The prestigious Biennale des Antiquaires will now be held annually in Paris after members of the Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA, the French association of antiques dealers) voted for the move. The SNA runs the historic jewellery, art and antiques fair, held at the Grand Palais, which launched in 1962 as a biennial event.
SNA members voted on 29 June to switch to an annual slot. “Two-thirds [of members’ votes] were required to pass the proposal,” says an SNA spokeswoman —and with 67% of members voting in favour, it only just passed. “This allows us to be on the same level as the London fairs and Tefaf [The European Fine Art Fair] Maastricht,” the president of the SNA, Dominique Chevalier, told the French website Le Quotidien de l’Art.
The 28th edition of the biennial fair is scheduled to open in September 2016, with Henri Loyrette, the former president of the Louvre, at the helm.
Christian Deydier, the former president of the SNA, said last year that a rift among members about the frequency of the Biennale des Antiquaires prompted his dismissal from the organisation last summer.
“There is a power struggle [in the SNA] between two groups: one that wants the biennial to take place annually and another that wants it to stay as a biennial event,” Deydier told The Art Newspaper. The SNA spokeswoman said that the name of the fair would not be changing for now.