Art Basel has announced to its patrons that it will be moving forward with the Swiss art fair which will be held in September this year.
The news was first broken by Art Net, which reported that Art Basel had sent a letter to all the concerned VIPs on Thursday regarding the go-ahead to the event. The Swiss art fair will be held in September in the city of Basel, as initially planned. The event will run between September 20-26. The event will open with the Unlimited Section, which will feature large art installations.
However, that doesn’t mean that the organization is not taking COVID seriously. In fact, as per the report, many restrictions and guidelines were put in place to ensure a safe event. Proof of full vaccination, recent anti-body report, or recent COVID-negative report – visitors must present either one of these in order to gain entry to the event. The capacity of the fair has been reduced, capping at 20 percent less than the previous years. In order to compensate for this, the VIP opening is being extended by a day. On the other hand, the tickets for public viewing are one-third of the full capacity.
Many art fairs scheduled for the fall have already canceled, like the Expo Chicago. However, Art Basel is confident that the fair will go smoothly. The reason behind this could be the success of its recent Hong Kong fair, which saw more than 30,000 visitors despite many travel restrictions in the city.
For those who aren’t aware, the Swiss edition – which is also the most prestigious edition – of Art Basel Fair occur in June every year. Last year, the event was canceled due to the ongoing pandemic. In January, before the second wave hit most countries, the organization had announced to postpone the 2021 edition to September.
