To find myself in the shoes of the gallery owner, the one who opens and closes the premises, who meets, receives and talks with the artists, and in intimacy participates in the hanging and illumination of their works will surprise me for a long time. My professional life has, for decades, been my main raison of life. And, to put it simply, I gave it my all. I chose it by vocation and have always welcomed this choice. As a birth attendant, I felt in my mission with my patients and in my closeness to the “fruit of their womb”, an evolutionary relationship whose apotheosis is ever closely related to creativity. Am I right to want to find a link between my professional practice and my deep attraction to art in its various modes of expression and especially the modern? It doesn’t matter because I was able to satisfy my curiosity and please my tastes through many museums, exhibitions and other vernissages.
What, on the other hand, matters to me today is Artree, the gallery I open in Delémont.
Advised by experts, fortunately talented in the Basel-Delémont region, we decided to dedicate Artree to modern art first. Preference will be given, whenever possible, to young and innovative artists who have not exhibited or exhibited little. More attention will be paid to regional creators in a broad sense. The calendar of exhibitions that Artree is fine-tuning while waiting for the opening, greatly delayed by the health crisis, also goes in a different direction from that of the regional vocation but in perfect spirit of complementarity. We aspire to become a partner gallery, a relay point to other galleries known worldwide for their leadership in avant-garde.
Several talks are already under consideration with galleries in Paris, London, Madrid and New York to organize joint exhibitions that would take place in Delémont in preview or extension of the exhibition originally designed by the organising gallery. It must be admitted that Delémont’s geographical position is likely to appeal to more than one major European gallery. Its neighbourhood with Germany and France, on the one hand, and its proximity to Basel on the other, have played a decisive role in our negotiations with our future partners. However, it is worth noting the flexibility that Artree’s vocation offers and allows it to correspond well to their demands. We still have to hope to match the expectations of our numerous visitors.
Stéphane Sabbagh, administrator