Market Art Fair Beyond the Booths: Dialogue, Discussions and New Discoveries
With 54 galleries and presentations by over 150 artists, it is easy for visitors to get caught for hours on the fair floor, but Market Art Fair offers much more.
Open to all ticket holders, the public programme runs parallel to the fair throughout the weekend. This year’s programme includes discussions on Nordic art from a global perspective, examining how Nordic artists are positioned internationally, and Culture at the Return of History, exploring how contemporary politics is reshaping cultural institutions. Other highlights include artist talks with Ragna Bley and Fredrik Værslev, as well as a takeover by The Art Bystander focused on the next generation of artists, gallerists and collectors. The conversations are presented in collaboration with leading institutions and cultural actors and include eight talks across the weekend.
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Ruben Steinum. Photo Dev Dhunsi
Starting off on Friday, the programme centres on the idea of the Nordic, a perspective closely connected to Market Art Fair’s identity. In the talk “Nordic Art from a Global Perspective”, four speakers who work with positioning Nordic art abroad share their perspectives on what Nordic art is, and where it stands internationally today. Janne Sirén, initiator of the AKG Nordic Art and Culture Initiative, joins Jennifer Ramkalawon, curator of the British Museum’s recent exhibition on Nordic works on paper, and Ruben Steinum, who works with promoting Norwegian art internationally. They are joined by Danish gallerist Nicolai Wallner, who recently shifted his gallery’s international programme to focus on Nordic artists.
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Ragna Bley. Photo Istvan Virag
The programme also features conversations with Nordic artists Ragna Bley and Fredrik Værslev, two of the more than 150 artists presented by the galleries at this year’s fair. Swedish artist Ragna Bley, based in Oslo and nominated for the Nordic art prize Ars Fennica in 2025, meets Finnish curator Kati Kivinen to discuss her painting practice. Norwegian artist Fredrik Værslev, whose work explores painting through repetition and references to architecture and design, speaks with New York–based curator Benjamin Godsill about his work and recent projects.
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Karolina & Erik Modig. -
Mi You. Photo Nicolas Wefers
Several talks during the weekend also address the value and role of art beyond the exhibition space. Culture journalist Karolina Modig and business researcher Erik Modig discuss their book “The Value of Art – for the Brain, Society and Life“, which brings together research on how art affects individuals and the society we live in. The authors draw on studies from psychology, neuroaesthetics, economics and philosophy to explore how art shapes how we think and interact with the world around us.
Another perspective on the value of art is presented by Market Art Fair’s Lead Partner SEB, who share the story behind one of the largest corporate collections of Nordic contemporary art and reflect on how art continues to shape culture and dialogue within the organisation.
Broader cultural questions are addressed in the symposium Culture at the Return of History. Organised in collaboration with the Stockholm School of Economics’ Centre for Philosophies of Markets and the SSE Art Initiative, the discussion considers how contemporary authoritarianism and populism affect cultural institutions and artistic production.
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Roland-Philippe Kretzschmar. Photo Mehdi Kabirzadeh -
Kim Andreas Roland Berger
Looking ahead, the programme also includes two talks highlighting changes in the art world. The BMW Art Talk “The Future of the Art World: Where do we go from here?“, brings together voices from curatorial practice and institutional leadership to discuss how collaboration and exchange influence how art is produced, presented and experienced.
Taking Stockholm’s identity as a city of technology, design and innovation as its point of departure, the symposium NEXT GEN: ART, organised by Market Art Fair’s media partner The Art Bystander, examines how a new generation of artists, curators, gallerists and collectors is reshaping the structures around contemporary art. The discussions focus on how artworks circulate today and how professional roles within the art world are changing.