BRAFA

Quality and professionalism. For years, Brafa has placed quality at the centre of its development strategy: the quality of exhibitors, of the works of art on display, of the fair’s welcome and design, and of its organization. Not to forget the fair’s eclecticism, its broad diversity of styles and periods, and – a characteristic of the fair highly prized by collectors – its friendly atmosphere, openness and energy.

Our first criterion is always quality; but we also consider each gallery’s speciality in order to safeguard the eclecticism of the event. We are interested in the gallery’s geographical origin too, because we are always keen to increase our foreign clientele. Retaining a balance between artistic disciplines and countries represented is key. We are keen to strengthen our relationship with easily accessible countries with a strong potential for collectors. The more substantial and high quality the fair becomes, the more foreign collectors we will attract. In other words, we aim for an ideal combination of loyal traditional exhibitors who constitute the backbone of the event, while remaining open to prestigious new names that we are proud to welcome among us.

Every year Brafa provides an extremely attractive range of classical archaeology and pre-Columbian art, tribal art, old masters, modern and contemporary paintings, sculptures and art objects, drawings, engravings and vintage comic strips, Asian art, gold and silverwork, antiquarian books, art objects and curiosities. Our ambition is to offer the best in an extremely wide range of fields and prices. We must be able to exceed the expectations of confirmed collectors who have very specific knowledge and requirements and, at the same time, to encourage art lovers to start a collection or buy a piece of art. The pieces presented appeal to both sectors of the public; alongside museum-worthy pieces, at naturally high prices, it is vital we offer more accessible pieces to encourage people to start a collection or succumb to an impulse! I feel strongly that Brafa must remain an open, generous fair, accessible to all.

Private collectors and art lovers. Buyers at Brafa have a reputation for being cultivated and choosy, curious and open-minded; on the other hand, they are also quite conservative, insofar as they are keen to ensure the long-term investment-value of the objects and artworks they acquire.
What is BRAFA special appeal?

The Covid crisis has had a big impact on the world of art fairs. Many have been forced to postpone or cancel their normal dates, and a large number have created online editions, or designed new formats. Brafa was lucky to be the last international art fair that could be held in normal conditions in 2020, just before the pandemic broke out, and we have also been very creative with our ‘Brafa in the Galleries’ 2021 edition. We all hope the situation will return to normal in the near future, but we presume this will take some time. That is why we will focus at first on reassuring the visitors and collectors. We can’t wait for our exhibitors to participate again, but our main challenge will be to convince collectors and clients to come back, too.

The Biennale of Florence and TEFAF Maastricht.