From March 25 to 29, the Metropolitan Santiago will host a new edition of the Chilean International Contemporary Art Fair (Ch.ACO), which will celebrate its 16th anniversary in 2026. For this edition, the organizers have released the list of participants and international guests, along with the fair’s floor plan and details on the foreign museums coming to the country to acquire artworks, thereby strengthening the global circulation of art produced in Chile.
The event will bring together more than 250 artists, museum directors, collectors, and representatives from the cultural sector from 16 countries, who will participate in a program featuring talks, performances, professional networking sessions, and curatorial tours. In addition, there will be an expanded range of spaces and experiences—such as food courts, a lounge, and activities for various audiences—that reinforce the event’s open and dynamic nature.
Notable among the guests are curators and representatives from major institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), who will travel to Santiago to view the works presented by the galleries at the fair and evaluate potential acquisitions for their institutional collections.
Elodie Fulton, founder and director of Ch.ACO, said: “Being 16 is no small matter. We can talk about art, music, fashion, and much more. Chile deserves to have this kind of event, just as the world’s leading countries do. Therefore, we aren’t inventing anything new, but rather bringing our standards in line with international ones and demonstrating that the art in this country is of a quality that merits international attention.”
A window to the world from Chile
Given its international scope, this event helps position Chile as a country that recognizes culture as a strategic asset in its global outreach. In this vein, Marca Chile promotes initiatives such as Chile Territorio Cultural, a platform that highlights the national cultural calendar and promotes access to these types of experiences for both local audiences and visitors to the country.
In this regard, Víctor Palma, Director of Strategic Alliances at Marca Chile, stated: “Chile has historically been a land of culture, as evidenced by its worldwide recognition. In this context, the Ch.ACO Fair, with its long history, reinforces the idea that the country is at the forefront of the arts, has the ability to attract the attention of the sector’s key players, and, at the same time, boost the careers of various artists by establishing itself as a showcase.”
For his part, this year’s featured artist, Camilo Huinca (Onlyjoke), said: “Venues like Ch.ACO allow contemporary art to come together, circulate, and connect with new audiences. Furthermore, the presence of international curators and museums at the fair opens up very concrete opportunities for the work of artists presented through the galleries to reach collections and circuits outside of Chile.”
