Collectors and wannabes take note: Melbourne Art Fair is where it’s at

Dan F. Stapleton

Organisers of the 2024 Melbourne Art Fair are coyly using the terms “boutique” and “compact” to describe the latest edition of the long-running event.

But sales figures from the previous instalment in 2022 – which was billed as a total reboot of the 35-year-old fair – suggest this current iteration has serious muscle.

Two years ago, the fair generated $10.5 million in artwork sales across 53 exhibiting galleries, according to its operator, the Melbourne Art Foundation.

Compare that with the most recent edition of competitor fair Sydney Contemporary, in September 2023, which generated $21 million in sales across 96 exhibiting galleries, organisers reported.

In terms of revenue per booth, the two events were basically equivalent. And the Melbourne event was held in the long shadow of lockdown, just weeks after the state of Victoria lifted bans on mass gatherings.

It was a quiet triumph for the foundation, which cancelled its 2016 edition due to waning interest from exhibitors (many chose to show solely at Sydney Contemporary that year) then endured a period of existential uncertainty.

“I think it’s fair to say that it has become, again, Australia’s premier art fair,” says fair director and Melbourne Art Foundation chief executive Maree Di Pasquale.

“We say ‘boutique’ because we are in a phase of growing again, and we are growing slowly so as not to compromise on the quality of the work and to maintain our position as a fair for serious collectors.”