaces within and around them.
02:30And the fact they got it right, I think, it was the vibe, generally speaking.
02:38It was a very relaxed, not hectic vibe.
02:42The quality of the artworks were substantially high.
02:47Every gallery presented one solo artist and the display solution and the installation presented, they were really, really remarkable.
02:58So, in a way, I thought it was mirroring or aligning, let's say, with the general vibe of Doha as a city.
03:07Which, as Avronda mentioned, is not a metropolis.
03:10It's two and a half million people, something like that.
03:13And it's about that it has a certain elegance to it.
03:18It has a certain flow.
03:20People are not rushing around and that was mirroring there in the fair.
03:25Alfredo, were you aware of the presence of museums?
03:30Were there an institutional engagement?
03:33Could you feel that from the region or internationally?
03:38There was a lot of institutional engagement.
03:44First of all, Qatar is, and Doha in particular, is a city where the institutional framework is very solid, is very present.
03:54So, there are about 11 different museums, plus four in construction.
03:59So, and you have a lot of curatorial team and directors and head of operations and CEO already on the ground.
04:09The Menaza region was very, very represented from Dubai to Sharjah.
04:16We talked and engaged with the president of the Sharjah Foundation, the directors, Dubai institutions, Abu Dhabi institutions.
04:26Riyadh, a representative of the Ministry of Culture and different commissions from the Ministry of Culture.
04:35As well as a strong presence of Asia institutions, specifically Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul.
04:44and some Europeans as well.
04:46I mean, in Europe, they were present more curatorially than leadership, I would say.
04:56Few Americans, for what they've spotted, but all in all, the institutional presence was noticeable.
05:04How would I, from your perspective, can you speak about the presence of the collectors and maybe the dynamic that there was between them and the galleries?
05:17Yes. I mean, there were there many galleries, not as the other arts fairs, because Art Basel, for example, Miami, bring their 300 gallery, more or less.
05:30In this case, it was a small art fair just with 83 galleries. It was like an art fair that is kind of a gem, okay?
05:46So, all the galleries, they seem connected with each other. And all the exhibition there didn't seem as a sale exhibition, but as a huge biennial, as a huge exhibition connected with each other.
06:05That was another characteristic, completely different from the other art fair.
06:10And yes, the galleries were all, all of them, they were enthusiasts, of course, because they could talk in deep with all the collectors.
06:20And even because here, there is a new market. So, there are a new type, new kind of collectors. They'd have to be educated, because the market here, they just started with this fair.
06:35And the taste even is a bit different. So, Art Basel, and with many dealers, they are trying to bring artists from the global south, in principle, from the global majority, because obviously they want to be represented in this country.
07:02And Aranda, more broadly, how would you describe the artistic scene? So, it was only solo shows, as I understood. Did you find interesting artistic tendencies? Was it very strong, original identity or more international?
07:21There was a strong, original identity. Artists like Sumaya or Sophia Maria are all artists here in the region. They are very well known. And there were some public installations from them, not just inside the fair, but even spread around the city.
07:44So, they are trying to promote their artists. So, they are trying to promote their artists. There were even international artists, as Bruce Nauman and other big names. But in general, it's very well represented in Art Basel Qatar, all the global majority.
08:02Are you aware of any sales? Do you know how was the economic dynamic?
08:08Yes, there were three tiers of dynamic. One was a general collector. So, people that can buy one-to-one with the gallery. And then there are institutions, I mean, museums that they are going to buy from the art fair.
08:31And then there is a royal family that they are going to buy by themselves for their private collection. And theme that is working, I mean, primarily museums that they bought many artwork and even a royal family.
08:50Alfredo. Alfredo, so, to what extent is the presence of Art Basel important in the golf market? Would you consider it a milestone towards a greater structuring, visibility, long-term depth of the art market of the region?
09:06Alfredo. Definitely. I would say it's an important event. It's an important piece of the Jigsaw.
09:15Because you do have Art Basel here in Qatar, where there is already a very strong institutional framework.
09:22And since 70 years, almost, since the founding of the first National Museum here.
09:29And then you have three years, kind of a presence in Abu Dhabi in November. You have Dubai, of course. You have other fairs. Something will happen in Riyadh soon.
09:45And you have all the collectors and institutions, not only from the Menaza, but also from Turkey, for instance. There was a lot of presence in Turkey.
09:54And as Rhonda was mentioning, the three tiers are very present. With the proviso that some of the acquisition by royal families are actually then re-channeled through those national museums as well.
10:06So let's not forget that, because some of the museums are independent in terms of the acquisition. Some of them are government and their collection is built through that royal channel, so to speak.
10:18I think it's important to establish an ecosystem for the contemporary art market. So you do have the big numbers, the big sort of hits in terms of price point.
10:37And then you have the medium and you have the more local ones. So all in all, I think is developing on a very healthy basis.
10:45Yes. So you would say that, because it's quite young in comparison of the other market. So you would say there is a depth that's building in a healthy way.
10:58Definitely. It is. It's for sure. I mean, the galleries we have spoken, or at least I've spoken to, some of them, they had sales to private.
11:10Some of them, they had sales to museums. Some they didn't have many sales, for instance, but they were very happy to and positive about positioning themselves in the region with the roster of artists.
11:23That's also something that it's important to notice that Art Basel is a huge brand in the contemporary art world. And with the brand came visibility, comes the other brands association.
11:37There were, for instance, a few events, big events from fashion houses and technology corporations that were completely outside Art Basel. And they were scheduled to happen during the Art Basel day, but they were not part of the program.
11:53They were not associated with brands. And so they recognize there is some sort of a value in terms of the people around this type of fair.
12:02Thank you so much for both of you, for your time, for sharing your points of views.
12:07Alfredo Camerotti, you're a curator, director of media at Magiris Museum, and Aranda Scalera, you're an independent curator.
12:15And thank you to all of you for joining us. It was Art et Marché for this analysis of the first edition of Art Basel Doha.
12:22Art Basel Doha.
12:24Thank you very much.
12:29See you soon.
12:34Bye bye.
12:36Bye bye.
12:41Bye bye.
12:47Bye bye.
12:49Bye bye.
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