Over 10,000 art aficionados attended Australia’s new Affordable Art Fair at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne this past month, with thousands of in sales made. Art lovers able to take works home on the spot and revel in the joy of collecting contemporary art.
Melbourne joins a long list of successful Affordable Art Fairs in ten cities across the globe. Worldwide, the Affordable Art Fairs have helped over 500,000 artworks find happy homes since the very first Fair, 20 years ago in Battersea Park.
The ethos of the Affordable Art Fair brand globally, is to disrupt and demystify the world of art and make art accessible to all. At every Fair works are clearly labelled with pricing with collections to suit all tastes and budgets.
Hundreds of artworks found new owners over the four days of the Fair (Sep 5-8) which saw over 50 of the best galleries from Australia and overseas showcasing 1,000s of artworks. The Fair also featured a diverse array of special performances, bespoke art installations, a young talent capsule collection and an engaging creative art hub. HotHouse handled the public relations of the Fair and guest list management of the opening night.
The opening night of the Melbourne event saw live artist performances enthrall audiences from body camouflage artist, Emma Hack, and the sonorous Chiaroni Gallery kapa haka group from New Zealand.
Special features throughout the Fair included the world’s first interactive digital portrait, “Descendant X” that comes to life and tells stories of Maori origin when looked at; giant cuboid “Thought Catchers” by artist, Jasmine Mansbridge; an ATM that distributed mini unique artworks by local artist Jackie Case, who was hidden inside the installation creating the works; towering dog sculptures created by Polish artist Cezary Stulgis ‘prowling’ the building and daily tours from the Affordable Art Fair production team.
Parents and children alike reveled in the art and wellness themed Creative Hub offering attendees the chance to get hands-on with inspiring and interactive activities, including a ‘shred it or save it’ Banksy-inspired installation.
The Fair also worked to support the budding careers of young artists including Alice Oehr, Tom Ferson, Emily Eliades, Naomi Nicholls and James Mulcahy. The Young Talent Victoria feature provided these five unrepresented artists the opportunity to present their work and buyers the opportunity to snap up works from emerging artists.
More details on the future Australian Fairs will be announced closer to 2020.