ArtRio opens its 16th edition this week at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, with 78 galleries and works that have never been shown in the city. The fair runs until Sunday.
Among the new works are a ceramic piece by Adriana Varejão and a seven-metre work by Gabriel Massan, installed outdoors next to the Sculpture Garden.
How the fair is organised
Besides the main section, ArtRio splits the show into curated programmes: Solo_Duo, for galleries presenting one or two artists, curated by Ademar Britto; Brasil Contemporâneo, curated by Paula Borghi, for artists whose practice favours handwork; Jardim de Esculturas, for large three-dimensional works, with Christiane Laclau; and Mira, for video art, run by MAM Rio.
"The Brasil Contemporâneo programme will bring works that do not usually come to Rio, with many artists from outside the Rio–São Paulo axis, and these works have handmaking in common," said Laís Amorim, the fair's gallery relations manager.
Organisers expect 50,000 visitors over five days and say each edition draws more than a hundred collectors and curators to the city. Tickets cost 100 reais, or 50 concessionary, with a four-day pass at 300.
A whole week of art
The fair sits inside the first Rio Art Week, promoted by the city government from 16 to 27 September: more than 400 events, including 74 festivals, exhibitions and performances, adding up to over a thousand hours of programming across some 120 institutions, concentrated in the city centre.
"Art Week is an instrument for consolidating this process of occupying the centre of Rio," said Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere. For the city's culture secretary, Lucas Padilha, the week "represents a new stage in the city's cultural policy".
With information from Agência Brasil, ArtRio and the Rio de Janeiro city government.
