INTERVIEW – Catinca Tabacaru: In the next five years, we will see the development of a new career in art

Catinca Tabacaru, gallerist and co-founder of RAD Art Fair, talks in an interview with Curatorial about how the art fair has transformed the Romanian art market, about trends.

The art fair organized by RAD – Romanian Art Dealers, which represents some of the most relevant contemporary art galleries in the country, will take place this year from April 23 to 26, at CARO Bucharest, where the first three editions were held. 31 galleries from the country and abroad will participate, and in addition to their stands, the RAD Sculpture Park and the RAD Design section will be organized once again.
As for RAD Curatorial, 34 curators from 23 countries and over 20 institutions will participate in curatorial discussions, visits to workshops, exhibitions, guided tours.

For four days, artists, galleries, curators, collectors and the public will engage in a four-day dialog that combines exhibitions, performances, debates and interactive experiences.

Romanian Art Dealers (RAD) is led by Catinca Tabacaru and Daniela Palimariu as artistic directors. RAD Art Fair co-organizers are among the most relevant contemporary art galleries in the country. The project represents a new generation of professionals dedicated to promoting the national scene on the global map. The RAD co-founders are Robert Băjenaru, Matei Caltia, Andrei Jecza, Alexandru Niculescu, Daniela Palimariu, Mihai Pop, Alex Radu, Andreea Stanculescu, Catinca Tabacaru and Suzana Vasilescu.

How has RAD Art Fair evolved in these four years?

Catinca Tăbăcaru: Extremely important ese that four years ago, in February, you were thinking that there is an art scene in Romania, but there is no market. It was typical of us as a country: that we don’t have it, that it would be better elsewhere. Now I don’t hear these things anymore, it seems to me that this attitude has disappeared and it has become much more nuanced. You don’t ask anymore if there is an art market in Romania or if someone buys here, but if a gallery is sustainable if it only sells in Romania. It’s a much more interesting, real question, because even if the scene is very old, the market is now developing and growing fast, but it’s young. We have not yet entered a wave, when everyone considers that having contemporary art is a sign of sophistication and elegance. It happens over time.
That seems to me to have been the most important effect of the RAD Art Fair – it changed the way we think about ourselves. You no longer have to go to Paris to see contemporary art. You go and see the art that’s there. But here you have the whole local scene that’s very effervescent, and all of a sudden that’s being recognized, and I think that’s a net positive.

How do collectors, who are mostly just starting out, relate to RAD?

Catinca Tăbăcaru: They are more active. Since we came out of communism 35 years ago, we are a country of new money. We don’t have wealth accumulated over generations, most of us didn’t grow up with collections at home. We are, however, a society envied by others. Because it’s very hard to create a collector when he’s already decided one way. A person who wants to break into this area is much more open. Then we have people who have made their money in the last ten years, let’s say, and they are open, they don’t have pre-existing ideas, they are just now deciding. And if they are in the moment of decision, that means we are in the moment of beginning. We can give them options and RAD is highly filtered. You can trust that what you see is good. Not necessarily the best, because that’s for history to decide, but it has quality, it has concept, it has physicality, and that’s because the fair is made by galleries. So it’s in our interest to put ourselves around the colleagues who are the best.

Are the collectors asking for advice?

Catinca Tăbăcaru: We are premiering a talk that everyone should come to. Since the beginning of RAD we have been focusing on collectors. In the first year, we started a talk called “Collecting 101” and in the same year we organized the first talk in a series between me and a big collector.

This year, instead of doing “Collecting 4.0”, we’ve changed a bit and are doing “Art Advising 101”, to answer questions that have never been asked before, in our fourth year: is there art advising in Romania? Does the collector ask for advice?
We haven’t had that discussion yet. Collectors, up to now, have entered the market because they were friends of a gallery or artists and then the advice came from there. It was very informal. I believe that in Romania, in the next five years, we will see the development of a new career called art advisor.

A tip for those coming to see the sculpture park and RAD Art Fair this year.

Catinca Tăbăcaru: To come with time. It’s not something that, if you’re not trained, you do in a hurry. And you don’t have to. You don’t have to think that you stay for an hour and get bored and leave, it’s a whole experience. You can walk around the sculptures, you can have a drink, you meet people, there are talks in the pavilion, and workshops for kids. If you take your time, it’s an experience, like at the beach. Come without expectations. The program is full of interesting things that touch everyone.