Art Basel Qatar
Doha, Qatar, 5-7 February
Frieze Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi, UAE, 17-22 November
The art market spotlight turns to the Arabian Gulf this year, which sees the launch of Art Basel Qatar and Frieze Abu Dhabi. The rival fair brands are the latest Western art businesses to plant flags in the region, hoping to cultivate its growing wealth into new collectors.
Art Basel Qatar will have an unconventional, open format. Held across the M7 and Doha Design District sites, each of the 87 galleries will bring a solo artist presentation in response to the theme of Becoming, chosen by the artist Wael Shawky, who has been appointed as the artistic director. Around half the artists will come from the Middle East. Exhibitors include the world’s biggest dealers like Gagosian, which will show Christo, and David Zwirner, showing Marlene Dumas. Galleries from the region making their Art Basel debuts include Hafez Gallery from Saudi Arabia and Gallery Misr from Cairo.
Frieze Abu Dhabi takes over the existing Abu Dhabi Art, held in Manarat Al Saadiyat in the Saadiyat Cultural District, and Dyala Nusseibeh will remain as the fair’s director. Deutsche Bank, Frieze’s longtime sponsor, will partner on the fair. Exhibitors are yet to be announced.
Both fairs are the result of deals struck with the Gulf states. Art Basel Qatar is a partnership between the Swiss fair brand and two state-owned enterprises, QC+ and Qatar Sports Investments, while Frieze Abu Dhabi is launched with the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism. K.J.
Pier 36 on the East River in New York
Courtesy Independent
Independent
New York, US, 14-17 May
Independent 20th Century
New York, US, 24-27 September
Both of Independent’s art fairs will move to new venues in 2026. The May edition, focused on emerging contemporary art, will relocate to Pier 36 on the East River, doubling its size compared to the fair’s former Tribeca space. The shift places it closer to the Lower East Side’s buzzy gallery scene, with a creative team redesigning the former shipping warehouse and public areas. Independent 20th Century, spotlighting works from 1900 to 2000, will partner with Sotheby’s to stage its September fair at the Breuer building, the auction house’s new headquarters. Moving from Casa Cipriani to Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist landmark will allow the fair to grow from around 30 to 50 exhibitors. C.P.
The beachside conference centre Palau de Congressos in Mallorca Courtesy Art Cologne
Art Cologne Palma Mallorca
Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 9-12 April
Koelnmesse, the parent company of Art Cologne—the world’s oldest art fair—is reviving its sister event on the sunny island of Mallorca, in the beachside conference centre Palau de Congressos. A Mallorca edition of Art Cologne was previously held in 2007. “Mallorca has a deep connection to Modern and contemporary art,” says the Art Cologne director Daniel Hug in a statement. “[There is] Joan Miró’s Studio and Foundation, the Es Baluard Museum and important galleries like Baro, Kewenig, Pelaires, Xavier Fiol, Fermay and La Bibi + Reus, to name only a few. Nearby, Hauser & Wirth has a space on Menorca, while Gathering from London and Parra & Romero from Madrid have opened galleries on Ibiza.” K.J.
