‘We Are Angry, We Are Tired’: South African Dealers Have Their Miami Art Week Plans Thrown Into Disarray Amid New Omicron Restrictions
Some are condemning the sudden bans as rash and illogical.
Dealers from galleries in South Africa found their plans to travel to the last big art event of the year botched amid a sudden travel ban as fear spreads over the new Covid-19 variant known as Omicron. Art Basel Miami Beach is set to open tomorrow with safety regulations in place, including face masks and proof of a vaccination, but many dealers from Africa, where the variant was first detected, now won’t be present.
“I was in New York visiting family, and read a short headline about the Omicron variant and went to sleep. I woke up the next day and all hell had broken loose,” said Joost Bosland, a partner at the South Africa gallery Stevenson.