Art Basel 2025: between corporate transformation and protests from the art world

We are approaching one of the most important and eagerly awaited events on the art market, namely Art Basel, which will take place in Basel from 19 to 22 June with the preview on 16 June for First Choice and Preview card holders. Collectors' e-mails are already flooded with proposals from the galleries that will be present at the fair, a well-established practice aimed at trying to counteract the weakness of the art market and to have more certainty about covering the costs of the fair, a non-trivial aspect given the times. Moreover, for galleries, having more visibility at the fair is a very important factor. This is well known by the French gallery Air de Paris which, after 25 years of uninterrupted participation in Art Basel, has announced its withdrawal from the fair for the 2025 edition, publicly denouncing the opaque and discriminatory management of the allocation of exhibition spaces. The news appeared on the gallery's Instagram profile and on the info provider Artnews.

Since 2001, the French gallery had had a prestigious and permanent position on the second floor of the fair, while this year it was relegated without explanation to a stand in the second row. The decision to move, which lacked transparency and dialogue, was seen as an affront to the respect due to historical collaborators. This attitude, according to Air de Paris, privileges the big names and harms those who have helped build the fair's credibility over time. In a rare and significant gesture, founders Edouard Merino and Florence Bonnefous refused the stand offered, proudly asserting their integrity: 'We cannot accept this treatment and feel obliged to withdraw. At the same time, we are proud to show that it is possible to say 'No'". The gallery pointed out that the current direction of Art Basel seems to be driven by a corporatist logic and no longer by artistic or historical criteria. From ArtBasel they reply that: "for a broader context, Art Basel relocated around 20 galleries this year. This is part of the normal evolution of the plan to keep the content as up-to-date and relevant as possible'. The incident raises a fundamental question: are art fairs increasingly serving mega-galleries, crushing diversity and cultural value in the name of profit? A forthcoming visit to Art Basel will dispel these doubts.

The profit for MCH Group, owner of the Art Basel brand at the end of 2024 came in and closed the accounts for the first time since 2016, with a net profit of 3 million Swiss francs, but the result was possible due to the effect of a one-off component of 3.6 million Swiss francs, without this extraordinary component the result would have been a substantial break-even.

However, the group's balance sheet still has to deal with a financial debt that needs to be kept under control: at the end of 2024, the net financial position was negative at CHF 69.7 million compared to CHF 66 million in 2023.

During 2024, the transformation process continued through restructuring and downsizing of the workforce in some operational areas, in particular Expomobilia. In 2025, the group will be led by a new ceo, as Florian Faber left the company at the end of March after three years, and the board of directors appointed Andrea Zappia, the current president of the MCH Group, ad interim. The new ceo will continue to refocus the business model more and more on entertainment and events, both trade fairs and generalist events, and, as stated in the report to the annual report, for the Guest Events division 2025 will be a crucial year 'with an exceptionally strong trade fair season and Basel at the centre of the global entertainment and sports scene'. Among the events, the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) 2025 'will be a decisive moment, with the MesseQuartier hosting the Eurovision Village, the EuroClub and the Opening Ceremony; in addition, the Uefa Women's Euro 2025 will bring fan activities to the Messeplatz, highlighting Basel's role in major international events'. The congress calendar 'will also remain strong, with key events in the medical and industrial fields ensuring a high delegate attendance', management stated in the report.