Art Basel (Instagram), the world’s leading contemporary art fair known for setting global market trends, wrapped up this Sunday in Basel, Switzerland, after four days that confirmed its ongoing transformation from blue-chip stronghold to something looser, more porous, and—at times—more exciting. While the market has slowed, with few blockbuster sales and a noticeable shift towards mid-tier works, the energy on the ground was curious, open, and younger. And this year, that openness extended in subtle but significant ways to artists and galleries from the MENA region.
For the first time, Gypsum Gallery from Cairo took part in Art Basel, included in the fair’s newly introduced Premiere sector—a curated platform for galleries spotlighting one or two artists with focused presentations. Gypsum presented the work of Basim Magdy and Dimitra Charamandas, whose poetic, otherworldly pieces drew on volcanic landscapes and speculative futures. It was a quiet triumph: well-situated, well-received, and part of a larger thread of MENA visibility across Basel this year.
Just outside the main fair, VOLTA marked its 20th anniversary with a dedicated MENA Pavilion curated by Randa Sadaka. Bringing together galleries from Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE, the pavilion felt like a clear-sighted attempt to consolidate and project a regional identity beyond tokenism—one that was experimental, commercial, and politically alert all at once.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Canadian artist Joyce Joumaa and London-based artist Rhea Dillon have been awarded the 2025 Baloise Art Prize. Her public intervention for Parcours, Art Basel’s open-air program, installed circuit breaker boxes across a historical square—subtly evoking the ongoing blackouts in Beirut and Tripoli. The piece, presented with Montreal gallery Eli Kerr, was one of the most restrained but poignant gestures in the city.
All of this happens ahead of Art Basel’s first Middle Eastern edition, launching in Doha in February 2026. While long trailed by speculation and years of quiet partnerships in the Gulf, the announcement now feels inevitable. With the art world’s eyes slowly adjusting to a new geography of influence, Basel was a soft reveal: not a loud parade of regional representation, but something more embedded and integrated. Less of a shift, more of a seep.
If the fair’s new ambitions can be felt anywhere, they are in these quieter currents. The future might not be hung in the biggest booths, but pulsing around the edges—in what’s just beginning to form.
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