KARLSRUHE, GERMANY.- "Sculpture has been a focus for us from the beginning", laughs Ewald Karl Schrade, curator of art KARLSRUHE, which will take place for the fourth time from 22–25 March 2007 (opening: 21 March). The current boom in three dimensional art seems suspicious to Schrade: "Sculpture has always been there and will always be there – so it makes me wonder to see people act as though an art discipline had been reinvented." For the next art fair in Karlsruhe he is going to offer 18 sculpture spaces. This will also help creating plenty of room between the typical booths and thereby giving art KARLSRUHE its unique generous flair.

Another part of the art fair's concept are the special exhibitions. The fourth edition of art KARLSRUHE (159 exhibitors from twelve countries) will feature two private collections: The Selinka Collection, Ravensburg and the Reinking Collection, Hamburg. "The exhibition of paintings by the 'Cobra' group in Karlsruhe had already been arranged before Peter Selinka's death", Ewald Karl Schrade explains. The collector died on 28 June 2006 at the age of 81. His widow Gudrun Selinka, who, together with her husband, instituted a foundation two years ago, is going to show paintings by Karel Appel, Constant, Corneille and Asger Jorn, among others – a documentation of passionate collecting which began in the early seventies.

Rik Reinking wasn't even born then. The 30-year-old collector, who already as a pupil spent his pocket money on art (e.g. a drawing by Horst Janssen), has been one of the most prominent curators of contemporary art for quite some time now. For art KARLSRUHE he is preparing a special exhibition dedicated to Street Art. Artists like Daddy, Daim, Seak, Stohead and Tasek are going to work together to create a piece for the art fair. Additionally, Reinking will present two installations: "Applause" by Baldur Burwitz (two seals repeatedly climbing a pedestal and applauding) and "nloody nose" by Johannes Wald (red splash on a white wall).