‘I say this often: Chicago is “big town, small town”,’ says EXPO Chicago president and director Tony Karman over Zoom. ‘The city offers the international impact and scope that anyone would want when they come and visit, while there’s a collaborative nature to our city that is unique. And we benefit greatly from those collaborations and alignments.’ Set to welcome a far-reaching coterie of collectors, curators, dealers and connoisseurs to its milestone 10th edition at Navy Pier, EXPO Chicago (13–16 April, 2023) reemerged from the Covid pandemic last year with a new slot in the international calendar – pivoting from autumn to spring – and with it a sense of renewal.
The fair’s core programming builds on its foundations, including the return of ‘IN/SITU’ and ‘IN/SITU Outside’, presenting large-scale sculpture, video, and site-specific installations in Festival Half and throughout the city’s public spaces; ‘/Dialogues’ panel series, bringing creative luminaries together in conversation; ‘Curatorial Forum’ and ‘Director Summit’, gathering curators and museum leaders to discuss pressing issues in their fields; and ‘OVERRIDE’, a curated display of artworks commandeering digital billboards and information panels in the city’s Central Business District. ‘I go backwards to go forwards. I’m mindful of what we started out to be: and that is a great international fair that serves the greater Midwest region,’ explains Karman.
