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Vita Zaman (Left), and Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt, Artistic Directors Viennafair. Photo \u00a9 VIENNAFAIR \/ Slava Filipov<\/p>\n Vita Zaman (Left), and Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt, Artistic Directors Viennafair. Photo \u00a9 VIENNAFAIR \/ Slava Filipov<\/p>\n
The ninth edition of the Vienna Fair took off this week, offering not only the opportunity to explore an impressive roster of Austrian galleries, but also serving as a pathway to the (oft underexposed) art scenes of Eastern Europe. With a specially curated section, the \u201cVienna duet\u201d, the fair focuses on Poland and Georgia this year, where a vibrant installation of works by young artists receive an audience it would have never reached otherwise. Sleek spoke to the fair\u2019s Artistic Directors, Vita Zaman, Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt, on the challenge and reward in doing an art fair that\u2019s not about status symbols.<\/p>\n
Where do you see the main challenge for Vienna Fair?
Vita Zaman:<\/b> Audiences and collectors. We\u2019re in Middle-Europe, which is a very particular region: it\u2019s not London, it\u2019s not New York, it\u2019s not Moscow and it\u2019s not Istanbul. It\u2019s very difficult to get a lot of people into one place. Demographically, it\u2019s slower. We\u2019re already competing with a lot of institutions for example. Art lovers go to institutions and it\u2019s difficult for them to go to a fair because they think they have to buy the art. We\u2019re trying to change that. The fair is a meeting place, not only a purchasing place; it\u2019s an education place and networking place. And regarding collectors, we have to grow collectors from our region. There are newly affluent people here, and we have to make them start loving art, not only in the museums but also in their living rooms.<\/p>\n
Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt<\/b> Another challenge is communication. To get people to actually get to know the galleries, not just look at them but really make a connection: you like a gallerist, you trust a gallerist, and from there, a gallerist can be taking you on a journey and you\u2019ll discover more.<\/p>\n
And what ways do you have for deepening these connections?
CSP:<\/b> For the 24\/7 program, we invite established collectors to talk about why they collect, how, what mistakes they may have done, it\u2019s very hands-on. In terms of general audience, we have programs for students and other target groups that we accommodate. In terms of connectivity, we use our blog extensively. There are reports from the travels Vienna Fair took to the regions where the galleries are coming from. You can get to know the galleries there.<\/p>\n
Would you say you\u2019ve left you own signature on the fair?
VZ:<\/b> You have a theme, \u201cThe School of Happiness\u201d, there are wide open aisles, lots of light and young people, a lot of young Eastern European galleries that have started two, three years ago. We\u2019re saying, the so-called East is cool. There\u2019s this trend towards a \u201ccuratorial safari.\u201d When manifesta started, Eastern Europe was the biggest topic, then it moved to the Middle East, China, Africa, South America, but we\u2019re sticking to our guns. We\u2019re saying, \u2018we\u2019re from the area, we know that interesting things are happening here\u2019. And we came up with the idea of The New Contemporary, and what we mean by it is that the new contemporary has decentralised our production, and some of the most powerful and creative ideas come not necessarily from big centres like London or New York but from all regions, we have to support and develop them, they are important. We have to stand by our region.<\/p>\n
CSP<\/b> Seeing the galleries here at the fair you might think they have the same infrastructure as galleries from other countries, but that\u2019s not the case at all. If you look at the duet section showcasing Poland and Georgia, in Poland you have a vibrant scene of young galleries with good networks where people buy Polish art, wheras Georgia is far away from it. It has a gallery scene of almost zero. We\u2019re trying to show the characters of different Eastern countries. This is the research task.<\/p>\n
VZ<\/b> We come from this region. We\u2019ve worked internationally, but we really understand what\u2019s happening in these places, what the younger generation is interested in. we are not notebook curators. We don\u2019t have a list of artists to visit, we ago and engage with the scene.<\/p>\n
But can viewers engage with the problems or authentic scene of a region at a fair?
CSP:<\/b> Only minimally, but by inspiring excitement and interest, that\u2019s how you communicate. We encourage people to go on the blog, where you can meet Romanian collectors for example. It\u2019s interesting to find out what a Romanian collector might be interested in.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a fair without the market hysteria, the atmosphere is calm, and one can actually take the time to engage.
VZ<\/b>: We don\u2019t have the flashy names, so it really allows collectors to develop. You can buy a paintings for 2000 euros if you love it, and not because it\u2019s a brand name. We need galleries that bring new art where collectors can grow organically together. Without shopping for status symbols. It all depends on collectors. We bring an experimental and risk aspect to it.<\/p>\n
CSP<\/b> but that\u2019s not to be misleading, we still decide based on the same criteria. It still matters that galleries sell and make connections.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the thing you\u2019re especially excited about?
VZ:<\/b> The Georgia and Poland duet, and School of Happiness. Mainly, these were artists we really researched and curated. And Georgia and Poland was such an unusual juxtaposition.\u00a0 There\u2019s little to no cultural exchange between the two countries. And on our blog, we feature all the participants in the talks. It\u2019s not a five day event, it\u2019s a think tank working throughout the year.<\/p>\n
And your vision for the future?
VZ:<\/b> Ironically, coming back from our soviet background, we have a five-year-plan. We want to develop strong collecting groups in the countries that participate, and we want the loyalty. Vienna as a city is important, and we want to brand it internationally.<\/p>\n
CSP<\/b> We want people to come here and start buying and develop artists who they then follow.<\/p>\n
Blog: The New Contemporary Vita Zaman (Left), and Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt, Artistic Directors Viennafair. Photo \u00a9 VIENNAFAIR \/ Slava Filipov The ninth edition of the Vienna Fair took off this week, offering not only the opportunity to explore an impressive roster of Austrian galleries, but also serving as a pathway to the (oft underexposed) art scenes of Eastern Europe. With…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[966,505,581,967],"class_list":["post-10666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christina-steinbrecher-pfandt","tag-secession-vienna","tag-vienna","tag-vita-zaman"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\n
<\/a>www.viennafair.at<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"