8th Barcelona Symposium

Talking Galleries is happy to reveal a preview of its forthcoming 8th Barcelona Symposium, taking place on January 20 and 21, 2020 at the MACBA museum.

With a two-day programme of debates, conversations and poignant reflections around the gallery sector, the Barcelona Symposium gathers together key art world figures to discuss current issues, share experiences and rethink models relevant to the gallery practice.

Victor Gisler will open the symposium with the keynote speech on a gallerist path. Having celebrated 30 years of Zurich-based Mai 36 Galerie in 2017, Gisler will share his experience in the art world, “the difficulties to keep the lights on” at the mid-level and his vision of the current gallery landscape.

The first day will then follow with the promising panel “Young Money: Understanding Millennial Collectors” around the habits of upcoming buyers with Joe Kennedy (Unit London), Alexander Forbes (Artsy), Kamiar Maleki (Director of Volta NYC/ Basel and Pulse Miami) and Claudia Schachenmann (Bureaux Schachenmann), moderated by Tim Schneider (The Gray Market/ Artnet News). In his solo talk “God Is Dead. And so Is Art, the Art Business and Mid-Level Galleries”, art world provocateur Kenny Schachter (Artnet News) will share his take about the evolution of the business of art and will focus on the small and mid-sized galleries that are thriving. Closing the day, Elena Soboleva (David Zwirner) and Olivia Mull (Gagosian) will partake in a conversation about selling art online, a topic that Dustyn Kim (Artsy) will retake in her presentation.

The second day will feature the participation of prominent art advisor Allan Schwartzman (Art Agency Partners), who will talk about his experience in advisory services and his understanding of the current art panorama. Further, Matt Carey-Williams (Victoria Miro) and Joost Bosland (Stevenson) will discuss the evolving gallery model and the future of galleries, alongside with Andrew Goldstein (Artnet News). In the afternoon, Tim Schneider will dedicate a presentation to look at the sustainability of the gallery sector through the lens of professional sports. Another highlight of the day will be the panel discussion “Buying Time: The Market for Video Art and Moving Image” that will delve into the complexity of circulating artists’ film and video at a commercial level. To close this year’s programme a panel will analyse the art market at the Middle East, in collaboration with Alserkal Avenue (Dubai). 

Among other key contributors to this year’s edition are Georgina Adam (The Art Newspaper), Melanie Gerlis (Financial Times), Jane Morris (The Art Newspaper) and Llucià Homs (Director, Talking Galleries).

The full programme of the Barcelona Symposium 2020 will be published shortly.

Book your ticket here.

About Talking Galleries
Talking Galleries is an international think tank for discussion on new trends and cogent issues, specific to the gallery sector. It brings together art world veterans and industry newbies to propel the debate, spread the knowledge and re-think the existing models. Its ultimate goals are to create a formalised body of knowledge in art gallery management and establish best practices.

Launched in 2011, it holds an annual symposium in Barcelona. Thanks to the increasing interest to the topic and format, Talking Galleries entered international scene and now organises talks and conferences in global art capitals such as Paris, Berlin, London, Seoul and New York. 

Talking Galleries runs a publishing programme, keeps a library of relevant materials and hosts a video archive of the past events. The project stands for knowledge sharing, thus, all materials are available for free.

For further information, please contact: talking@talkinggalleries.com