METZ.-Art.Metz opens today, less than half an hour from Luxembourg and Germany. This constantly evolving fair is indeed in the heart of the Greater Region that includes Lorraine, Luxembourg, a part of Belgium and of Germany. This large basin straddles various borders and includes 11 million residents. With its large museums and dynamic population the region is involved with all the fields of interest regarding economic, cultural, tourist and social development.

Art.Metz is the art fair of this Greater Region and as such must be a symbol of creativity and openness. The authorities of the different border countries are all involved, proving the extent of their support. The Ministry of culture of Luxemburg supports art.metz. The Institute of the Greater Region is a partner of this event and its president, Belgian minister Charles Ferdinand Nothomb, agreed to be honour president of this 9th edition. Germany, with the city of Sarrebruck, contributes to the communication on this event in a very significant manner.

Following a restructuring and renovation of the Exhibition Park in Metz that made it more welcoming and friendly, art.metz is enlarging and now offers two exhibition spaces. One is dedicated to artists, the other to galleries with a declared orientation. This gallery space is the corner stone of art.metz 2009. The participating gallery owners will form an «experimental group» to be a reference for the future. They will thus influence the future editions by playing the part of partners for the organizers. The set up of this last space is more like that of a museum. It will present in particular monumental works by artists represented by the galleries or artists recommended by the advisers to the event. This evolution is very much in line with the objective of art.metz that is to satisfy a public of art amateurs and collectors and to help the public at large buy artwork with as much clarity and ease as possible.

At art.metz, all artists and gallery owners present will function as links between the public and art, real mediators that enter a dialogue with the public, by explaining and describing the techniques used. A selection committee chooses the artists to be presented based on criteria of diversity and cultural interest. The aim is not to judge the quality of the works but rather to ensure no forms of expression are excluded. Among the various movements, free representation, abstraction, expressionism and urban art are side by side. The same applies for the techniques: there are paintings, drawings, photos and sculptures, in turn broken down to oil paintings, gouaches, pastels, bronzes, stone, wood... It is impossible to reduce the nearly 160 exhibitors to one sole reading. The interest of a fair is precisely the diversity of the styles and works it presents. Surely, art.metz will not be an exception to this demand.