INAUGURAL CASABLANCA ART FAIR

A new boutique fair of African and Mediterranean art sets up shop in Morocco, Nov. 16-20, 2011. Supported in part by King Mohamed IV, the Spanish and Moroccan ministries of culture and Madrid-based cultural organization Fundación Temas de Arte, the new fair -- dubbed Top TwentyFive -- brings together, as you might guess, 25 international galleries, including six local exhibitors, plus Kalao Arte Negro from Bilbao, White Box from New York, Anita Beckers from Frankfurt and Chelouche Gallery from Tel Aviv.

Each booth at the Hyatt Regency Hotel is limited to about 270 square feet and a maximum of three artists, apparently as a way for exhibitors to provide more “one-on-one” attention to collectors and other art professionals. A special exhibition, curated by Elga Wimmer and titled “Palace of Desire,” features works from seven North African artists including Sami Al-Karim, Ingrid Mwangi and Touhami Ennadre. The subject of the group show is Egypt in the 1920s, inspired by Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz‘s 1957 book Palace of Desire.

Fundación de Temas de Arte chairman Victor del Campo has said, “Casablanca, Morocco, in general, will become a reference in this field like Basel, Munich, Paris, Miami, New York, London, Dubai and Madrid.”

The fair launches a Barcelona edition next year.

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