The fair is paired with an exceptional event,
the 9th Lyon Biennial of Contemporary Art
which will be held from September 17
to December 31, 2007.
A contemporary art fair which starts
with the opening of an international biennial
is fundamentally created in a dynamic synergy.
Docks Art Fair opens up to international art,
willing to invite galleries from all over the world.

Docks Art Fair is meant to be an addition to
the Biennial as it highlights the key role of galleries in supporting and promoting art today.

Our wish is to ensure that all exhibitors take advantage of the presence of many international contemporary art professionals (about 1,600 during the first two days - curators, critics, journalists) as well as many collectors from around the world, for the opening of the Biennial.

Every new edition of the Biennial attracts more professional visitors and is always praised by journalists, which ranks it among the top-two biennials with the Istanbul Biennial,
according to international art specialized media.

Hans-Ulrich Obrist is the curator of the 2007 Biennial.
His international reputation will be a guarantee of credibility for professionals.
He will be inviting 50 international curators to participate to the biennial and to answer this question : « According to you, who seems to be the most dominant artist of the decade ? ».
This year’s theme, emerging art and the bet on the future that it arouses, is a perfect reflection of the objective we wish to give Docks Art Fair : betting on young talents.

Docks Art Fair is different from other fairs by its singular vision of international contemporary art, requiring from every exhibitor to have only solo shows of emerging artists, under the supervision of a committee of professionals.
Lorand Hegyi (Director of the Museum of Modern Art in Saint-Etienne)
Philippe Piguet (Art critic/independent curator)
Laurent Godin (Gallery curator in Paris)
Gwenola Menou (« Semaine » review)
Jean-Marc Salomon (Founder of the Claudine and Jean-Marc Salomon Foundation for Contemporary Art)

The mission we gave this commitee is to create a strong original identity to this first edition.

The geographic situation of Lyon is a major asset for the art fair.
This rich dynamic area counts many passionate collectors
with a high purchasing power, many of them being members
of the ADIAF - The Marcel Duchamp Price - and ART38,
which are committed art collectors’ associations.
Close to Switzerland and Italy, the region also counts
very important museums : The Lyon MAC, the Villeurbanne IAC,
the Geneva MAMCO,the Museum of Modern Art in Saint-Etienne,
The Grenoble Museum... and first rank institutions such as Le Magasin
in Grenoble and the Lyon Fine Arts School.

The location, only 100m. from “La Sucrière”,
the main exhibition place of the Biennial will enhance the visibility
of the fair in this « XXI century Lyon » area : the docks,
an old harbour by the River Saône, is an industrial site
which was modernized through a high-quality
standards architectural program (Jakob & Mac Farlane,
Ruddy Riccioti, Odile Decq, JM Wilmotte).
Docks Art Fair will be held under a vast tent
especially created for the occasion.

Another particularity of Docks Art Fair :
a biennial contemporary art fair which will reinforce
its large-event aspect and level of expectation.

The size of the fair was voluntarily reduced to about 40 galleries,
offering another advantage : the public can visit
the whole exhibition space with genuine attention,
allowing exchanges between gallery curators and collectors.

Docks Art Fair is supported by the City of Lyon,
the Grand-Lyon and the Rhône-Alpes region.

It is thus in this innovative, attractive and exciting context
that we are now inviting you to join us for the first edition of Docks Art Fair.