A Slate of Major International Art Fairs Has Been Pushed Back as Efforts to Contain Coronavirus Kick Into High Gear

What started as a trickle of cautious announcements from
art-market events about monitoring the coronavirus situation has
now become a full-on wave of postponements and cancellations. A
spate of major international fairs was officially called off or
rescheduled today, including ArteBA, the Dallas Art Fair, and Art
Cologne.

The cancellations will have an impact on hundreds of galleries
around the globe, which rely on fairs to provide a significant
portion of their revenue for the year (not to mention much-needed
cash flow).

ArteBA, the international fair in Buenos Aires, was originally
scheduled to take place from April 16–19. New dates have not
yet been confirmed.

Art Cologne in Germany, the world’s oldest art fair, was to be
held April 23–26, but will be rescheduled to November 19–22. It
will now run parallel to the Cologne Fine Art & Design fair.

Meanwhile, next month’s Affordable Art Fair Brussels has been
postponed on advice from the Belgian government. Art Brussels, a
leading contemporary art fair in the region that was originally
scheduled for April 23–26, is widely expected to follow suit.
(Sources say it is likely to be rescheduled for June.)

The Dallas Art Fair in Texas, slated for April 16–19, has been
pushed to the fall, rescheduled for October 1–4. And the Affordable
Art Fair in New York, originally scheduled to be held at the
Metropolitan Pavilion between March 26–29, has also been postponed
with no new date confirmed.

ArteBA organizers made the decision to postpone after the city
government announced the suspension of all mass gatherings in light
of the World Health Organization’s declaration yesterday that
COVID-19 is officially a pandemic.

“This is a measure that is in line with the recommendations of
authorities and specialists, and with the efforts that the main
actors of the art world are making worldwide to address this
problem,” representatives for ArteBA wrote in the email. A new date
will be announced “once the conditions are in place for the fair to
develop in an absolutely safe manner.”

To keep up on the latest art-world events impacted by the virus,
check our comprehensive and
up-to-the-minute list here.

The post A Slate of Major International Art Fairs Has Been
Pushed Back as Efforts to Contain Coronavirus Kick Into High
Gear appeared first on artnet News.