The 7th edition of Swab is just around the corner
From the 2nd to the 5th of October, the Barcelona International Contemporary Arts Fair will include pieces by 165 artists
The 7th edition of Swab, the Barcelona International Contemporary Arts Fair, is not only just around the corner, it is more extensive than ever, and will include pieces from 60 galleries from 20 countries and a total of 165 artists. The aim of Swab, an art fair open to the general public, is both to offer a non-elitist, more receptive image of the world of the arts, with a clear emphasis on upcoming talents and young galleries, and to establish communication networks among galleries, artists and curators with a view to encouraging the emergence of new collectors.
The Swab selection committee comprises gallery owners and professionals from different spheres of the art world and, while it carries out its own in-house research, operates on the basis of application as well as invitation. The 60 participating galleries in this year’s fair are distributed in seven programmes: Swab Solo consists of individual exhibitions by artists whose subject matter concerns Latin America, while Too Hot to Handle presents pieces and performances by four North American galleries. MYFAF (My First Art Fair), which has existed since 2011, presents four entirely new artistic spaces: Positions on Drawing includes works from eight national galleries that focus on sketches, American Galleries and Asian Galleries include pieces from the two respective continents and, finally, the general section, which contains a selection of more consolidated pieces.
Highlights among the parallel initiatives that will accompany the main exhibition in the Fira de Barcelona include You, Me, Swab and the Local Artists, which consists of a series of flags featuring works by local artists deployed along the Passeig de Gràcia, and Swab Stairs, in which students from various art centres throughout Catalonia exhibit their wares in metro station stairways. This year’s edition of Swab also includes three new awards: the Lluís Coromina Award, the DKV Insurance Award and the Future of Vision Foundation Award, in addition to competitions organised independently by other institutions and organisations.
Swab will take place from the 2nd to the 5th of October in the Italian Pavilion of the Fira de Barcelona. Tickets are priced at 7 euros if purchased via the Swab website, or 10 euros at the door. More information is available here.