Talking Galleries. Barcelona Barcelona symposium 2015

TALKING GALLERIES instigates the debate and exchange of new trends and issues specific to the art gallery sector. Open to gallerists and art professionals, the 4th Symposium will be celebrated in Barcelona (MACBA - Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona) on 2–3 November. Two days in which to create a space to reflect and question how galleries should transform and adapt to a new environment, and how to respond to new challenges.

TALKING GALLERIES brings together forefront players—gallerists, artists, curators, collectors—in order to discuss the impact of current conditions on the developing of gallery practice, and encourages all participants to share their experiences, taking into account all different viewpoints. The symposium facilitates the debate, the in-depth discussion and the testing of these new ideas whilst building up content relevant to gallery practices.

This edition will study the professional relationship between artists and gallerists, and will also examine the nature of art fairs and their impact on developing gallery programmes. Artists are the key figures on whom gallerists build on their practice and find an audience. To that end, TALKING GALLERIES is inviting artists like Dora Garcia and others to engage in meaningful conversations with gallerists in order to encourage a common set of goals.
Highlights of the programme include: an opening keynote by Marc Spiegler, Art Basel director; gallerist Jocelyn Wolff's panel on how gallerists approach and build a consistent programme; collector Alain Servais, who will scrutinize what it is to be an artist agent; fair director and gallerist Elizabeth Dee's conversation with artists to find from the horse's mouth what they expect from a gallery; Annette Schönholzer, who will be hosting art fair directors, including ARCOmadrid director Carlos Urroz, on stage to converse about different fair models; ArtTactic founder Anders Petterson, who will address the topic of legislation on selling art online; Anna Maria Molnar, who will survey the galleries' participation in art fairs; and art market editor-at-large for The Art Newspaper and Financial Times correspondent Georgina Adam who will wrap up the symposium together with Adam Sheffer, gallerist and ADAA President.

TALKING GALLERIES IV BARCELONA SYMPOSIUM invites all attendees to fully engage in the Q&A that will take place throughout the sessions. Come and share your experiences, come and meet colleagues—come and talk!