There is of course the small matter of the price ! Why do we mortals, who are not in a position to purchase such pieces, flock to BRAFA ? In short, we enjoy looking at the art close up and personal. Art, jewellery and furniture, in a variety of styles and from all periods, are on display at BRAFA. There is something for everyone’s taste to admire. I found a picture of the Flower Breughel, which I was convinced had decorated my teenage room as a framed poster. The painting was indeed the genuine article, painted by Jan Breughel the Elder ! I nearly tried on the Art Deco Cartier diamond tiara I saw. All pieces are sold by private galleries, which come to BRAFA from many countries.

If you want to see how paintings or other artefacts are restored, you can find experts who show you how it’s done. Should you get peckish, champagne bars and eateries are scattered around the venue.

BRAFA celebrated its 70th edition this year. Fiona Joyce, our Vice-President responsible for events, took the opportunity to organise a guided visit for us. It was her swan song, as it were, as she is unfortunately leaving this role soon.

We were two groups of 10 people. Each group was assigned an “Ambassador” to guide us through the exhibitions. Barbara de Muyser Lankwyck and Eric Hemleers are no ordinary guides, but experts with long time professional experience in and around the arts. OurAmbassadors made the exhibitions’ overwhelming offer of art accessible to us by choosing pieces they knew about or were especially attached to.

In my group Eric Hemleers showed us around the entire fair, explaining to us how to navigate the exhibition when we would browse later. He talked about Joana Vasconcelos, the Portugese artist who is this year’s BRAFA Guest of Honour. Her enormous crocheted works dominated the cross roads in the exhibition. Eric Hemleers focussed on Belgian artists, but these were not the Delvaux, Ensor and Magritte, but he focussed on other, lesser-known artists. He had a family connection to one of them. Eric Hemleers passed by a huge piece by the new Princess Delphine uncommented. Did he not appreciate her art ? And he did take us to a gallery with artefacts from the former Belgian colony, the Congo, though, not without remarking on the ethical questions relating to selling indigenous art.

After one and a half hours of these fascinating explanations, we were ready for our walking lunch on one of the balustrades of the exhibition hall. We welcomed the break and enjoyed the excellent food and wine served by the very helpful waiters. We had the opportunity to chat about our impressions, get to know those in our group we had not met before and just talk. Many of us took the opportunity to continue wandering around the exhibition by ourselves before heading home with many new impressions and the massive exhibition catalogue which was part of the deal Fiona had organised for us.

Gudrun Schmidt
German Group