By LIZ GRIFFITHS [email protected]
An art fair in Loulé next month will showcase the work of many artists living across the Algarve and southern Spain.
Organised by ARTE ALGARVE, the International Art Fair, at Expoalgarve from November 29 to December 1, will also feature a special charity event called The Tree of Love where guests will be invited to bring a gift to be placed under a giant Christmas tree decorated by three artists who are participating at the fair – sculptor António da Cunha, Stela Barreto and Meinke Flesserman.
A choir will sing traditional Christmas carols at 9pm on each day of the fair, while children from orphanages in the Algarve will be invited to receive the gifts from under the Christmas tree.
The organisers of the event selected orphanages that were desperately in need of help.
 The logo created for the Tree of Love, which will have gifts for orphans in the Algarve under it. |
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“It will be a wonderful thing for the orphans to receive a wrapped up present. It will mean so much more to them than a donation of money,” said Rolf Osang from ARTE ALGARVE.
Rolf Osang moved to the Algarve in 2000 and is the owner of A Galeria Porca Preta, an art gallery he created from an abandoned hamlet in Serra de Monchique.
The idyllic “artist’s village” features a gallery, restaurant, bar and terraced gardens.
Rolf has also written extensively about Portugal and is the writer with the most published books about Portugal in the German language.
He is passionate about making the most of the hundreds of artists who are living in the Algarve and also in the south of Spain. “While meeting many artists, I found it a pity that there are so many good artists but so little communication between them. This is potentially a great market for art lovers and art buyers.”
After visiting the ARTE LISBOA exhibition in Lisbon, Rolf was inspired to hold an international art fair in the Algarve.
“I wanted the art fair to enable artists to present their work themselves, to meet people and to sell their work without sharing the money with a gallery,” he said.
The first art fair took place in June, organised by Rolf and his wife Caroline.
“The fair was a success, especially for the 50 artists who managed to sell quite well – even in these difficult times!”
After the success of the first art fair, Rolf decided to organise the second art fair to be held in the run up to Christmas and is already proving to be popular with artists.
“So many artists have registered for the fair that we are now occupying both pavilions of Expoalgarve!”
For more information, please visit www.artealgarve.net Those bringing gifts to be placed under the Christmas tree at the fair should include whether it is for a boy or a girl and the suitable age group.
