LOOP Fair 2025: Your Complete Visitor Guide

Access one of the planet's foremost art fairs in its iconic setting. Get the essentials for LOOP Fair 2025 — exact dates at Almanac Barcelona, purchasing options for tickets, featured exhibitors and artists, plus pro tips on hotels, restaurants, and affiliated art events.

LOOP Fair 2025, a key event within the larger Loop Barcelona framework, is a curated platform for artists' films and videos. It's a key part of the Loop Festival, which takes place in Barcelona during November, and features a selection of films, videos, and installations presented in collaboration with the city's cultural institutions. The 2025 edition is themed "Miratges Mirages," exploring the relationship between moving images, imagination, perception, and the connection between bodies, landscapes, and art.

✈️ From Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN):

• Aerobús A1:
• → Stop: Plaça Catalunya (25 mins, €6.75).
• Then: Metro L1 (red line) to Glòries (6 mins) → 5-min walk southeast.
• Taxi: Fixed fare €39 (includes luggage/bag fee) → 30 mins via B-10 highway.
• Train (R2 Nord):
• → Stop: Passeig de Gràcia (22 mins, €4.60) → Metro L1 to Glòries (4 mins).

🚆 From Sants Estació (Main Train Station):

• Metro L3 (green line) → Diagonal → Transfer to L4 (yellow line) → Glòries (15 mins total).
• Walk: Exit Glòries → Head left on Av. Diagonal → Turn right at Carrer de Padilla.

♿ Accessibility:

• Metro: Glòries (L1) has elevators + tactile guides.
• Almanac Hotel: Ramp entrance, wheelchair-adapted rooms, and staff trained in mobility assistance.

Born in 2003 in a single Raval cinema, LOOP challenged art fairs’ object obsession by declaring: "Time is the medium!" ⏳ Key revolutions:

• 2007: First fair dedicated solely to video art galleries—dubbed "commercial suicide" (until Pipilotti Rist sold a €150k piece!).
• 2012: Radical Inclusion: Invited guerrilla filmmakers from Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
• 2015: Partnered with Google Arts & Culture for digital preservation.
• 2020: Pandemic Pivot: Launched drive-in screenings at Montjuïc.
• 2023: Landmark Edition: 85k+ visitors; South African artist Marlene Dumas debuted her AI diary film.
• 2025: Venue Leap: Moves to Casa Fuster—symbolizing video art’s "mainstream" arrival.

LOOP’s manifesto: "Slowness as Resistance" 🐢. In a world of 8-second TikTok clips, it champions:
🎥 Deep Looking

• No Fast-Forward Policy: All works shown in full duration (even 12-hour pieces!).
• Meditation Corners: Zen pods for post-screening reflection.
• "Anti-Biennale" Pace: Max 20 artworks per venue → no fatigue.

🌍 Eco-Conscious Creation

• Carbon-Neutral Fair: Solar-powered projectors + carbon-offset travel.
• Recycled Media: 90% of hardware repurposed from e-waste.
• Green Grants: €10k for artists using salvaged tech (e.g., Kenyan collective Wanuri Kahiu).

💸 Market Disruption

• Artist-First Sales: 70% revenue goes directly to creators.
• "Video Art Market": Works €500–€20k—accessible to new collectors.
• No VIP Rooms: Collectors mingle with students in screening lounges.

✊ Invisible Voices

• Asylum-Seeker Films: Annual program with Barcelona Refugee Aid.
• Queer Time Archive: Preserving LGBTQ+ oral histories through film.
• Pay-What-You-Can talks for unemployed artists.