SAN JUAN, P.R.-CIRCA Puerto Rico ’08, the first international art fair in the Caribbean and Central America, will be held from April 11 – April 14, 2008 at the new Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, and will feature 42 commercial galleries from Puerto Rico, Latin America, the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

Participating Galleries: 356 (Puerto Rico), Air de Paris (Paris), Altamira (Gij�n), Artspace Witzenhausen (Amsterdam), Blow de la Barra (London), Botello (Puerto Rico), Breenspace (Sydney), brot.undspiele (Berlin), Spencer Brownstone (New York), Adora Calvo (Salamanca), Casas Riegner (Bogota), Marta Cervera (Madrid), Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin), Carmen Correa Contempor�neo (Puerto Rico), DEAN PROJECT (New York), Espacio L�quido (Gij�n), Henrique Faria Fine Art (New York), Gavlak (West Palm Beach), Alfredo Ginocchio Arte Internacional (Mexico DF), Moti Hasson (New York), Hardcore Art Contemporany Space (Miami), Caprice Horn (Berlin), Jacob Karpio (San Jos�, CR), Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts (Miami), Federico Luger (Milan), Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art (Toronto), Museum 52 (London), Pan American Art Projects (Miami), Raquel Ponce (Madrid), Walter Otero (Puerto Rico), Point of View (New York), PM Gallery (Toronto), Fernando Pradilla (Madrid), Primer Piso (Puerto Rico), Lyle O. Reitzel (Santo Domingo), Samson Projects (Boston), Sch�bbe Project (D�sseldorf), Space Other (Boston), Spielhaus & Morrison (Berlin), Spinello Gallery (Miami), Vane (UK), and Voges + Partner (Frankfurt).

CIRCA PR ’08 will once again bring the best of Contemporary art to a local and international audience of collectors. It is the only art fair of its kind in the Caribbean and Central America, where an important group of collectors has emerged in the past few years. In just two years, CIRCA PR has shown its potential to give new visibility to the Caribbean art world where an exciting mix of regional artists, gallerists, institutions, and collectors, together with a selection of international galleries, offer a very personal and dynamic art fair.

Size does matter - Far from the madding crowds and the gigantism of most of the art fairs, at CIRCA PR we are convinced that an art fair should be small, intimate, and intellectually challenging. CIRCA will continue with its humane scale in a friendly and sunny setting, allowing gallerists, collectors and other art professionals to interact on a more personal, one-to-one basis.

Curated exbitions at CIRCA ’08 and around Puerto Rico - For the section In the Spot, two guest curators –among which Michel Blancsub�- will put together a revolutionary concept-based exhibition from works exhibited at the fair; at the end of the day the curator will engage in a critical dialogue with the audience. Besides turning CIRCA PR into a practical curatorial platform, the panel organized by the Escuela de Artes Pl�sticas “Curator’s (on the) Move”, dealing with the changing curator’s paradigm. Chaired by art critic Hayd�e Venegas, with the participation of curator Michel Blancsub�, curator from the private collection JUMEX, Mexico D.F.; “guerrilla” curator Lara Pan from the New Art Project, Paris; gallery curator -and former curator from Artspace, Melbourne-, Sally Breen from Breenspace, Sydney; and “art fair curator” Paco Barrag�n, artistic director CIRCA PR. It will reflect on changing context of curatorial practice and new opportunities and spaces for curators. Also, CIRCA will host a challenging complementary programme of openings a.o. at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR), and at Espacio 1414, the private exhibition space of the Berezdivin Collection.

Chambres des Collecteurs and Collector’s Programme - In response to the bourgeoning and dynamic artistic community, an important group of private collectors has emerged in Puerto Rico. In cooperation with these collectors and in hommage to Jan Hoet’s Chambres d’Amis (1986), the section “Chambres des Collecteurs” offers during CIRCA a unique possibility of visiting private collections.

An interesting and edgy collector’s programme will offer visits to private collector’s houses, artists’ studios, gallery walk, museum openings, and parties in order to make Puerto Rico the ultimate experience for the visiting collector and art lover, while enjoying the unique scene of Old San Juan and the incredible reggeat�n parties.