Courtesy MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd.

Art 39 Basel co-directors Marc Spiegler and Annette Schönholzer

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MS: Yes. Because of the range of things we have in Art Basel, it means that we can play multiple roles. “Art Statements” is geared toward really young galleries working with really young artists, and “Art Premiere,” though not specifically geared toward that, certainly has a very high percentage of them. If “Art Statements” and “Art Premiere” were taken together as a freestanding show, they would probably be the best show of young contemporary galleries in the world.

AS: The ancillary fairs do cover some of the turf that we can’t cover. I’d like to mention the Liste fair, which allows galleries that can’t make it into Art Basel to be present in Basel. This is very important to the development of young galleries for future Art Basel fairs.

MS: Yes. There’s been a very clear path from Liste into Art Basel.

When the two of you were announced as the fair’s new directors alongside Cay Sophie Rabinowitz last summer, we were told that the perfect team had been put in place. Why did she leave?

MS: As was widely discussed when Cay Sophie left, she left for personal reasons. Obviously it’s not our role to discuss those personal reasons.

But she left only weeks before the fair was due to open.

MS: What people who don’t work on a fair don’t realize is that a month before a fair begins, no departure can stop it from happening — it’s a train rolling down the tracks at very high speed. A month ago, the success of Art Basel was already in the hands of our teams and our exhibitors, and we have complete confidence in both.

When Cay Sophie was still on board you all had very specific job titles, but now you two are simply called “co-directors.” What is the division of labor?

AS: The three job titles were put in place to distinguish the areas we were focusing on. As co-directors we still have distinct areas in which we are active, but we also share a lot of areas. Marc is obviously the person who is more out there in the field, maintaining our contacts with collectors and museums and cultural institutions, and also sourcing new contacts.

MS: Annette is also out there quite a bit, but one of her roles is to ensure that things are running smoothly on the home front, because one of the great successes of Art Basel has been its continuing ability to deliver a really solid range of services and support for the galleries that are here. That requires that our teams are pulling smoothly in the same direction.

Having said that, however, any decision that has a major impact on Art Basel involves both of our areas, so while little decisions are taken alone, major decisions are taken together.

Eva-Maria Häusler and Peter Vetsch have now been headhunted by Art Forum Berlin. How do you feel about that?

AS: Eva Maria left last September, so for the past eight months, her place has been filled by Andreas Bicker. He’s been part of the Art Basel team for many years, so that was a very smooth transition for us. And though we will obviously miss Peter and his experience, we wish him well at his new role at Art Forum Berlin.

It could also be taken as a mark of respect for Art Basel that your people were recruited to a rival fair.

MS: Yes. I think that’s accurate. Everyone wants to reproduce the Art Basel experience, both for visitors and for galleries.