This July, an event of rare importance to serious collectors will take place — not in Paris, London, or Hong Kong, but in a city few would expect. From July 26 to 28, an exclusive gathering of international collectors, collection advisors, and institutional representatives will meet for the Collectors’ Exchange Forum, a confidential, closed-door event that offers direct access to market-shaping individuals and objects.
Unlike public art fairs or trade shows, this forum is not designed for spectacle. It is designed for strategic discussion, research sharing, and discreet opportunity. And this year, for the first time, it’s being held in your city.
What Is the Collectors’ Exchange Forum?
The Forum is a non-public event organized annually by an international committee of private collectors and advisors. Its purpose is threefold:
- To present previously unseen works before they enter the market or institutional holdings.
- To facilitate direct dialogue between collectors, curators, and researchers.
- To exchange information on provenance, attribution, and acquisition strategy in a controlled, confidential setting.
Participation is limited to 120 individuals globally, with attendance by nomination only. The event is hosted in a different city each year, with location details kept confidential until just weeks before opening.
What Will Be Shown This Year
While no public catalogue is issued, confirmed private briefings indicate the following objects will be presented for discussion or discreet offer:
- An unsigned early Netherlandish panel, possibly from the workshop of Rogier van der Weyden, unpublished and unexhibited.
- A full set of early Edo-period Japanese Namban screens, held in private European hands since the 1890s.
- Photographic negatives from the first French archaeological expedition to Angkor Wat (1866) — never printed or digitized.
- An original textile study attributed to Sonia Delaunay, found in the estate of a Ukrainian émigré collector in Marseille.
- A series of correspondence between Gertrude Stein and an unnamed collector in Lisbon, 1934–1943.
All objects are privately owned, accompanied by provenance dossiers, and presented for scholarly review and/or potential transfer.
Who Will Be There
Participants include senior figures from major private collections and institutions, including:
- Directors of acquisition programs from museums in Geneva, Berlin, and Doha
- Trustees of family foundations managing art, manuscripts, and rare scientific instruments
- Independent collectors with holdings in Old Masters, Islamic calligraphy, modern Latin American abstraction, and early photography
- Legal and provenance advisors for private equity art portfolios
- Curators and researchers from Europe, North Africa, and Southeast Asia
Several institutions are also sending acquisition teams to review items for possible future inclusion in permanent collections or research collaborations.
How to Participate
While the Forum is not open to the general public, a small number of regional invitations are issued each year. To be eligible, one must:
- Have an active private collection or manage a documented acquisition fund
- Demonstrate interest in scholarly collaboration, long-term strategy, or cultural stewardship
- Submit a statement of interest and CV by July 20, to the regional liaison at the Bellgrave Institute
Successful applicants will be contacted directly by the organizing committee and granted access to the full program, including private sessions, object presentations, and closed archival previews.
Why It Matters
This is not an auction preview, gallery fair, or public symposium. The Forum is designed for people who are building collections with intent — not for exposure, but for permanence. In a time of market volatility, shifting institutional policies, and increasing scrutiny over provenance, serious collectors are reassessing everything:
- What should be collected in the next 20 years?
- How can research and acquisition be better aligned?
- Which private holdings have long-term historical value — and which are already losing relevance?
- Where are the blind spots in the current market, and who’s already moving to fill them?
The Forum doesn’t answer these questions with panels or press releases — it puts the people asking them in the same room, with real works, and opens the floor.
Why This City?
Hosting the Forum in your city reflects a strategic shift: key voices in collecting are no longer bound to traditional market centers. New regions are emerging as hubs of research, collecting, and cultural investment — and this year’s location was selected for its growing role in that transformation.
For regional collectors, the opportunity is simple but rare: meet the people who influence the market before it moves. Learn what’s changing, where attention is shifting, and how global institutions are positioning themselves.
You don’t have to travel to Basel, London, or New York. This time, the conversation is coming to you.
What Happens After the Forum?
Most of the works presented will not be seen publicly again — at least not for several years. If placed in institutions, they may appear in future exhibitions without mention of their private provenance. If acquired by collectors, they may enter long-term holdings without publication.
What’s more important is what leaves with the participants:
- Access to new research
- Privileged information about upcoming sales and rediscoveries
- Private introductions and long-term collaboration agreements
- Direct acquisition of museum-quality works with full documentation
Conclusion
The 2025 Collectors’ Exchange Forum will take place for three days. There will be no press, no photographs, and no post-event summaries. Only objects, conversations, and decisions.
If you’ve ever wondered how serious collecting is actually done — not in theory, but in practice — this is your chance to find out.
The next opportunity to meet top collectors is real. It’s happening. And it’s happening here.
The question is:
Will you be in the room?
