34FineArt, Cape Town was invited to exhibit at the prestigious
ArtMonaco'11 Fair in Monaco from 31 March till 3 April 2011.
With a volumetric weight of more than 1000 kg, shipping 9 crates of
works by various artists took some doing, but all arrived in good shape
and in time. From there began the challenging task of unpacking and
installing the pieces in no more than a few hours, before the VIP
opening night on the 31st. The organizers of ArtMonaco, as well as the
staff of the Grimaldi Forum, were all very professional and well
organized and did their best to accommodate the exhibitors every wish
and demand.
By 19h00 thousands of anxious guests, collectors and buyers, all
dressed to the nines, were lining the red carpet outside the
magnificent Grimaldi Forum Exhibition Centre waiting for the doors to
open. With flashing cameras and television crews covering the event one
could easily have mistaken it for the Oscars. Against a splendid
background of a turquoise blue sea dotted with luxury yachts and amidst
the ever present thundering of Ferraris, the guests were treated to
champagne and Michelin Star canapés. Over 2000 people passed through
the doors within the first hours of the opening and the exhibition
space, with 44 galleries from around the world, was crowded with the
glamorous patrons of the black tie event. This was one of the
highlights of Monaco’s cultural calendar and an event not to be missed
by anybody in Monaco and the French Riviera (Côte d’Azur). Attendance
was high throughout the four days.
Andries Loots of 34FineArt was invited to speak at the ArtFact Seminar
about the Gallery, the artists in the exhibition and South African Art
as a whole. While there was a lot of interest in 34FineArt's stall, as
the only South African exhibitor, and a lot of appreciation and
admiration for the work, we sadly again realized how little presence
South African Art has internationally. As many a person pointed out,
prices are relatively high for an unknown product for which there is no
international reference or secondary market indicator.
34FineArt was nominated in four categories during the prize giving
awards and received the overall 2nd prize, being honoured for creating
an exciting exchange between contemporary South African art and the
rest of the world. Overall sales were good during the show with big
ticket items the first to go.
Lessons were learnt on an overwhelming experience that we will implement when we return for ArtMonaco 2012
