Fair Program
Experience a fair that is instrumental in shaping the future of art in the region, a progressive forum for contemporary art and ideas. The program will include four days of the very best in contemporary art, public events, talks and performance that provide opportunities to engage with the Australasian art scene.
Commission
A major drawcard of the fair is the Melbourne Art Foundation Commission. The program provides a living artist with a rare opportunity to realise a large-scale work for unveiling at Melbourne Art Fair, which is later gifted to a prominent Australian institution. Previous partners in the program include the Bendigo Art Gallery, NGV, QAGOMA, the University of Queensland Art Museum, MCA, Art Gallery of South Australia, National Gallery of Australia; and artists Ronnie van Hout, Michael Parekowhai, David Griggs, Peter Hennessey, Jon Campbell, Ian Burns, and Mikala Dwyer.
Ronnie van Hout, Surrender, 2018 (Commission by Bendigo Art Gallery in partnership with the Melbourne Art Foundation and supported by Artwork Transport) Installation view, Melbourne Art Fair 2018
Beyond
Making its debut at the 2020 fair, Beyond harnesses the monumental exhibition spaces within the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Carefully curated installations and spatial interventions will fill the epic spaces contributing to greater conversations and presenting opportunities for artists far beyond the art fair stand.
Melbourne Art Foundation supports the inaugural sector by providing a monetary grant to participating Beyond galleries.
Melbourne Art Fair 2018. Chiharu Shiota, The Crossing, 2018 (Site specific installation: 175 books, white wool. 10 x 3 x 4 m) Anna Schwartz Gallery. Photography: Zan Wimberley. Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery.
Project Rooms
Partnering with independent art spaces from across Australia and New Zealand our Project Rooms offer a platform for experimentation. Discover artists that push the boundaries of art practice with groundbreaking performance and multimedia works.
Melbourne Art Fair 2018 Project Room: IMA (Brisbane). Ryan Presley, Infinite Dollar Note – Dundalli Commemorative, 2017. Watercolour, 60.5 x 145.5cm.
Conversations
Conversations is a platform for dialogue and the sharing of ideas, bringing together cultural communities and thinkers from across the creative spectrum. The aim: to address the future of art and the contemporary world through a series of talks and panels featuring artists, gallerists, curators, collectors, architects, critics, and cultural luminaries.
