The organisers of the Paris Modern and contemporary art fair Fiac have postponed this year’s edition of the satellite fair Officielle, scheduled to open in October. Reed Exhibitions has not proposed a replacement to offer the 60 galleries that had already signed up for the event—but it has announced a new offering for its Fiac exhibitors at the Petit Palais.
The candidate galleries for the 2016 edition of Officielle, a satellite fair dedicated to emerging art, are expected to receive a message informing them of the postponement on Thursday, 25 February. In an interview with our sister paper Le Journal des Arts, Fiac’s director Jennifer Flay says that the organisers decided to put the fair on hold because of the “perceived remoteness of the Cité de la Mode et du design”, where Officielle was held, and the high cost of the stands. “While some galleries worked well, many did not make back their costs,” she says.
The Parisian gallerist Bernard Ceysson was one of the few who did. “We were not unhappy with our sales at the 2015 edition, we sold rather well and cleared a small profit. But it’s true that we did not feel like we were [in the majority],” he says. Ceysson hopes to be accepted this year to show in the main fair Fiac, but spots are expensive.
Another factor is the new event Paris Internationale, a surprise hit last year, which “weakened Officielle”, Flay admits. Reed Exhibition’s closure of its US fairs Paris Photo LA and Fiac LA, however “have nothing to do with our decision concerning Officielle”, Flay says.
Meanwhile, Fiac plans to extend the footprint of its main fair in the Grand Palais into a neighbouring site with a new event starting this year called On Site. Taking up the south gallery, colonnade and garden of the Petit Palais, this will feature around 20 large-scale works, presented by a selection of galleries showing at Fiac.
Translated by Victoria Stapley-Brown