TEFAF Maastricht 2025: Programming and Events

February 4, 2025 – The 38th edition of TEFAF Maastricht, running from March 15-20, 2025, offers an outstanding lineup of talks and events. Highlights include the second annual TEFAF Summit, a special museum exhibition from KMSKA (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp), TEFAF Talks, TEFAF Meet the Experts, and the Art Business Conference (ABC). Attendees will engage with global thought leaders from top cultural institutions in an enriching and immersive experience.

TEFAF SUMMIT – Reimagining Philanthropy: New Models for Private Funding in the Arts

The second annual TEFAF Summit takes place on March 17, in association with the Netherlands Commission for UNESCO, AXA XL and partner organizations including Deloitte and ICOM Belgium Flanders. The 2025 edition will delve into the challenges posed by declining public funding in recent years, exploring how philanthropy and innovative models of private funding can support the non-profit fine arts sector in Europe. Key discussions will focus on the vital role of private funding in sustaining institutions and museums, as well as the transformative potential of philanthropic partnerships for non-profits, communities, and artists alike. Additionally, conversations will address how blending private and public funding sources can amplify impact and foster deeper collaboration across the sector. Notable speakers at the Summit are Kathleen Ferrier (Netherlands Commission for UNESCO), Adama Sanneh (Moleskine Foundation), Jenny Waldman (Art Fund), Wim Pijbes (Stichting Droom en Daad), and Barbera Wolfensberger (Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science) and Leslie Ramos (author of ‘Philanthropy in the Arts: A Game of Give and Take’) among others.

Discussions include:

• Why Should Funders Invest in the Arts?
• Funding the Public Space: How do Museums Blend Public and Private Funding
• Funding the Future: Building Trust and Collaboration
• Private Funding for Public Good
• Creating Stronger Synergies Between Private and Public Funding for Culture

LOAN EXHIBITION – KMSKA, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
A special loan exhibition from KMSKA spotlights Belgian Modernist pioneers James Ensor, Rik Wouters, and Jules Schmalzigaug. As the world's largest repository of their works, KMSKA also presents insights from the Ensor Research Project in collaboration with the University of Antwerp.

TEFAF TALKS
A dynamic series of interactive panel discussions on key art, antiques, and design topics, including:

Multigenerational Collecting: Carrying on the Legacy of the Kremer Collection Through Virtual Reality (March 14, 1-2 PM)
George and Joël Kremer discuss the future of their collection and family-led collecting. The panel features George Kremer (The Kremer Collection) and Joël Kremer (Moyosa). Moderated by Frances Erb (AXA XL).

A Life in Ceramics: Artist and Author Edmund de Waal in Conversation (March 14, 3-4 PM) March 14, 3-4 PM)
Josh Spero (Financial Times) explores the influence of history, heritage, and poetry in Edmund de Waal’s work.

Contemporary Connoisseurship: Reframing Art History’s Narrative (March 14, 5-6 PM)
Aimee Ng (Frick Collection) and Emilie Gordenker (Van Gogh Museum) discuss shifting connoisseurship. Moderated by Margaret Carrigan (artnet).

Conversations on Conservation: The Timeless Craftsmanship of Manuscripts (March 15, 1-2 PM)
A rare behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming restoration of "Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry", the most significant illustrated manuscript of the 15th century.
With Mathieu Deldicque (Château de Chantilly), Coralie Barbe (Château de Chantilly), and Dr. Patricia Engel. Moderated by Kate Seymour (ICOM-CC). This Talk is powered by AON.

Preserving Heritage Through Weaving and Textile Arts (March 15, 5-6 PM)
Nathalie Paarlberg, COO of international NGO Turquoise Mountain, and artist Enam Gbewonyo, represented by TEFAF exhibitor TAFETA, will explore the enduring impact of textile traditions on community wellbeing and the profound connections between art, heritage, and humanity. Moderated by Sanne Letschert (Cultural Emergency Response)

Past Meets Present: Placemaking in Interior Design Today (March 16, 1-2 PM)
Panelists Michael Diaz (Design Leadership Network), Soo Jeong Lee (Rosewood Hotel Group), and designer Francis Sultana discuss creating spaces connected to local history and culture.

Archives, Museums, and the Key to Unlocking the Past (March 16, 3-4 PM)
Apollo Magazine’s Edward Behrens discusses how archives reshape public access to art history, with Andrea Bacchi (Fondazione Federico Zeri), Matti Watton (Victoria & Albert Museum), and Julia Maciarai-Alexander (Samuel H. Kress Foundation).

TEFAF MEET THE EXPERTS
Engaging conversations with leading exhibitors on culturally and historically significant pieces. 2025 participants include:

• Amir Mohtashemi
• Bernard de Grunne
• Charles Beddington Ltd
• Christopher Bishop Fine Art
• Friedman Benda
• Margot McKinney
• Galerie Nicolas Fournery
• Galerie Pauline Pavec
  

THE ART BUSINESS CONFERENCE (March 14)
Held annually in London, New York, and TEFAF Maastricht, the Art Business Conference brings together museum directors, advisors, galleries, and collectors for peer-to-peer discussions on the art market today.

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ABOUT TEFAF

TEFAF is a not-for-profit foundation that champions expertise, excellence, and diversit-0uuhhggvvfry in the global art community. This is evidenced by the exhibitors selected for its two fairs, which occur annually in Maastricht and New York. TEFAF is an expert guide for private and institutional collectors, inspiring art lovers and buyers everywhere.

ABOUT TEFAF MAASTRICHT

TEFAF Maastricht is widely regarded as the world’s premier fair for fine art, antiques, and design, covering 7,000 years of art history, from ancient to contemporary. Featuring over 270 prestigious dealers from some 22 countries, TEFAF Maastricht is a showcase for the finest artworks currently on the market. Alongside the traditional areas of Old Master paintings, antiques, and classical antiquities that cover approximately half of the fair, you can also find modern and contemporary art, photography, jewelry, 20th-century design, and works on paper.

ABOUT AXA XL

AXA XL Insurance is the P&C (Property & Casualty) and specialty risk division of AXA, known for solving even the most complex risks. AXA XL offers traditional and innovative insurance solutions and services in over 200 countries and territories.

As part of its specialty risk offering, AXA XL protects a range of objects, including fine art, antiquities, antiques, jewelry, watches, classic cars, raw and polished gemstones, and bullion, from thousands of years to weeks old.

Over the past 50 years and well into the future, AXA XL, a leading global insurer of fine art and specie, has and will continue to redefine how it serves and services its collector, museum, corporate, gallery, conservator, and artist clients across Europe, the UK, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific region, with a sincere consideration for the way valuable objects are insured and cultural patrimony is protected.

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PRESS CONTACTS

GLOBAL

Head of Communications
Magda Grigorian | [email protected]

PR Coordinator
Mirthe Sportel | [email protected]

BELGIUM / LUXEMBOURG
Charlotte De Bruijn | [email protected]

FRANCE / MONACO / SWITZERLAND
Gaëlle de Bernède | [email protected]

GERMANY / AUSTRIA / SWITZERLAND
Britta Fischer | [email protected]

ITALY
Roberta Barbaro | [email protected]

NETHERLANDS
Noepy Testa | [email protected]
Heidi Vandamme | [email protected]

SPAIN
Julián Hernández Miranda | [email protected]
Héctor San José | [email protected]

UK
Cultural Communications | [email protected]

USA
Sharp Think | [email protected]