08 february 2022, Wouter van den Eijkel
Art Island, the new art fair in a unique location
From 3 to 5 March, Art Island will take place on Fort Island in IJmuiden, a new art fair with 24 Amsterdam galleries at a World Heritage location. “The location is the unique selling point, especially that you have to get there by ferry”. The catalogue will be available on Gallery Viewer later this month.
From 3 to 5 March, Art Island will take place on Fort Island in IJmuiden, a new art fair with 24 Amsterdam galleries at a World Heritage location. “The location is the unique selling point, especially that you have to get there by ferry”. The catalogue will be available on Gallery Viewer later this month.
Unique location
“Suddenly everything fell into place,” says Bergsma. “Fortress Island is a unique location. To start with, you have to go there by ferry, which instantly gets you in the mood. Once on the island you have a great view both in front of and behind you. In front of you, you look out onto the open sea and when you turn around, you look at the gigantic installations of Tata Steel.”
Coincidence or not, Bergsma was just on his way to an appointment with the tenant of the island. He immediately took to the idea, as did most gallerists. “I still doubted whether IJmuiden is not too far from Amsterdam for gallerists and visitors, but the enthusiasm among the gallerists was great. Due to the limited space in the fort, we ultimately had to disappoint interested parties from other cities.”
Raw spaces
The fortress was built at the end of the 19th century as part of the Defense Line of Amsterdam. It once had a military function, which is reflected in the partly underground system of corridors with raw spaces. During the Second World War, German troops were stationed there. There are still murals that remind us of that. Gallerist Martin van Zomeren is pleased with the location: “Art Rotterdam is synominous with the Van Nelle Factory, Fiac with the Paris Grand Palais, and Art Island with the Fort Island. That immediately gives the fair a profile”.
Lottery
That an art fair on the island is just that little bit different is not only apparent from the number of visitors, which is more or less determined by the number of passengers that the ferry service can handle, but also from the raw spaces to which nothing may be changed. Due to its UNESCO status, the interior of the fortress must be treated with respect. Hanging works is allowed where possible, but drilling new holes is out of the question. That requires some creativity on the part of the gallerists.“We are not going to work with white walls either. The spaces remain as they are. Not all rooms are the same size, so we allocated the rooms by lottery to avoid any problems.”
Participating galleries
The following galleries are participating in the first edition of Art Island:
Andriesse Eyck Gallery, Brinkman & Bergsma, Ellen de Bruijne Projects, galerie dudokdegroot, Annet Gelink Gallery, Gerhard Hofland, Kopsa Jongma, Galerie Wouter van Leeuwen, Grimm Gallery, Galerie Ron Mandos, Stigter van Doesburg, tegenboschvanvreden, Torch Gallery, Galerie Fons Welters, Van Zijll Langhout, Upstream Gallery, Althuis Hofland, Caroline O' Breen, Made van Krimpen, Galerie Bart, LangArt, Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Baarsprojects, EENWERK
Art Island, 3 to 5 March 2022, Fort Island, IJmuiden. The catalogue for Art Island will be available on GalleryViewer later this month.
For tickets and more information about the location, go to Artisland.nl
