Swab Barcelona announces its 2024 program

Swab Barcelona announces its 17th edition, featuring 70 galleries from around the world, with a special focus on emerging spaces from East Asia.

Maintaining its human-scale and intimate spirit, Swab prioritizes quality, innovation, and diversity in the artistic proposals, presenting a carefully curated program supported by its selection committee and the curators of the edition. The fair establishes itself as an essential meeting point for new voices in the global emerging art scene.

This year’s focus looks towards cities in East Asia that are experiencing a significant artistic effervescence, such as Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei, further intensifying Swab’s interest in the Asian continent. As a novelty, the perspective is also broadened to include contemporary design, a fundamental pillar of Barcelona’s creative identity.

The exhibition projects are divided into the following programs: General (established galleries), Emerging (galleries with less than five years of trajectory), Seed (independent spaces), Design (design galleries) and MyFAF (newly created galleries participating in a fair for the first time). The latter is backed by the Swab Barcelona Foundation, which grants each space a scholarship to facilitate their entry into the international circuit.

In parallel, curated projects are presented through which the fair proposes the themes of the edition. Some are recurring, like Emerging Latam, curated by Santiago Gasquet, which will invite six young Latin American spaces, and Video Box, curated this year by Yipei Lee, who presents audiovisual pieces by four Taiwanese artists.

Yipei Lee herself collaborates with Catalan curator Carla Gimeno Jaria in the second edition of Solo Show. Supported by the Fundació Vila Casas, this section offers a space for dialogue and exchange between eight independent projects from Barcelona and Taipei that, under the title The Color Blue from My Sky, emphasize the significance of collaborative work.

Continuing the exploration of East Asian ecosystems, a central program of this edition is Focus Tokyo-Seoul, curated by renowned Korean artist and curator Kelvin Kyung Kun Park. Framed under the evocative title Tentacles of Thought (from an Octopus), the project aims to present in Barcelona diverse artistic sensibilities from exhibition spaces in Tokyo and Seoul.

Another notable presence is that of the Indonesian collective Jatiwangi Art Factory, which will present its project Perhutana at Swab, with the support of Romero Polo y Piramidón.. Launched in the framework of the last edition of Documenta 15, the initiative distributes works that involve the creation of a collectively owned forest.

This year, Swab aligns itself with Barcelona’s tradition and identity by highlighting its historic connection with avant-garde design. As a standout novelty, the fair introduces a program dedicated to exploring new trends at the intersection of design and art, showcasing four galleries operating in this space.

Another parallel project is the performance by Marmol + Terramoto who, taking the socio-economic and housing crisis in Portugal as their starting point, create a space for visitors to relate with the art market in their city, Porto, one of the most affected by this context.

The entirety of the exhibitions, as well as the ideas and aesthetic and political movements they explore, will be discussed in the extensive series of talks hosted through Swab Radio, developed by the platform Arts Super. Gallerists, artists, and curators from all sections will participate, and the sessions will be streamed live during the fair.

Finally, the Swab Kids section of this edition, tied to Focus Tokyo-Seoul, will be led by Petit Japó, a multidisciplinary workshop from Barcelona. Throughout the event, the children will collaborate in the collective creation of a cherry blossom tree, a Sakura, thus working on the value of taking care of our environment, cultural exchange and community work.

Overall, the 2024 edition pays special attention to new voices from East Asia, while maintaining a strong presence of young spaces from diverse geographies. It fosters the exchange between emerging global proposals and strengthens their ties with the fabric of the city of Barcelona. 

EXHIBITORS 2024

GENERAL + EMERGING PROGRAM
a-topos’ (Paris & Marseille), Abbozzo (Toronto), ADN (Barcelona) Alessandro Albanese (Milan), ATM (Gijón), Beta (Barcelona), BLOOM (Düsseldorf), CHAxARTxRTM (Rotterdam), CLUSTER (Rome), Dilalica (Barcelona), ESCAT, Casa Granados (Barcelona), ethall (L’Hospitalet de Llobregat), Fermay (Palma de Mallorca), Kahmann (Naarden), LaiSun Keane (Boston), Neven (London), Noaddress (Rio de Janeiro), Palmadotze (Santa Margarida i els Monjos), Pantocrátor (Barcelona), Rafael Pérez Hernando (Madrid), Raffaella de Chirico (Milan), Reiners Contemporary Art (Marbella), set espai d’art (Valencia), Shazar (Naples), Siddiq Projects (Hamburg), Sissi Club (Marseille), Soho Revue (London), Split (London), Stain Projects (Palma de Mallorca), TEMPESTA (Milan), VANGAR (Valencia), Yafteh (Tehran), and Zielinsky (Barcelona & Porto Alegre).

MyFAF
PLATO (Évora), Studio/Chapple (London), and TUBE (Palma de Mallorca).

SEED PROGRAM
AllArtNow (Damascus & Stockholm), CASA ESPACIO (Barcelona), Chilli Art Projects (London), NAAN Gallery by Harabel (Tirana), OLA LAB (Barcelona), Post Modern Collection (Amstelveen), Silica (Cannes), Sorondo (Barcelona), TAKEOVER (Beirut), and Tiny Art Gallery (The Hague).

DESIGN
Max Radford Gallery (London), PEPE VALENTI (Amsterdam), VASTO (Barcelona), Annabelle Schneider (New York).

PERFORMANCE
Mármol x Terramoto (Porto)

PROGRAMAS COMISARIADOS

FOCUS TOKYO – SEOUL:Curated by Kelvin Kyung Kun Park.
Gallery 2 (Seoul), Ingahee (Seoul), ooooon (Seoul), and Space Willing N Dealing (Seoul), MATTER (Tokyo), MJK Gallery (Tokyo), and The White (Tokyo).

EMERGING LATAM: Curated by Santiago Gasquet.
Andrea Brunson (Chile), Collectio (Chile), Crudo (Argentina), Escombro (Mexico), Paseolab (Peru), and Tramo (Argentina).

THE SOLO SHOW BY FUNDACIÓ VILA CASAS:Curated by Yipei Lee and Carla Gimeno Jaria.
Taipei: EQUAL™︎©, shishishibook, ss space space, and SUAVEART
Barcelona: espai19, FASE, Halfhouse, and Raccoon Projects.

VIDEO BOX:Curated by Yipei Lee, it focuses on video art from culturally emerging regions, featuring foyr Taiwanese artists from SUAVEART that reflect on Taiwan’s current landscape.

Chen Chieh-Jen
Wu Chi-Tsung
Hsu Che-Yu
Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin)

SELECTION COMMITTEE

Angulo, Marie Elena
Castilla, Isa Natalia
De Chirico, Doménico
Jaile, Pedro
López-Chahoud, Omar
Lorenzo, Jose Luís
Pantalacci, Jérôme
Peh, Laura
Stieler, Jesper

AWARDS AND ACQUISITION PROGRAM

Fundació Basat
Kells Art Collection
La Escalera
Marval Collection
Mango
Fundació Vila Casas
Diezy7
Piramidón
Fundació Úniques
Benoît Doche de Laquintane Prize

PARTNERS

INSTITUTIONAL SPONSORS

Generalitat de Catalunya | Departament de Cultura
ICEC | Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals
Ajuntament de Barcelona
Gobierno de España | Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte
AC/E | Acción Cultural Española

COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONS

Casa Vicens Gaudí
MACBA
Fundació Mies Van Der Rohe
Fundació Foto Colectania
Santa Mònica
Fundació Suñol
Casa Batlló
Fundació Joan Miró
La Virreina
CCCB
Fundació Antoni Tàpies
Caixaforum
Manifesta 15
Fundación Japón Madrid

OFFICIAL HOTEL

Seventy Barcelona

VIDEOBOX

JVC
Fundació Joan Miró

COLLECTORS PROGRAM

Hackett Londres
Recaredo

OFFICIAL AIRLINE

Iberia | Iberia Express
Iberia | Airnostrum

OFFICIAL DRINKS

El Águila
Soul Water
Miwi Drinks
El Bandarra Vermut
Skimm Gin
Cointreau

DIGITAL PARTNERS

Artsper

MEDIA PARTNERS

Aesthetica Magazine
Arte por Excelencias
Arte Al Limite
Artfacts
Artprice
Artsy Travels
CURA
KUBA
La Vanguardia
Exibart
Klima
Lampoon
Show On Show
Terremoto
Vellum
Widewalls
The Art Gorgeous

SWAB RADIO

artsuper

FURNITURE

Sancal
BDU

FRIENDS

Barcelona Global
Círculo del Liceo
Barcelona Turisme
Circulo Ecuestre
TMB | Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona
Nial Art
sothebhy´s
Taller Macba
Soho House

SWAB KIDS

Petit Japó
POSCA

COMPANIES

VisualSign
B Hotel
Omu
Alqvimia vegana

FRIENDS FOUNDATION SWAB BARCELONA
Romero Polo

On the cover: Satoshi Otsuka, Puzzle #15 (2012). MJK, Focus Tokyo/Seoul.

Source: Swab Barcelona