Córdoba, Argentina, December 12 — The Contemporary Art Market (MAC) concluded its 2025 edition at the Córdoba Convention Center with high attendance, an expanded program, and eleven awards that included the private sector for the first time. MAC solidified the city's status as a federal hub for visual arts and as a space that fosters collaborative initiatives, networks, and new art economies.
With thousands of visitors and a marked increase in artwork circulation, the 2025 MAC edition consolidated a fair that deepened its federal character this year, expanded its management models, and added new projects from across the country. Its ongoing development continues to professionalize the sector, promote the circulation of artworks, and lead to the emergence of fairs and projects in various provinces, reaffirming Córdoba's role as a connector of the national art scene.
The event was organized by the Secretariat of Neighborhood Strengthening, Culture, and Sports of the Municipality of Córdoba, along with the Córdoba Culture Agency, FARO, the Pro Arte Córdoba Foundation, the Provincial University of Córdoba, and the National University of Córdoba.
Over four days, the Córdoba Convention Center — the venue for this edition — hosted artists, galleries, publishers, collectives, and the general public in a free admission event that once again affirmed Córdoba's importance as a meeting point for contemporary visual production.
Throughout four days, thousands of people visited the exhibiting constellations — Crespo y Bonino, Myriam Stefford, Ediciones and Orbital — which replaced traditional sections and brought together established galleries, emerging projects, transdisciplinary practices, publishers, zines, and proposals for children and teenagers.
Their work, attentive to real economies and diverse forms of artwork circulation, has made them an essential reference for thinking about the current dynamics of the region's artistic field.
One of the key points of this edition was the expansion of the awards scheme: MAC granted eleven distinctions, the highest number since its inception, and incorporated the private sector for the first time.
Purchases by the Municipality of Córdoba and the Provincial Government will add new works to the collections of the Genaro Pérez Museum and the Emilio Caraffa Museum, while the Provincial Museum of Fine Arts Franklin Rawson will integrate contemporary pieces into its collection.
In the same spirit, the conversation "The Federal Art Scene TODAY" was held, featuring the presentation of the NODO Program by Meridiano and the participation of Mariana Robles, Gustavo Blázquez, Analía Solomonoff, Cecilia Pochat, Andrés Belfanti, Joaquín Barrera, Luis María Rojas, and Marti Soto.
Additionally, the presence of Mecenas Mercuriales —composed of Paclín, Econovo, the Córdoba Chamber of Metallurgy, and Nueva Trama— added acquisitions and incentives related to new materialities and contemporary crafts, reinforcing the participation of the private sector in the fair.
With a new space, an expanded program, a strengthened network of fairs across the country, and a marked increase in sales and attendance, MAC 2025 reaffirmed itself as a regional meeting point for contemporary visual arts.
A strong market performance was also recorded, with 274 artworks sold (a 38% increase from the previous year) and numerous transactions that continued after the fair's closure.
Galleries praised the quality of the edition and expressed a high level of satisfaction with the organization, the venue, and the artwork circulation conditions offered by MAC 2025.
The choice of the Córdoba Convention Center received special recognition from the galleries, which highlighted the quality of the space and compared it to venues used by international fairs, valuing its scale, comfort, and setup conditions.
Under the curation of Sofía Torres Kosiba and Manuel Coll, the edition was organized around the idea of the Mercurial, a concept that guided both the spatial distribution and the general spirit of the program, centered on mobility, adaptation, and the creation of new forms of management.
One of the year's highlights was the First Meeting of Argentine Contemporary Art Fairs and Markets, held as part of Orbital Encounters, which brought together representatives from different parts of the country to exchange experiences and advance joint work lines.
The federal presence was evident in the participation of projects from Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén, Misiones, and Santiago del Estero, along with the guest space from Brazil and the presence of initiatives from Agua de Oro, Alta Gracia, Mendiolaza, La Calera, and other localities in the province.
Preliminary data collected by the Fair's research area show an edition that renewed its map of participants: for 48% of the galleries, it was their first time at MAC, a clear indicator of the effort to include new voices, expand territories, and enable the arrival of emerging projects.
The challenges of local scenes and the importance of strengthening interprovincial networks and collaborative policies were addressed here.
In line with this, mediation actions, especially the MAC Imperdible tours, were once again a key tool to democratize access and bring contemporary production to diverse audiences, consistent with the fair's general free admission and its goal of strengthening citizen participation.
The 2025 edition also paid tribute to María Rocha, a leading figure in contemporary art throughout the country.
It also had the support of the Ministry of Cooperatives and Mutuals and the backing of the Banco de Córdoba.
The Arte21 – Siglo 21 University Collection Prize, the In Situ Prize, the Púrpura Proyecto Prize —which includes an annual scholarship for the El Oráculo training program—, and the Brandon Prize, voted by galleries and artists, were also awarded.
The altar created by Mantera Gallery recovered its trajectory, its commitment to independent scenes, and its way of accompanying artists and projects that understood art as a practice linked to the social.
