8th Barcelona Symposium

Talking Galleries. The Think Tank for Galleries is proud to announce its eighth Barcelona Symposium, to be held at the MACBA museum on January 20 and 21, 2020. 

Over the years, Talking Galleries has provided a space for reflection that the art market was lacking. It has grown into an established platform for industry professionals, which focuses on debating relevant issues and encourages the professionalisation of the sector. 

Now in its eighth edition, the Barcelona Symposium once more gathers together leading experts to set up a context for discussion of the peculiarities of the gallery profession with a specific attention to the complexity of the current art market situation.

In its two-day conference, the 2020 programme will address some of the most relevant matters in the current agenda, such as a market for the millennials, the state of digital sales, the evolving gallery model, sustainability in the art market, the shifting tastes and dedication of collectors, and new approaches to the gallery business, among others. 

Among the participants in this year’s edition are top art advisor Allan Schwartzman (Art Agency, Partners), who will talk about his experience in advisory services and his understanding of the current art panorama; Susan Dunne, President of Pace Gallery, to address the expansive role of galleries in today’s event-dominated art ecosystem in the light of Pace’s newly opened headquarters; Kenny Schachter, acclaimed columnist at artnet News and art world provocateur, who will share his take about the evolution of the gallery realm form retail shop to luxury lifestyle brands; Tim Schneider, the wit art business reporter behind The Gray Market, will look at the future and sustainability of the gallery sector through the lens of professional sports; co-founder of Unit London Joe Kennedy and Alexander Forbes from Artsy will partake to a conversation around the habits of upcoming buyers and the relationship of millennials towards the art market; who will debate alongside other key speakers from The Art Newspaper, Financial Times, artnet News and Artsy, among other contributors.   

The full programme of the 8th Barcelona Symposium will be announced shortly.

Registration is already open! Register here.

About Talking Galleries 
Talking Galleries is an international think tank for discussion on new trends and cogent issues, specific to the gallery sector. It brings together art world veterans and industry newbies to propel the debate, spread the knowledge and re-think the existing models. Its ultimate goals are to create a formalised body of knowledge in art gallery management and establish best practices.

Launched in 2011, it holds an annual symposium in Barcelona. Thanks to the increasing interest to the topic and format, Talking Galleries entered international scene and now organises talks and conferences in global art capitals such as Paris, Madrid, London, Seoul and New York. 

Talking Galleries runs a publishing programme, keeps a library of relevant materials and hosts a video archive of the past events. The project stands for knowledge sharing, thus, all materials are available for free. 

For further information, please contact: talking [​at​] talkinggalleries.com