First Estonian gallery at the reputable Liste Art Fair
For the first time, Estonia participates in the Liste Young Art satellite fair taking place parallel to the Art Basel Fair in Switzerland by exhibiting the work of artist Jaanus Samma.
Art Basel is the oldest and largest art fair held since 1970 that today hosts fairs on three continents – in the cities of Basel, Miami and Hong Kong. In addition to displays of galleries, the fair also includes a curated exhibition, a section for publishing houses and magazines, as well as a seminar program.
Liste Young Art Fair taking place parallel to the Basel main fair is held for the 20th time and focuses on the more innovative side of contemporary art by exhibiting rising young art galleries. The selection process for the fair is extremely thorough, only 79 art dealers of hundreds have been granted the opportunity to trade with the newest trend-setting art.
Temnikova & Kasela Gallery in Estonia has been in business since 2010 and starting from 2012, it has experienced growing success at international fairs. It recently facilitated Kris Lemsalu's installation "Whole Alone 2" at the 2015 Frieze New York Art Fair.
Jaanus Samma is the laureate of the Köler Prize 2013 and this year, he represents Estonia at the 56th Venice Biennale. Liste fair exhibits Samma’s conceptual handmade sweaters "Hair Sucks" that the Estonian audience had the opportunity to see in the Tallinn Art Hall Gallery in autumn 2014.
“Taking part in the Liste Air Fair is a sign of belonging to the elite of the world art galleries," Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture Paavo Nõgene, who is visiting Basel, said, calling the presence of Temnikova & Kasela Gallery at the fair a breakthrough.
Nõgene is planning to meet numerous curators that dealt with Estonian art, as well as the VIP Coordinator of Art Dubai Inhye Kim during his stay in Basel. Art Dubai is one of the most attractive fairs that exhibits the rising art markets of the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. The fair has taken place since 2006. The most recent fair held in March also included the Temnikova & Kasela Gallery that exhibited the work of Kaido Ole in cooperation with Moscow’s Iragui Gallery.
The aim of Estonian art professionals to expand to culturally distant regions most definitely requires sound cooperation partners and a great effort by all parties, yet the success in the European and American markets achieved over such a short period certainly inspires even higher goals.
Editor: M. Oll