Why you too should consider running your own fair

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

The second edition of Prente Art Market is almost upon us after a year of organising. For those who have missed me yapping about it over and over again, Prente is happening again on 17th of August in Knokke-Heist. It feels weird to say that it's only the second time as it feels like I have been doing this for 5 years. Maybe it feels that way because it can be very taxing, nerve-racking and thankless job. So why would I am I egging you on to run your own fair? When you look at the core of an illustration fair, you only really need 3 things: a venue, tables and artists. If you have all of those, you have a fair. Pretty easy you would think. In actuality though there a lot of things to consider if you want to draw in artists and visitors a like so both parties have a great time. Now you are thinking of visibility, creating a nice vibe, hang out spots, workshops, talks while having it all run smoothly. All of the sudden the organisation takes a lot of effort and a lot of money potentially. Today I'm not going to deep dive on how to organise a fair but rather why.

Like a lot of small fairs, Prente is run completely on a voluntary basis, meaning I earn absolutely ZERO from putting in months and months of work. As a attendee or as a visitor you might pay a participation fee or an entry fee, but all of that goes back into renting materials, paying for the venue, marktening, workshops, etc. At the end of the fair there is nothing left. And yet even though I did not know this last year, organising Prente was the best decision I have made for my career.

This years poster for Prente

Develop your invisible skills

As artists we are so focused on developing our drawing abilities, composition skills, colour sense, etc. that we don't really think about anything else. Organising Prente highlighted the importance to me of developing what I call invisible skills. These skills won't directly improve your art but will help you in growing your career. As the main organisor I now had to learn how to manage a team. I had to follow up and make sure everything was being taken care of. Which was definitely not the case the first time around, mistakes were made. But that too can be usefull as you learn to be flexible and problem solve on the spot.

Besides the people I worked with I also had to be in contact with vendors, journalists, state officials, artists, ... the list goes on and on. Each group of people required different things. While I approached artists in a more informal way, this was definitely different with state officials and journalists where I had to use more corporate speak. I was improving my soft, writing and managerial skills. This is something that can't be taught and is something you can only learn by doing. These are invaluable skills if you ever want to be an art director where managing people is a big chunk of the job.

As I had to contact a lot of people it also gave me a lot of networking opportunities. Prente has for me in fact led to long-term professional relationships, collaborations and job opportunities. I might not get paid for my work I put in running the fair but it has open doors for me professionally.

A chance for personal growth

Overview shot of the first ever Prente Market

Besides the invisble skills, at the end of the day I could say I successfully organised a fair. This was a personal victory and something to be proud of. It was a beautiful day, people had fun, so job well done. Being made to feel good about your accomplishments is no small feat as we live in a society where social comparison is always on display.

Also I found that I became a bit less shy. Since I'm a naturally shy person, more often than not I don't know what to say when I meet new people and I fumble my words all the time. Needless to say, I like to stay in the background as much as possible. As an illustrator who's starting out though, this isn't a great thing. Ideally you want your work to be seen but also want to be remembered so you can create more visibility for yourself. Prente made it possible for me to step out of my comfort zone. It almost felt like my silly little fair was holding my hand as I now had an opener to go talk to people. It was an easy way in as I had an opportunity to offer to artists. People would now come up to me and introduce themselves. I had nowhere to hide anymore and got naturally drawn out of my oh-so-comfortable shell.

It just feels good

Group picture of Prente 2023

Doing a second round of Prente meant that my fair was no longer a fleeting thing anymore. Prente had created value for the illustration community and by extention I did as well. This was mainly because when I did the fair for the first time I reached out to artists personally through Instagram since nobody knew of the fair existed. By sheer luck I reached a lot of artists who had never done a fair before. Getting that first time opportunity to showcase and sell their work opened a whole new world for them. Just like what the Zine Happening in Ghent did for me the year before, Prente got to do that for other people. As a result a new influx of artists participated in Belgian illustration scene. Knowing I got to do that for people feels good. This only broadens and strengthens your sense of community. I hope this might inspire some of you to organise your own fair. If you do and you need a little shout out or some help, feel free to contact me on Instagram or send me an email. I can only recommend this wild adventure!

Two Quick little shout out before I sign off: If you want to hear me talk more about Prente; you can also listen to the podcast OorTUIG run by Jens Dawn from TUIG. The podcast features many great artists and is full of wisdom on illustration and art! Go give them a listen and some love!

Thank you Delphine fore organising Prente with me for the second time around. I appreciate you more than you know.

Hope to see all of you on the 17th of August,

C.