Art fair cancelled

Since 1996, Art Forum Berlin has traditionally opened the fall season of European art fairs. But earlier this week, festival organizers announced they were throwing in the towel - perhaps definitively - after a deal to merge with an upstart gallery-centered fair, art berlin contemporary, fell through.

The move leaves a gaping hole in the Berlin art scene, insiders say. And it has sparked speculation about just what the move means in the wider context of Germany's art market.

The German capital is a popular base for young and established artists from around the globe, known for its innumerable galleries.

"A lot of galleries have been moving to Berlin in the last few years - not just from Germany but also from abroad," Eva-Maria Häusler, the director of Art Forum Berlin, told Deutsche Welle.

Now, Häusler says, the festival called art berlin contemporary, or abc - which first took place in 2008 - will replace Art Forum Berlin as the city's major autumn art event. It is slated to take place from September 7 to 11 this year.

'Lost opportunity'

Art berlin contemporary operates differently than Art Forum Berlin, Häusler explained. Instead of applying to participate, galleries need to be invited by the curator - or by the galleries running abc.

"For galleries from outside the city, Art Forum Berlin was a significant opportunity to exhibit in Berlin too," Häusler said. "Now with Art Forum Berlin missing, if they wish to show their program, that possibility is gone, unless they want to show at one of the satellite fairs."

"It is a big opportunity that has been lost. The failure of the merger is hard for many to understand," she added.

Last year, 110 galleries from 20 countries exhibited works by more than 2,000 artists at Art Forum Berlin. The fair attracted about 40,000 visitors annually.

But despite Berlin's reputation as a cutting-edge art city, Art Forum has struggled to find its niche. An opinion piece in the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper noted that the Art Forum had accompanied Berlin's transformation into an art metropolis over the past 15 years, "without ever having been really appreciated."

"The criticisms were loud," the paper said. "Art Forum was too boring, too conformist and too out-of-the-way."

Comparisons with Paris, London and Basel

But the paper warned that a major economic opportunity could now well be slipping through Berlin's fingers. The city may be a "cozy" place for artists, but it is above all "a beloved tourist stop for international art collectors. And in the competition against London, Paris and New York, the city can't afford to lose face."

Art Forum's planned move to an October date this year - putting it closer to the opening of the Paris and London fairs - suggests the Berlin fair's weakness relative to competitors on the European collecting calendar. Paris is known for its big names and concurrent cultural events, while London's Frieze Art Fair is the watchword for radical contemporary art. And Art Basel - the fair against which all others are measured - continues to spread its tentacles via offshoots in Miami and, now, Hong Kong.

Germany, too, has other major fairs - notably ArtCologne, the world's oldest international fair. But while ArtCologne exhibits works from all decades of the 20th century, Art Forum Berlin focused exclusively on the post-1960s era, Häusler pointed out.

Accusation of capitulation

Meanwhile, Cologne's Kölner StadtAnzeiger newspaper called the cancellation of Art Forum "an unrivalled act of self-destruction" and "a memorable admission of powerlessness and political failure" on the part of the Art Forum Berlin's organizers.

Trade-fair organizer Messe Berlin "capitulated to a powerful group of galleries, which had been attacking Art Forum for years with incredibly innovative counter-events," like the recently ended Gallery Weekend and exhibitions like abc, wrote the StadtAnzeiger.

In a statement, Messe Berlin said it "would have been happy for [Art Forum Berlin] to have taken place, as it would have been the best option for Berlin as an art venue, and because it has been Messe Berlin's intention all along."

But due to a "disagreement over respective responsibilities" this merger will not take place," the statement continued.

Author: Eva Wutke, Jennifer Abramsohn

Editor: Greg Wiser