Swab Announces a Virtual Edition for 2020

• The contemporary Barcelona art fair, which will take place from October 1st to 15th, can be visited in 3D via a mobile app that will recreate the pavilion and its galleries digitally
• Asia establishes itself as a benchmark at this new edition, reflecting the new vibrancy of territories such as Korea and South East Asia. It will do so through the Focus Korea programme, which will feature 4 Korean galleries, and Video Box, which will host 6 galleries from countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
• Other curated programmes such as On Paper and Ephemeral are becoming consolidated
• The General Programme returns with the sub-programme Emerging, which is joined by SWAB Seed, MY FAF (My First Art Fair) and SWAB Reading

Barcelona, ​​June 19th.- It is official: this 2020 SWAB will carry out its first virtual edition. The health crisis and the impossibility of guaranteeing a 100% safe event for everyone, has led the Barcelona contemporary art fair to propose a fully digital format. From October 1st to 15th, SWAB can be visited virtually through an interactive app almost like a 3D video game that has been created by the team of architects and programmers of the fair itself in order to achieve the highest sensory quality of the fair at a digital level.This way, SWAB wants to provide an experience that will bring the user closer to what the physical fair would have been and that gives continuity to the artistic proposal of the exhibitors, generating direct contact between them and visitors with the possibility of walking through the corridors and visiting stands as would be done physically. Despite the fact that this 2020 is celebrated in an unfavourable context, SWAB wants to take the opportunity to explore new formats from which to learn and grow.

These proposals will be exhibited with international exhibitors AA Collections (Viena), The Balcony (The Hague), Vellum (New York) and VF Projects(Tallahassee). Also, MY FAF (My First Art Fair) will continue to support a selection of 4 galleries with less than two years of existence, representing artists born since 1975, and who have not yet attended any fair. These spaces, which have been awarded grants are G/ART/EN (Como), Kino Tonalá (Mexico City), Spazio ORR (Brescia), Zarinbal Khoshbakht (Cologne). Finally, for yet another year SWAB Reading invites a group of projects that present works that combine art and publishing, with an exhibition of books and experimental publications. It will feature Highchair Editions from London and Monorhetorik from Amsterdam.

SWAB continues for another year with a series of programmes led by curators that aspire to reflect new voices on the contemporary art scene. This is the case of Ephemeral, curated by Caterina Almirall and with the collaboration of the three creative factories in Barcelona (Hangar, Fabra i Coats and La Escocesa), that presents ephemeral projects, in an installation format, that seek not only the contemplation of the works, but also interaction with them. For this edition there will be digital works that reflect on how this medium affects works of art and the reflection on social isolation or distancing.

Another already established example at the fair is the On Paper programme curated by Carolina Diez-Cascón, which presents proposals that reinterpret the artistic language of paper. This programme focuses on the medium as a contemporary technique, exploring at this edition its dialogue and challenge with other materials such as acetates and canvases echoing its two-dimensionality. There will be six proposals presented by the galleries; Piedras (Buenos Aires), Patrick Heide (London), Montoro 12 (Brussels), Ravnikar Gallery Space (Slovenia), Alfa-Gallery (Miami) and MM Gallery (Buenos Aires).

ASIA: protagonist of the 2020 edition

This year, the fair also launches a programme, Focus Korea, which presents four projects from one of the leading countries in terms of art and trends: One Four (Seoul), Gallery Mei (Busan), Galerie ERD (Seoul), Art Delight (Seoul) The proposals that can be discovered combine traditional Korean imagery with contemporary and innovative formats based on the work of four galleries:

Also, Southeast Asia will be the protagonist of Video Box, the video art section of the fair, in which audiovisual projects from 6 of the most representative galleries in the region will be exhibited. This Swab 2020 will thus welcome the participation of Gallery VER (Thailand), Pablo Gallery(Philippines), Pure ever (Singapore), Studio Batur (Indonesia) and Supernormal Space (Singapore).

Collectors programme

As every year, SWAB Barcelona promotes an international collecting programme that aspires to expand the private collections of its participants and to encourage new collectors by initiating them to the world of art and the purchasing of contemporary works of art. This year, the programme will be transferred to digital format, maintaining activities such as virtual visits to collectors’ houses in up to 5 different countries, such as that of Jose Luis Lorenzo in Argentina, Steven Guberek in Colombia, Alberto Rebaza in Lima, Alejandra Castro Rioseco in Chile, Josep Maria Civit and Juan Redón in Catalonia, enabling people to discover their most recent acquisitions and most unique pieces.

The fair will also keep its parallel online version on ARTSY, which will also be promoting international collecting and expanding connections for galleries.SWAB’s goal is for the collector to have an intimate and satisfying experience, to grow during the fair and to meet artists, gallery owners and find out about projects that they had not previously contemplated.SWAB Thinks

For yet another year, artists, gallery owners, collectors and professionals from the sector will find a meeting point at Swab to attend talks, round tables, and debates on art and current affairs. This year, the talks will take place via videoconference and the programme will be announced very soon.

SWAB Awards

At each edition, SWAB Barcelona rewards its participants for their contribution to emerging talent and contemporary art. This 2020, despite the fact that the fair will take place virtually, it will continue to award the Espronceda artistic residency award at its Barcelona facilities; the DKV for the best Spanish artist, the MANGO for the best emerging artist and the Colección Diezy7 for artworks on paper, whose award-winning work is selected by a jury made up of curators and contemporary art critics.

Acquisitions program

Another classical feature of the fair is its acquisitions programme, which this year will be formed by the Fundación Vila Casas, the Fundación Carmen & Lluís Bassat, the ColecciónCivit, the Fundación Lluís Coromina, the Colección Manuel Expósito and at this edition will also incorporate the Sorigué Foundation.

SWAB KidsThis year, SWAB did not want to leave the little ones out of this artistic experience, so it has adapted its Kids space to the online world with a virtual 3D game that can be found on the App developed for the 2020 fair. This corner aims to be a space dedicated to games and creativity, where children can have fun and develop their creative genius without limits.SWAB Picnic

Swab online wants to maintain the personal experience that is generated in the pavilion, giving a digital presence to its collaborating companies and, thus, underpinning the fabric of the city. So, the visitor will have the opportunity to continue enjoying the best Flash Flash omelettes while walking online through the fair, by placing their order on site on the application or listening to and getting the latest musical novelties from the Festival MIRA.