In memoriam: Mirta Demare
Buenos Aires 1947 – Rotterdam 2025
Her name encapsulates the sea, water, yes, "sparkling water"; that's how I would describe her in short. "Never a dull moment" with Mirta. The fearless architect from Argentina who ran one of Rotterdam's most progressive galleries, a space for contemporary art, with an exciting program based on her remarkable nose for undiscovered talent. Artists from Latin America, artists from the Netherlands, and artists from all over the world were given the opportunity to exhibit their work and develop and implement the craziest projects. She enjoyed it all. She loved people, young people, people with plans, and art. Nothing was too strange, too much, too difficult for her. A true YES person.
With her indomitable energy, she has realised numerous solo presentations, group exhibitions and in situ projects in Rotterdam between 2003 and 2016, in addition to a remarkable number of participations in national and international fairs, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Athens, Buenos Aires.
She sought collaborations, thrived on the idea of sharing, and if her ventures didn't turn out perfectly, it didn't matter; she embarked on new adventures with equal enthusiasm. And as a collector friend wrote:
'I remember her as a very erudite and committed person who was a real bridge builder between the continents of South America and Europe.'
Administration didn't capture her interest, despite the sheer number of projects she was involved with. Unfortunately, no well-documented archive remains, no book about "Mirta Demare – Space for Contemporary Art," or a well-maintained website.
But Mirta wasn't preoccupied with her legacy either. She lived life to the fullest, squared, in the moment, without demanding space for herself. She gave space to others.
I think many hearts will glow with the warm memory of her great zest for life and her deep commitment to others. A wonderful person!
Maria Iconomopoulou
Rotterdam, September 10, 2025
Mirta Demare left us on the opening day of Latin America's most prominent exhibition, the São Paulo Biennial… precisely in an edition of the show that features the largest number of foreign artists, compared to, let's say, local artists. I offer this brief introduction because it reflects Mirta's efforts in her 'cultural activism', in expanding the reach and visibility of a significant group of Latin American visual artists in cultural spaces in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands.
With enormous energy and resilience, forged by her strong past as a political activist in Latin America, she dedicated much of her life to the movement of disseminating the thoughts and artwork of artists from that region on European soil. This has had and still has a significant impact on their creative processes. The interesting collection Mirta Demare built over the years, formed from her acumen as a curator, will continue to resonate with these voices and continue to underscore her remarkable presence in the field of art.
We worked together for the first time in 2003 in Rotterdam, on a project organized by Mirta Demare and curated by Daniela Labra: GearInside. It presented, within the context of this Dutch city – that is, within a foreign urban spatial structure – the work of seven Brazilian artists engaged in processes of social and political discussion. It was challenging to conceive and produce an action 'connecting' cities as disparate as Rotterdam and São Paulo, but the results seem to reveal Mirta's main purpose in her numerous projects: to organize and promote a genuine 'cultural friction' between distinct sociopolitical realities. A proposal that positions her as one of the pioneers of a debate that intensified decades later in the art world.
Rubens Mano,
São Paulo, September 2025