Dear Colleagues
This has been the first year we exhibited in Olympia and we were generally satisfied with the outcome.
Our Gallery deals with Modern Masters and we were part of the small section called “Olympia Contemporary”. I think that it is a great idea to try 
and bring more Modern and contemporary galleries to Olympia but I’m afraid that it wasn’t enough this year. The mix of new and old is exactly what people are looking for at the moment but the mix needs to be more balanced if the fair wants to attract a younger and newer crowd that don’t usually visits this fair.
In my opinion one of the main reasons for the lack of Modern and Contemporary Galleries is the length of the fair. Most fairs that target this market last for 4 to 5 days only including one weekend. I don’t see any reason why Olympia should be different. We experienced a very strong start of the fair including the preview day and the first weekend. After that, we had very few serious sales including the second weekend. Being away from the gallery for 11 days (plus set up and break down) is a huge disadvantage and I’m sure that many dealers who actually have a gallery will consider exhibiting in Olympia if the fair was shorter.
Best regards,
Ofer Gildor
Gilden’s Arts Gallery
Gildens Arts – gildensarts.com
Posted in: Uncategorized
JJ
June 26, 2011
All year I worked on improvements for the fair, and particularly events that may have boosted mid fair attendance, Clarion were not prepared to invest in any of the ideas, and they are only interested in making as much money as they can. They do not understand our business and do everything as cheaply as they possibly can. They say they want to listen to the trade, but they do not want to act so I am afraid I think as always, it is a waste of time. I thought the economic downturn would force a change in attitude from them but it hasn’t.John also makes a valid point, we paid for the fair so lets not start patting them on the back to soon. My show was ‘okay’ and nothing more than that.