BERLIN.- On Thursday October 7th, the sixth edition of PREVIEW BERLIN – The Emerging Art Fair opened its doors in the Hangar2 of Airport Tempelhof. 60 exhibitors from 19 countries displayed the newest trends on contemporary art through the work of more than 200 artists. More than 12.000 visitors turned PREVIEW BERLIN once again into the meeting point of the Berlin art scene. The Eastern European section and the Project Section complemented the general program of the fair.

The sky was clear over the Tempelhof field, and spirits were high inside the hangar. On the first hours of the pre-opening on Thursday morning, the expectations of the organizers and exhibitors participating at this year’s edition were fully overwhelmed – more than 3.500 visitors celebrated a stunning start of the emerging art fair. As in previous years, PREVIEW BERLIN presented itself as the international platform for the artistic positions of tomorrow. With 60 galleries from 19 countries PREVIEW BERLIN confirmed its profile as the fair for emerging art and new positions: 50% of the exhibitors were participating for the first time at PREVIEW BERLIN.

The works of the artists presented at the fair attracted not only Berlin-based and German collectors, but also international collectors linked with the fair since its beginning back in 2005. Collectors from Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries came with a great appetite for discovery to Berlin’s Tempelhof airport and were delighted by the high quality of the artworks on display.

One of the youngest and most interesting galleries of Scandinavia, Galleri Maria Veie from Oslo, was participating for the first time to an international art fair and convinced with a challenging construction, specially built for the fair booth. At Riflemaker (London) works by Artists Anonymous and William Burroughs were rapidly scouted by German collectors. At loop – raum für aktuelle kunst (Berlin), the drawings of Frank Coldewey were almost sold out at the end of the day. Big success for the artists Sabine Banovic (Jarmuschek + Partner, Berlin) and Tanja Rochelmeyer (loop – raum für aktuelle kunst, Berlin), whose works were on show for the very first time at an art fair and were avidly purchased by different international collections. Also Martin Mertens (Berlin) and Patrick Heide’s (London) joint venture was very successful for the showcased artists: several works by Katherine Murphy (Patrick Heide, London) went to a French collection.

Lots of interest for the photography by Thorsten Brinkmann (artfinder, Hamburg), who is now having a solo show at the Museum Georg Kolbe in Berlin. At Galleria Rubin’s (Milan) booth, visitors were fascinated by the marble sculptures of Affiliati Peducci/Savini, with their perfect imitation of rubber and packing polystyrene.

Stunning sales record at Geukens & de Vil (Antwerp): Gideon Kiefer’s anxious drawings and the humorous sculptural objects by Peter de Meyer were sold out on the second day of the fair. Galerie Börgmann (Krefeld) registered good sales on works by Jan Muche and Roger Wardin. Gallerist Kirsten Leuenroth sold a painting by Johannes Rochhausen for Euro 20.000 to a German collector, and several works by Daniel Behrendt and Anya Triestram to international collections.

Successful presentations also by the galleries of the Eastern European Focus Section: sold-out of Mitja Fiko’s paintings on show at Equrna Gallery (Ljubljana), Kristaps Gelzis’ black & white paintings at Mâksla XO (Riga) got a lot of attention, Mariusz Tarkawian’s and Michal Gayerb’s works sold well at PROGRAM (Warsaw). Successful closing of the fair at Galerija Marisall (Zagreb) too, with a complete sold out of works by young Croatian artist Marin Majic and reservations on works by Matko Vecic, who represented Croatia in the last Biennale in Venice.

The parallel program to this year’s PREVIEW BERLIN in the central lounge of Hangar2 was of special interest. Big response had the several guides organized for different groups (for example the Stoberkreis and the Berlin Soho House Club). The aim behind those guides was not only to offer an overview on the fair’s program, but also to foster a dialog between visitors and exhibitors. For instance, the event “Behind the Scenes”, with cultural patrons from CAA (Contemporary Art Alliance) and the Deutsche Guggenheim Club, offered a view on the fair (still in its set-up) on the evening previous to its opening, being a highly successful kick-off event. Furthermore, a collector’s talk was co-organized with the Berlin-based KUNST MAGAZIN, featuring German collector Werner Grub in a live interview.

Great interest was also shown on the discussion on the fair’s format, always in the spotlight in every edition of the fair. This year the discussion was brought up into short-duration seminars with the Ludwig-Universität from Munich and the UCLA Los Angeles.

These guides and talks proved to be successful, as the visitors were spontaneously involved into a direct conversation with the artists and exhibitors. This all helped to generate a great atmosphere throughout the entire days of the fair.

The fair organizers are already working on a new fair concept, a development started early this year with a seminar with the students of stage design at the TU Berlin. This new concept pursues to emphasize the communication and the interaction between the gallerist, the collector and the artwork, pushing those to the forefront.