What If Art Toys Could Talk? An Imaginary Conversation About the Objects We Collect.
“Wait… You’ve really reached 250 ArT Toy Newsletters?”
“Yep. Number 250.”
“And
when did you start?”
“We sent a few in January 2025. The first issue in the regular series went out on 18 March.”
“And you’ve kept going since then?”
“Three times a week.”
“Three?”
“Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.”
“That’s a lot of emails.”
“It is. Luckily, ArT Toys keep turning up in places you wouldn’t expect.”
“Like where?”
“Newspapers. Magazines. Newsletters we follow. Exhibitions. Conversations. Things artists tell us. Things we read and can’t stop thinking about.”
“And then you turn them into an email?”
“We look for the connection. We bring what we’ve seen, read and learned back to the ArT Toy Movement, and find a subject worth sharing with you.”
“How long does it take to read?”
“About three minutes.”
“Three minutes to talk about toys?”
“Three minutes to look at collecting, artists, brands, galleries, shops, curators, exhibitions, and the ideas moving around them.”
“So it’s for collectors?”
“If you collect, it’s for you. If you make, show, sell, write about or simply love art, you’re welcome too.”
“And who writes them?”
“We do. Sergio and Cristina.”
“Just the two of you?”
“Here, day to day. But Art Toy Gama began in 2014 as a collective co-founded by five people: Cristina, Sergio and Judas Arrieta in Spain; Iván of Artefacto in Colombia; and Antu of El Arte del Juguete in Chile.”
“So it was never just a two-person story.”
“Exactly. We keep learning and working together, sharing our days with artists, brands and friends around the world.”
“Where are you having this conversation?”
“In our studio-workshop-gallery near Bilbao. Three things in one place.”
“Sounds ambitious.”
“It’s also where we spend most of our day. We work, read, make things, exhibit, meet people, and sometimes eat and rest.”
“Eat and rest in a gallery?”
“Why not? We have books and specialist magazines, computers, worktables for creating ArT Toys and repairing others, storage, and exhibition space across two floors. One table can host a toy in progress and lunch on the same day.”
“So it’s a kind of second home?”
“It is. We feel lucky to have it.”
“Has it always been this big?”
“Not even close. We’ve been here since February 2024. The space is 180 square metres, but before this we spent ten years in a place that was less than 20.”
“Ten years in less than 20 square metres?”
“Cristina made every inch count. That place had beautiful big windows. Before that, before 2014, we worked somewhere even smaller with almost no light.”
“And now?”
“Now the light comes through a huge opening in the roof. Every space has had its good parts, its awkward parts and its stories.”
“Stories?”
“Neighbours. Artists. Things that happen while we’re working. Small accidents that become running jokes. Somehow, they find their way into what we write or into what we try to write.”
“Try?”
“We think in Spanish, then translate into English. The rhythm doesn’t always survive the journey. Sometimes English sounds more formal than we feel.”
“But you do it anyway?”
“We want the conversation to travel. And it’s a joy to have readers joining us from all over the world.”
“So the emails aren’t the only place to find you?”
“No. On Instagram, we share thoughts, reflections, photos of the space and news about each Newsletter. We use our other online spaces too, and, of course, the website.”
“And if I want to join?”
“Go to arttoygama.com and leave your email. That’s it.”
“Then I’m on the list?”
“You’re in the conversation. And you can unsubscribe whenever you like.”
“Two hundred and fifty issues…”
“Three a week.”
“You’re still counting?”
“We’re still curious. That’s the dangerous part.”
Want to join the conversation? Sign up for the ArT Toy Gama Newsletter at https://arttoygama.com/
