Raise the curtain!

Admission for this year's ART COLOGNE, which takes place from 7 to 10 November, has been completed. What can we look forward to most in 2024?

I am very happy with the list for the NEUMARKT sector this year, which has become very international and offers interesting new and young discoveries. We have therefore also increased the number of participants from 21 to 26 galleries. They can be found in the four plazas in the corners of the halls, where they have also been visually upgraded, for example with white carpets.

And the stands of the COLLABORATIONS galleries are no longer separate, but mixed in with the classic gallery sector.

Can you tell us about a few of the young newcomers?

For example, Gathering, a gallery founded by Alex Flick, who recently opened a gallery and bar in Ibiza, is coming from London. Then I'm looking forward to Galerie F2 from Madrid and Galerie Lehmann + Silva from Porto. Silke Lindner's programme will also be very exciting. This is a young German woman who has been running a gallery in New York for several years. Another young German gallery owner abroad is Lisa Offermann, who runs the LC Queisser Gallery in Tbilisi. Newcomers include KIN from Brussels - Nikolaus Schaffhausen's new gallery, Wil Aballe Art Projects from Vancouver, the galleries Molitor, Anton Janizewski and Super, Super Markt from Berlin, Kandlhofer from Vienna and Lucas Hirsch from Düsseldorf. This is the future! Among the returnees are A + B from Brescia, CHOI&CHOI from Seoul, Temnikova & Kasela from Tallinn, Jan Kaps, Falko Alexander and Khoshbakht from Cologne, Wonnerth Dejaco from Vienna.

And what about the established names in the galleries sector?

We are seeing a great deal of continuity there. I'm delighted that names with international appeal such as Karsten Greve, Gisela Capitain, Thaddaeus Ropac, Sprüth Magers, EIGEN + ART, Max Hetzler, Daniel Buchholz and Nagel Draxler are once again taking part. ART COLOGNE is a traditionally important address for them. Galerie Michael Haas will be focussing on Mülheimer Freiheit, a group of artists from Cologne who came together in the early 1980s in the spirit of Dada, punk and carnival. Important Dutch and Belgian galleries are also taking part again, such as Ron Mandos from Amsterdam, Edouard Simoens and QG Gallery from Knokke. Newcomers include Nev from Istanbul, Kevin Kavanagh from Dublin, Dorothea van der Koelen from Mainz and P420 from Bologna, who are showing four German artists from the programme - from Monika Stricker (* 1978) to Irma Blank (1934 - 2023). Returning after a brief absence are Filomena Soares from Lisbon and Neon Parc from Melbourne. In addition, there is DERDABERLIN in the field of classical modernism, which is bringing interesting Bauhaus artefacts with it. Important galleries for post-war positions are represented by Lahumière from Paris, Galerie BASTIAN from Berlin, Wienerroither & Kohlbacher from Vienna and Galerie von Vertes from Zurich. Dierking from Zurich and Florian Sundheimer from Munich are once again planning a large joint stand, which is always a highlight.

Two galleries from Istanbul are among the eight newcomers in the galleries sector. You get the impression that Cologne has become increasingly attractive as a trade fair venue for Turkish galleries in recent years.

Yes, I am also very happy about this development. I can still remember my first ART COLOGNE as Director in 2009, when a journalist approached me and asked why there were no galleries from Turkey at the fair. I said to her: "Honestly? Because none had applied. I'd really like to have some with me." She didn't want to believe me at the time. Fortunately, the situation is now very different, we have strong names such as Zilberman, Anna Laudel and Sevil Dolmalci among the participants, as well as Dirimart and Nev, who are new to the programme. There is now a very strong connection to Istanbul, especially as we also have many German Turks in Cologne.

Finally, a word about COLLABORATIONS. How is this sector of the trade fair developing? What exciting interactions can we expect this time?

I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of creative concepts submitted to COLLABORATIONS this year. That's why we've expanded this sector once again. At the stand of Bartha Contemporary from London and Joost van den Bergh, also from London, geometric-abstract contemporary art meets 400-year-old Indian textiles, for example. Or Martin Kudlek from Cologne is showing only white works of art from ZERO to the very latest. At max goelitz from Munich, there is an installation by the Franco-German artist collective Troika, who have a parallel exhibition at the Langen Foundation in Neuss from the beginning of September. Galerie Petra Seiser is presenting works by Anya Belyat Giunta and Zenita Komad in dialogue with works by the Viennese actionist, painter and writer Günter Brus, who died this year. And finally, Sommer Contemporary from Tel Aviv and Peter Kilchmann from Zurich are presenting a group exhibition on the theme of "Identity in a changing world". I love such diversity!