Menart Fair 2023 in Brussels
Menart Fair opens its 3rd edition in Brussels on February 3rd and will run through February 5th. Set in the intimate and beautiful Villa Empain in Brussels, this up & coming art fair, dedicated to art and design from the Middle East and North Africa, will welcome 24 galleries and host special installations and events.
Menart Fair, dedicated to modern & contemporary art from the Middle East and North Africa, opens its doors from February 3rd to 5th, 2023 at the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain in Brussels. This is the third edition, and the first in Brussels, of this important new fair that launched in 2021 in Paris. Menart will bring together a selection of more than two hundred and forty exceptional works of art + design from more than one hundred and forty modern & contemporary artists, represented by twenty-four international galleries that come from leading cities such as Dubai, Tunis, Amman and Beirut, among others.
Founded by Laure d’Hauteville, founder of Beirut Art Fair, which ran for more than ten years, Menart Fair seeks to bring a wider appreciation and understanding of artists, galleries and the contemporary art scene in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). “With the Menart Fair, we are setting up a platform for exchange in Europe that is without equal, for this wonderful story to develop and no longer knows borders. Because, beyond being a trade fair, Menart Fair tells a story, that of the art of the MENA countries“, states d’Hauteville.
After finding success in Paris, Menart Fair decided to open an edition in Brussels, in an intimate setting where visitors can engage in conversation with galleries and artists and have a rare opportunity to see a comprehensive and dynamic selection of work. Artistic Director Joanna Chevalier notes, “Belgium has always attracted me by the quality of its collections and its visionary approach. Menart Fair, an emerging fair, is well based in Brussels, especially at the Boghossian Foundation. Visitors will have the opportunity to discover a plethora of artists, many of whom are recognized in their home countries. The event has a human size, gathering more than twenty galleries; collectors will have the time to visit the stands, to talk to the exhibitors, to discover besides the artists, young designers. More than a fair, we are a platform that creates bridges and allows to weave links”.
Special installations will be presented across the Boghossian Foundation, notably at the entrance, where artists Gregory Gatseleria and Joy Hero will install a large piece titled, The Great Design Disaster, a table setting devasted by an unknown disaster, that harkens not only to ancient ruins such as Pompeii, but more poignantly to the explosion in Beirut on August 4th, 2020.
Among its offerings, Menart Fair will have a special focus on art from Iran, providing an important reminder to visitors that art has long been a part of the DNA of Persia, despite current politics. It has a long-standing tradition with art collecting and avant-garde art, and artists within the borders continue to create ground-breaking work, with minimal exposure to the rest of the world.
Participating galleries include: Amenor Contemporary (Stavanger) x Simine Paris (Paris), Atelier Nadeen x jihad khairallah architects (Beirut), Ayn Gallery (Paris), Baronian (Brussels), Galerie Bessières (Chatou), Galerie Dar D’art (Tangier), Everything I Want (Venice), Fann À Porter (Amman / Dubai), Galerie Françoise Livinec (Paris), Gaya Art (Paris / Algiers), Gery Art Gallery (Namur), Hunna Art (Dubai), In Situ – fabienne leclerc (Romainville), Galerie La La Lande (Paris), Le Lab (Cairo), Mark Hachem (Paris / Beirut), Musk and Amber Gallery (Tunis), Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris / Brussels), Saleh Barakat Gallery (Beirut), Galerie Tanit (Munich / Beirut), The Great Design Disaster (Milan), Zalfa Halabi Art Gallery (Beirut), Zawyeh Gallery (Dubai / Ramallah)
Menart Fair is open from February 3rd – 5th, 2023 at the Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain in Brussels.
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