10 years of our Stockholm fair!

We can’t wait to welcome you to the next exciting edition of Affordable Art Fair Stockholm. After last year’s success with over 10,000 visitors, we’re back for spring, to celebrate the fair’s 10th anniversary in Sweden.

So what can I expect?

You can expect many surprises during our celebration! The team has worked very hard to ensure a new, fantastic experience. This year will not be like former fairs you may have been to at Nacka, which previously has taken place during the autumn. This year, we’ll coincide with Culture Night (Kulturnatten) festival – the perfect time to soak up all the arts and culture of Stockholm. Make sure to get your free tickets from 18:00-22:00 on the Saturday of the fair from our ticket shop.

New additions

Aside from the many new Swedish and international exhibitors and artists, we’ll have new events and live music everyday during the fair. Our programme includes everything from art talks and live painting demonstrations, to drink & draw workshops to get excited about.

Artist Caroline af Ugglas will also auction off one of her works via Tradera in support of MusikBojen, a non-profit organization that finances music therapy for children and young people in Sweden. Make sure to see the piece for yourself and make a bid at the fair or donate via Target Aid.

Digital art firsts

Last year, the fair took the step into the digital world and became the first art fair in Sweden to offer its visitors to transform their physical works of art into NFTs. This year, most galleries will sell completely digital NFTs on site – which can be purchased in both regular currency and cryptocurrency.

Evolution of the fair over the years

To celebrate this landmark year, we’re taking a trip down memory lane and taking a look at how the fair has evolved over the years.

Affordable Art Fair was originally founded by Will Ramsay in Battersea in 1999 with the aim of making contemporary art accessible for all. He wanted to expel the myth that in order to enjoy and buy art, you must be either an art academic or a millionaire. The fair quickly became a success and has grown to include many cities across the globe, including Singapore, New York, Brussels and Hong Kong. Alongside the principal motto of having fun, there are a few rules. For example, each gallery exhibiting at the art fair must bring living artists. “Because dead artists don’t need money,” as Will would say. “We want to support artists to make a living from their art.”

The Stockholm leg of the fair started in 2012 and, with its 11,000 visitors, immediately became the biggest art fair in the Nordic countries. The original setup at Magasin 9 in Frihamnen saw established artists such as Jokkum Nordström and Linn Fernström on one side of the venue, and emerging talents and the Recent Graduates Exhibition on the other, with a diverse group of galleries from Sweden and Europe.

From the very start, we planned activities to get people involved; for instance with our Art Walks, visitors were given tours of the fair and workshops in graphic printing technology. The fair was a success, with exhibitors and visitors commenting on the lively atmosphere and friendliness of the staff.

The second and third editions of Affordable Art Fair Stockholm returned to Magasin 9 in Frihamnshallen, with the addition of a 1,000 sqm exhibition seaside hall. We had 75 exhibitors with a balance of local, regional and international galleries: 50% being from Sweden, and 50% international galleries from the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, France, Spain, Austria, The Netherlands, and Australia.

Once again we had art talks, activities for children, printmaking workshops run by Grafikens Hus, a free wrapping service and walking art tours. The fair highlights were the Recent Graduates’ Exhibition, the Vernissage and Art After Work events.

In 2015, the fair moved to its current location in Nacka Strandmässan; and while the main focus remained to offer affordable contemporary art, more attention went in to providing a relaxed and enjoyable environment and a 360-degree experience with a wine bar, interior design lounge, restaurant and food court.

Although the Stockholm fair is usually characterised by a more contemporary touch than other fairs, the fair offering in 2017 reflected the back-to-basics trend that was prominent at the time, presenting more original paintings and sculptures, with artists going back to using older techniques with great detail and mixing their own paints. Then Fair Director Sylvia Rynell said: “Graphic art is still popular, but we can definitely see across all our fairs that original painting is coming back really strongly, amongst young artists as well. This is very visible at the Recent Graduates exhibition. These artists are finding their way back to the old craft as well. Maybe people are a little bit tired of the constant flow of Instagram, and this is the antidote.”

The 2017 fair continued the collaboration with Nationalmuseum that started in 2015, hosting lectures with a modern take on art history.

The Stockholm fair grew steadily, especially after moving to Nacka Strand. In 2018, we continued on the recipe for success; good and easily accessible art that is in focus, but with fun and relevant extra activities for our visitors. Affordable art also means that the buying process itself is simple and transparent, with all prices clearly printed, including VAT / tax, with no hidden fees. The artwork could be taken home immediately, and we had a professional wrapping counter and transport company on site. We also offered a framing service so that those buying a piece could get a completely finished work of art immediately.

As of 2019 it became clear that Affordable Art Fair had become the Nordic region’s largest art fair, and a must in Stockholm’s cultural calendar for many art lovers, but also for people who were new to the art market. The goal for 2019 was to welcome 12,500 unique visitors, with an extra focus on original art, having seen upsurge of artists in painting and sculpture who return to a more traditional approach but in a new, modern way.

Despite the pandemic the fair went ahead in 2020 and 2021, of course with restrictions in place to ensure the safety of our visitors, exhibitors and staff.

Over the course of these 10 years we had many notable highlights, with SCAM Gallery exhibiting Banksy, MIVA Gallery exhibiting newly published works by Bob Dylan for the first time at Affordable Art Fair Stockholm, as well as live art performances such as chainsaw art by Gallery Hera’s artist Una, or Carolina Falkholt painting a mural in real time.

We have had the pleasure of putting together a Charity exhibition with UNICEF, and partnered with several charities, for instance with Petter Alexis for an Anti-violence partnership.

Amongst our programme partners we have had Spirit Museum and Sven Harrys Konstmuseum. We are proud to continue supporting emerging young artists with our Recent Graduates exhibitions, including Jakob Solgren, Alexander Tallén, Martha Ossowska Persson, Karl Patrik Näsman, Talel Dayekh, Mikaela Cignozzi, Matilda Enegren. Many artists have joined or conducted our Art Talks: Helene Billgren, Edward Finell (photographer for the Rolling Stones for 40 years), and our series on ‘How to start an art collection’ with Karolina Modig, Elisabeth Blennow Calälv, Pontus Silverstolpe, and Jonas Kleerup.

And finally this year, to celebrate our 10^th anniversary, for the first time the fair will take place in spring, to take advantage of the beautiful weather and all of the culture that Stockholm has to offer.

To discuss the evolution of the fair and much more, Affordable Art Fair’s COO Rupert Harding Newman, Fair Director Carl Wilhelm Hirsch, and two of the galleries who have been with us for a long time will join our Art Talk on the Vernissage opening day. We had a chat with Cammie Yuen, Gallery Director at Eye Contemporary Art ahead of the fair.

What would you say is the biggest difference in how the fair was run 10 years ago and now?

The 2022 edition is our 6th year with Affordable Art Fair Stockholm. We have not seen much difference indeed, the fair has always been well-organised with great support to exhibitors – great logistic partner, wrapping station, framing station and hotel partner. In terms of marketing efforts, we believe the Stockholm team probably places more emphasis on digital/online programmes than the traditional means. We are pleased the fair stays the course with lots of success.

What do you like about Affordable Art Fair Stockholm and what are the areas you feel we could still improve on?

Affordable Art Fair Stockholm is a fun and dynamic fair with collectors not only from Stockholm but also international art buyers. To us it’s a perfect fair with lots of interesting programs, in particular the collaborations with various partners like the Avanza Private Viewing. Please continue this good efforts to create more events for the exhibitors and the public. 

In your opinion, what is the main change that has taken place in the art world over the past 10 years?

We think over the years collecting art becomes more accessible and easy, buying art is no longer that intimidating especially with the presence of art fairs. We have noticed more younger collectors. Another trend is artworks purchased as gifts. 

How do you think the fair will evolve going forward, and what would you like to see?

We think in three to five years’ time the fair will remain more or less as it is today. We are also closely watching the NFT trend and see how we can play in this field. Another thought is to introduce programmes with banks where the latter will offer low-interest loan/instalment for art purchase at the fair. 

After two years of the pandemic, we are all very excited to be able to welcome you back. With remaining restrictions lifted, this enables us to share more of our amazing galleries and artists this spring with more of you! So buy your tickets now to celebrate with us in April!

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news, and updates. Or sign up to our mailing list for ticket offers and arty-inspiration.