Art Market Budapest (AMB), the largest contemporary art fair in Hungary, took a place in Bálna Budapest from the 6th to 9th of October this year. The exhibitors from nearly 50 countries participated in the fair, and approximately 25 thousand people visited there. This year, the fair utilized all the three floors of the building for the first time, which made it the biggest one it has ever been. It was filled with a large number of colorful, creative, and fascinating paintings, photography, and sculpture, which created a very lively atmosphere that both exhibitors and visitors enjoyed.
In order to have as many exhibitors as possible for the fair, I started off the volunteer work with calling the galleries from a lot of countries, such as Spain, Germany, and Portugal back in May. I had to realize that it was very hard to gather this many galleries; some of them turned down the offers since AMB is still only a developing art fair compared to other major ones. However, some exhibitors that I interacted with at the event said this characteristic was an exact perk of attending there. The director of AMB, Attila Ledenyi, also said that one of the fair’s main purposes is to explore the underground art which hasn’t been in the spotlight yet.
I was surprised when I found a gallery from Osaka, Japan; a lot of the participated galleries were from European countries. I had a chance to talk to its gallery manager, Katsu. He said: “I have artworks to sell specifically for Hungary. For instance, people from the Netherlands have completely different taste in art compared to Hungarian people. Hungarians like relatively dark and melancholic artworks while Dutch people like relatively colorful artworks.”
It was fascinating to hear a story form a perspective of the non-European art seller’s, selling his art pieces in Europe. I addressed the AMB director, Attila, later on, about this topic. He said: “the historical background might have something to do with peoples’ taste in art depending on which country they grew up in. The Netherlands did not get affected by the power of Soviet Union, whereas we have.”
AMB is annually held in October, and they take applications for their volunteer job from anyone. (You can check its website https://artmarketbudapest.hu/hu/ ) Next year, it is most likely to be going to happen in the same location, Bálna Budapest, where you can see the whole view of the beautiful Danube river working as a volunteer. I am not an Art major, nor that knowledgeable about art. I just like to visit art museums every now and then to enjoy art. If you are like me, you will definitely enjoy this volunteer. Especially, it is because all the volunteer gets a free ticket for the whole fair, so you can check the entire exhibition. Even if you are not going to volunteer, it is definitely worth it to go check the contemporary artworks from all over the world. This was such a great experience that I would recommend for everyone.
-Shion Kai