The solstice represents that liminal moment between winter and the arrival of summer, giving way to warmer and brighter days. Throughout the centuries, this astronomical phenomenon has also been associated with a period of abundance and wealth. Taking the solstice as its starting concept, the contemporary art fair SWAB will celebrate an edition of changes and transition. Transformations both internally, with the new director Carolina Diez-Cascón, and externally, with contemporary art experiencing a period of reflection and transition.
"Global instability is completely changing the current artistic landscape," states the new director of this contemporary art fair, which will be held from October 2 to 5 in the Textile pavilion of Fira Barcelona. A change in both production and collection methods: "on the one hand, this social and political upheaval generates an unprecedented moment of creation, because artists feel that need to express themselves, but on the other hand, the art market is also rethinking itself, and tends towards new management models."
This stage of transition in contemporary art coincides with the fair's coming of age, as it celebrates its 18th edition. A symbolic age that the fair has decided to take advantage of to renew itself generationally, with Carolina Diez-Cascón assuming her father's role at the helm of the fair. For Carolina, who saw how her father, the architect and collector Joaquín Diez-Cascón, founded this independent art fair almost two decades ago, in 2006, taking over the direction of this edition seemed like an almost natural option, carrying art direction in her veins and the direction of this fair as a family legacy. Furthermore, the fair is not an unknown job for her, as she has been involved in its artistic direction for nine years.
This change was especially necessary to respond to an artistic and collecting model that has radically changed in recent years, which is why SWAB also considered a change in its leadership necessary to adapt to these new trends. Because, above all, SWAB wants to be a showcase for contemporary trends, and to do so from Barcelona, with the purpose of establishing this city as a global reference in new trends.
With Carolina at the helm and for this edition, the fair has decided to unite programs that until now were differentiated, such as the Emerging or Seed program ---which encompassed newly created galleries, as well as self-managed spaces---- within its general exhibition program. This change responds to the fact that, in recent times, management, collecting, and exhibition models are being rethought and tending towards more collaborative and self-managed projects by the artists themselves. From Barcelona, spaces such as Escat Gallery, ethall, or b.gallery participate.
This year's program, therefore, will allow emerging and independent galleries —and the works of their represented artists— to coexist directly with the commercial circuit. These new management models will also coexist in the fair's central program, which this year focuses on Polar and Tropic. Twelve spaces managed by artists, collectives, and curators from the Nordic region and Southeast Asia.
Two regions that have not been chosen at random, but are a living example of these new artistic trends and current management models. The Nordic countries are presented at the fair as a reference in terms of public policies for the promotion of art, which have allowed the emergence of an entire generation of artists. At the opposite extreme, also of the planet, the countries of Southeast Asia stand out for collectivism and self-managed spaces due to the lack of resources and public policies that encourage these practices.
This program is complemented by a video art cycle, a radio station that will broadcast live conversations and previously recorded archives with galleries and artists 24 hours a day, as well as a large meeting space for talks, workshops, and activities. "Above all, SWAB Barcelona wants to distinguish itself as a space for encounter and collective debate on the present and future of art," claims its director. Likewise, in the exhibition and commercial fair space, they also deploy the Vortex program, born from observing the relationship and dialogue between Barcelona art galleries and spaces in Latin America.
These collectives and artists are also a good example of the new artistic trends that can be observed during the fair. Artists who, unlike previous generations, "are more connected with their identity, their environment, and their territory, working with more primitive techniques such as ceramics or textiles." Likewise, it is also more common for these artists to work and exhibit collectively.
Despite the internationalization of the fair —which also occurs among fair attendees such as collectors or art critics—, the fair does not forget to work with its environment and the local scene. It does so not only by inviting artists to participate in the fair but also by collaborating with local institutions or museums with the purpose of opening up to a more general public.
Above all, considering that another purpose of the fair is to "break with the hermeticism and elitism frequently associated with contemporary art," and it calls on the Barcelona public to attend the fair to meet the different galleries and their artists, without the need to be an erudite art critic or established artist to participate in the fair, both exhibiting and observing.
A challenge that, however, they recognize as difficult because this general public is not accustomed to attending contemporary art events, much less fairs like SWAB, or similar ones like the well-known ARCO in Madrid, which seem to be reserved for large collectors willing to invest in art pieces. "We have created a dynamic, especially in Spain, that has caused art to become disassociated from society," laments the director.
To counteract this fact, SWAB also deploys a program designed for children, in addition to giving space to other disciplines such as jewelry or design. All in all, the director believes that, despite this transition period, Barcelona has the opportunity to establish itself as a benchmark in contemporary art. "The Catalan capital has the opportunity to position itself as a plural city open to new ways of consuming, producing, and collecting art," concludes Diez-Cascón.