Originally scheduled to run from 9-12 September, the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) has canceled it’s 61st edition due to concerns about a resurgence of the Covid-19 virus and its Delta variant. The event, considered one of the world’s premier antiquarian book fairs, was going to take place at the Park Avenue Armory and was expecting to host nearly 150 exhibitors from around the world.
“We, like you, are disappointed that the fair cannot go on, but for everyone’s safety—our exhibitors, staff and public—we have made the difficult decision to cancel,” said Sanford Smith, who produces the fair, in a statement. Citing both the surge in Covid-19 cases in the city and the US government’s extended pandemic-related travel bans, which “made it difficult, if not impossible, for over half of the exhibitors” to travel to New York to take part in the fair, Smith said: “This decision was not made lightly.”
The fair, which normally takes place in the spring, was part of a slate of events in New York due to open in early September, as the US art industry restarts its business. The fall schedule includes the flagship Armory Show, taking place at New York’s Javitz Center, which is still on as of this writing. Both of Tefaf’s New York fairs, also held at the Park Avenue Armory, have been scraped for the past two years and it will not return to the US until May 2022. Other US fairs, such as the Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, which ran from 29 July to 1 August, have stayed the course.
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