Arc 2025, first year without Helga de Alvear, will have 67% of international galleries and the Amazonas as a central theme

The 44th International Fair of Contemporary Art Arcomadrid 2025which will be held in IFEMA Madrid from March 5 to 9, which will be armed by the death on February 3 of the emblematic gallery owner Collector Helga de Alvear will have 67% of international offer and the Amazon as a central theme, as director Maribel López has pointed out.

The director of the Fair has begun the presentation with a memory of the art collector and usual in Arcomadrid, who died at 88 years after a life dedicated to contemporary art. “I want to start with a memory of Helga de Alvear, which we miss so much, the gallery owner and collector that this year will not be with us in arc “, López has lamented.

In total, the general program will gather in Madrid 214 galleries from 36 countries –9 galleries more than in the past edition. Although 67% of the offer will be international, the director of IFEMA MADRID, Arancha Priede Leza, highlighted the presence of Latin America, which represents more than 32% of the foreign presence.

He has also reiterated “The solidity” of the Spanish contemporary artistic scene and has advanced that national galleries will have a 33%presence.

Among the police programs are ‘Wametisé: Ideas for a amazofuturismo’, central theme of the fair, with the presence of 15 galleries from 6 countries, reflecting on “new modes of creation that represent hybrid stocks between human, vegetable, physical and physical bodies Metaphysical “.

“That Amazon project comes from an investigation that we started, in 2022, around water as a connector between the ideas of this fair project. How we can imagine ways of connecting through art and not ways to separate through many other ways. Water seemed like a good metaphor and that project has been advancing to get to the Amazon now, “López explained.

Other of those of the commissioned projects are the ‘opening’, in which 18 new galleries from 13 countries with a trajectory of a maximum of 7 years will contribute new artists; ‘Profiles. Latin American art ‘, which with a selection of 10 galleries from 7 countries will explore collaboration with Latin American artists and galleries; and ‘Artist projects’, an initiative in which 32 galleries present 32 artist projects designed for installation in spaces distributed throughout the fair.

López has explained that the commercial forecasts they have are based on the “interest” and “desire” received, so he believes that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has already passed, and observe an “effervescence” in the new edition.

New meetings behind closed doors

When asked about organization problems in past editions that caused a large influx of groups during the first days, López has advanced that aspects such as visits to these attendees have been modified on the first day, reducing “drastically” and organizing meetings behind closed doors .

“We have received much desire in recent years to make visits from very important groups: bank customers, auditors and people with a lot of purchase, for which an event is organized. Although it is a great news because it is a present or future interest for galleries, we must work so that this is the future success and not the immediate problem, “he reflected.

Thus, the fair hopes “approximately” 500 peoplethat they arrive in Madrid attracted by the International Collector and Professional Program, in addition to 150 professionals who come from museums-directors, commissioners-that are independent or linked to these institutions.

Institutional purchases

Although López has not wanted to advance all the data, he has assured that among the purchases of art by institutions are entities such as the Junta de Andalucía, in addition to private buyers.

In addition, he pointed out that The fair’s budget is the sameand it is global throughout Ifema Madrid, so they value “success” with other meters, such as the percentage of galleries want to repeat the following year after participating, which is currently at a 90%figure.