The Turkish Embassy in Spain is collaborating on the organisation of the Focus Turkey section, with the selection of 10 galleries and the production of several parallel exhibitions in Madrid

New features like the online art shop, bloggers' meeting, and the QR codes publicising the Highlighted Artists, are a few examples of ARCOmadrid's commitment to innovation and digital media

Noticia Prensa IFEMAThe 32nd edition of ARCOmadrid, to be held from 13 to 17 February 2013 and organised by IFEMA, will bring together a total of 202 galleries from 30 countries, of which 146 are participating in the General Programme, and 56 galleries in the different Curated programmes. This edition will include important attendees and will provide an opportunity to discover work by new and established artists from the five continents. Through the wide range of work on offer and the varied programme of activities, discussion forums, presentations and meetings, ARCOmadrid will once again make the Spanish capital the epicentre of the international art scene in February.

One of the main attractions of the fair will be FOCUS TURKEY, a section which has benefited from the collaboration of the Turkish Embassy in Spain, and with the participation of the curator Vasif Kortun, director of research and programmes at the institution SALT Istanbul, and the assistant curator Lara Fresko, writer and art professional, who have selected the 10 Turkish galleries who will participate in the programme. This project, which will gather a wide selection of Turkish artists, will provide an opportunity to bring the contemporary artistic production of this emerging market to collectors and the general public.

The presence of Turkey will also be reflected in the city of Madrid, with themed exhibitions in many of its most representative galleries and museums, such as the Centro de Arte 2 de Mayo, which will hold an exhibition of the multidisciplinary artist Halil Altindere, curated by Ferrán Barenblit; La Casa Encendida will screen video works by the artist Ali Kazma, and the art centre MATADERO MADRID will show the public a group project organised in collaboration with the Turkish multidisciplinary cultural centre SALT.To extend the cultural offerings, Turkey will also take part in the AfterARCO project, which after the Fair closes each day, organises activities in different spaces in the city: Nave 16, Cineteca and Nave de la Música at MATADERO MADRID.

Curated programmesOther artistic events at the Fair will be presented by well-known curators. A total of 56 emerging galleries will provide content for the Curated Programmes of ARCOmadrid. On one hand, OPENING: YOUNG GALLERIES, a section focusing on galleries which have been operating for less than seven years, gathers a selection of 26 galleries from Asia, the Americas and Europe, providing an overview of the youngest and most innovative international scene. They were selected by Manuel Segade, curator and art critic, and Veronica Roberts, curator resident in New York and researcher for the Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing Catalogue Raisonné.

Meanwhile, the section SOLO PROJECTS: Focus Latin America, devoted to the work of Latin American artists, will present 20 emerging art projects selected by the curators Inti Guerrero, associate artistic of TEOR/éTica (Costa Rica); Catalina Lozano, independent curator and co-founder of de_sitio (Mexico); Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro, director of the Cisneros Foundation / Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, (New York and Caracas); Alexia Tala, independent curator (Chile), and Cristiana Tejo, independent curator (Brazil).

ARCOmadrid will also again include the Solo Objects programme, opening its doors to selected large-scale works. The different art galleries participating in the Fair have been invited to propose works of art of museum-appropriate size, which exceed the space of their booths. Among all the proposals, the Fair's curatorial team will select the pieces to be displayed in Hall 10, and in the central spaces of the Opening and Solo Projects sections.

ARCOmadrid is committed to innovation and new technology After more than three decades in existence, the Fair still has its spirit of renewal and commitment to the latest technology which has always been its defining characteristic. On this occasion, one of the most important new features of ARCOmadrid will be the launch of Collect online, an online platform, with the collaboration of Paddle 8, which from 7 to 24 February will offer for sale a selection of works from the galleries participating in the Fair, priced at up to 5,000 euros.

Another novelty will be the use of QR codes to indicate the Highlighted Artists selected by each gallery, helping to provide more information on the careers and work of artists of different generations, discover emerging talents and rediscover those already established on the art scene. As in the previous edition, the highlighted artists will also be featured in a publication.

The Fair has also launched ARCO Bloggers (www.arcobloggers.com), an online participatory publishing experiment conceived and coordinated by Roberta Bosco and Stefano Caldana, which offers a non-static way of looking at the contemporary art scene and its protagonists through the phenomenon and format of contemporary art blogs. The intention is to discover and analyse the new characteristics and dynamics of art information and criticism at a time of transition from analogue to digital media.

In line with this, as part of the discussion spaces, the ARCO Bloggers' Forum will be held, with the title “Contemporary art: online tools and strategies”, and the participation of Spain's leading contemporary art bloggers and international opinion creators with an outstanding online presence and activity.

More collectors and art professionals than in other editions Various ARCOmadrid initiatives are intended to encourage the presence at the Fair of the leading Spanish and international collectors and critics, which this year will be larger than ever. These initiatives include the International Collectors' Programme, which will invite 250 active collectors proposed by the participating galleries from all over the world, a higher number than in previous years.

ARCOmadrid has also invited directors and curators of museums in the USA to attend accompanied by two members of their acquisitions board; this means that more than 50 collectors and professionals from American contemporary art institutions will visit the Fair. Other special guests include directors of institutions, biennials and other international events.

All these programmes will make ARCOmadrid a meeting place for outstanding professionals in the international art scene. The Fair, in partnership with Acción Cultural Española AC/E and coordinated by Hablar en Arte, will offer the curators and other guests a special service focusing on encouraging the promotion and publicising of the contemporary Spanish art represented by different galleries at the Fair.

ARCOmadrid will also support people who are making their first forays into acquiring and appreciating contemporary art. The First Collectors programme, coordinated by Elisa Hernando, from the consultants Arte Global, will offer them advice on starting their collections and acquiring works at the Fair.

ARCO Foundation, supporting contemporary artTo incentivise collecting and support galleries and creators, the ARCO Foundation has also designed a number of actions which will take place all year long. Thus, for the next edition of ARCOmadrid, the Foundation will again arrange the ARCO Foundation Platform Luncheon, a meeting of collectors, experts and art lovers for the acquisition of a selection of works which will become part of the Foundation's collection.

Spaces at ARCOmadrid 2013Lounge areas and meeting spaces will also have a place at the Fair. The most notable space is always the VIP Lounge, which this year will be designed by Q:NO Arquitectos, winners of the 2nd Competition of Ideas for the Design of the ARCOmadrid VIP Lounge, held by the magazine Architectural Digest-AD and the Fair. There was also a special mention for the project presented by CPA Architects+, with a grant from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Also, for the second year in a row and after a resounding success last year, ARCOmadrid will offer ARCOkids, a space for the youngest visitors with workshops in partnership with the Fundación Pequeño Deseo to encourage the creativity of children aged 4 to 14.

Awards and CompetitionsARCOmadrid will again enjoy the sponsorship of the watchmakers Audemars Piguet, which will award a prize of 15,000 euros for the production of a work of art. The prize has gone to the project ‘Arules’ by Juan Luis Moraza, the artist suggested by the gallery Espacio Mínimo. The jury has rewarded the artistic excellence and daring, two qualities valued by the firm in its fine watchmaking creations. The piece produced by Moraza reflects the spirit of the brand and its slogan: “To break the rules, you must first master them”, and it will be exhibited in the Audemars Piguet space in the Fair's VIP Lounge.

Also, like every year, ARCOmadrid will be the setting for the presentation of many different awards recognising artistic creation, collecting and the work of young artists. For example, the “A” Awards for Collecting given by the Friends of ARCO Association, will recognize the Fundación Mapfre in the category of Corporate Collecting; the Elgiz Collection in International Collecting; Bilge & Haro Cumbusyan / Collectorspace, in Collecting Initiative; and the Pictura Collection in the category of Private Collecting. Other awards presented at the Fair will include the ARCO Comunidad de Madrid Prize, the Heineken-CA2M Award, the illy Sustain Art Prize and the ARCOmadrid/BEEP Electronic Art Award, among others.

Also, ARCOmadrid and the BlankPaper School have arranged a photography competition, open only to students of the school to select the three official photographers of the next edition.

Beyond the halls of ARCOmadridThere will be many exhibitions to see in Madrid this February, which will form part of the parallel programme of ARCOmadrid. Three important private collections will also be on show in the city at the same time: the Cisneros Collection at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía; the Cranford Collection at Fundación Banco Santander, and the Collection of the House of Alba, at CentroCentro. There are also some new exhibition spaces, such as the Fundación Telefónica and the magnificent solo exhibitions of Cristina Iglesias, Heimo Zobernig and Jiri Kovanda.

Alongside these exhibitions, visitors to Madrid encounter a city with an extremely wide range of leisure activities, which will be enriched in the days of the Fair with the AfterARCO programme, making the city an essential social hub in the month of February.