ISGIES – gallery supported activity in 2023

Also this year Denmark had the highest number of Norwegian fair participations with 8 at CHART, 5 at Enter Art Fair and 1 at Juxtapose Art Fair.

CHART had increased attendance this year with more then 25.000 visitors and a strong presence from world-class institutions such as MoMA (US), Palais de Tokyo (FR), Buffalo AKG Art Museum (US) and The British Museum (UK). CHART also reported of unprecedented press and media coverage, and this year’s fair was marked by a surge of new collectors, a strong presence from international museums and foundations, as well as high levels of institutional acquisitions.

CHART had 8 participants from Norway, 5 in the visual art section and 3 at the book section. The 5 visual art galleries reported of in total 4 sales at the fair.

Sweden saw the second highest participation with 8 at Market Art Fair, 2 at Market Debut, 2 at Stockholm Furniture Fair and 1 at Supermarket Art Fair, all taking place in Stockholm.

Market Art Fair in Stockholm had 8 visual art galleries participating from Norway and is, as CHART in Copenhagen, an art fair for galleries from the Nordic region. The 8 galleries reported of in total 32 sales at the fair.

See full list of ISGIES recipients in 2023 here 

The farthest away participations were at Tokyo Art Book Fair (TABF) 2023 (23rd – 26th November) held at Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. The fair is the biggest in its kind in Asia and had approximately 300 publishers and 22.000 visitors.

For their 7th edition the « Guest Country » program to set special focus on publishing culture in a single country or region, featured the five Nordic countries Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. With 18 publishers from this region they delved into the Nordic art book scene through a series of programs including exhibitions, talk-shows and screenings.

TABF invited five key figures from each of the Nordic countries to curate contemporary art books and zines as well as important publications that have influenced each of their countries and to build a 4-day exclusive book store at TABF.

Elise By Olsen was the guest curator from Norway. She is the founder and Director of the International Library of Fashion Research that collaborates with the Norwegian National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and is situated in their premises.

Elise curated a separate corner “Baggage Claim” with Norwegian artists and art books of her selection in the same big room as the other five Norwegian exhibitors called the « Nordic Art Book Store ».

Hanatsubaki Magazine, an art periodical published by Japan’s top brand Shiseido invited Elise By Olsen as guest editor for their special edition and to take part in curator talks and other fringe programs with Shiseido.