There’s nothing better than seeing the world’s largest art exhibitions if you’re an art enthusiast. These events display top contemporary works, offer chances to meet artists, and allow you to immerse yourself in the creativity that shapes the art world. These exhibitions are not to be missed if you want to add to your collection, discover new talent, or simply spend the day surrounded by incredible art. Here’s a list of the 7 biggest art exhibitions around the world that every art lover should see.
Van Gogh: Poets And Lovers
14 Sep 2024 –19 Jan 2025
The National Gallery, London
To celebrate its 200th anniversary, the National Gallery will host its first-ever exhibition dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh in autumn 2024. Titled Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, the exhibition will also commemorate 100 years since the Gallery acquired two of Van Gogh’s most iconic works, Sunflowers and Van Gogh’s Chair (1888), in 1924.
The exhibition will feature some of Van Gogh’s most ambitious paintings and drawings, offering insight into his artistic process and sources of inspiration. Focusing on the period he spent in Arles and Saint-Rémy in southern France (1888–1890), it delves into how Van Gogh transformed the landscapes and locations he experienced into idealised, poetic expressions in his art, shaping a distinctive and evocative artistic vision.
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Art Basel Miami
6 – 8 December 2024
Miami Beach
Art Basel Miami Beach returns in 2024 under the direction of Bridget Finn. This year’s edition welcomes 286 galleries from 38 countries. Nearly two-thirds are from the Americas, including the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.
A significant addition this year is the introduction of entry-level booths, supporting small and mid-size galleries. The fair will feature exciting sectors like Nova, which highlights young galleries and positions, dedicated to solo artist showcases, and Survey, focusing on historically significant works. This edition promises to be an unparalleled platform for discovery, as Art Basel Miami Beach continues to foster dynamic collaborations between global artists, galleries, and collectors.
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Yasumasa Morimura and Cindy Sherman: Masquerades
14 Dec 2024 – 5 May 2025
Hong Kong
Yasumasa Morimura and Cindy Sherman: Masquerades is a joint exhibition at M+ in Hong Kong, from December 14, 2024, to May 5, 2025. Both artists are known for self-portraits where they take on various personas, a concept M+ calls a ‘masquerade.’ Morimura’s To My Little Sister: For Cindy Sherman (1998) reinterprets Sherman’s Untitled #96 from her Centerfold series (1981), where Morimura becomes Sherman, who was portraying a B-movie actress.
The exhibition highlights the links between their works, as both artists explore themes of identity, class, gender, and power. They also critique how these ideas are constructed and imposed, with Morimura’s art additionally addressing the cultural divide between the East and West. In a time of deepfakes and AI, their work draws attention to the fluidity of identity and the societal obsession with self-image, even when we recognize it as a social construct.
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Adrian Piper: Who, Me?
23 Nov – 9 February 2025
Portikus, Frankfurt
In 1969, Robert Smithson’s Mirror Displacement featured a dead pear tree laid horizontally with mirrors, slowly decaying over time. Fifty years later, Adrian Piper’s I’m the Tree at Portikus reimagines this concept. A tree’s stalk and roots are suspended above a mirrored floor, enclosed by a box, with viewers observing from an elevated mezzanine.
The stark lighting and mirrors expose the tree in clinical detail, offering new reflections on nature. Piper’s piece draws on the symbolism of trees in various cultures, offering a deeper, introspective take compared to Smithson’s dead body metaphor.
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14th Bamako Encounters: Kuma, the Word
16 Jan 2025
Bamako
The 14th edition of the Bamako Encounters, Africa’s largest photography biennial, is underway through January 16, 2025. This year’s theme, Kuma, the Word, highlights works by 30 African artists from the continent and diaspora who explore the intersection of verbal and visual storytelling. The exhibition examines how different forms of language—spoken, written, sung, or rapped—can enhance and interact with photography.
Featured works include Victor Adewale’s series Ebi OlOkada (2021), which documents the lives of marginalized motorcycle taxi drivers in Lagos. Jeannette Ehlers’s Black is a Beautiful Word. I & I (2019) uses photography and video to delve into colonial legacy and African diaspora connections, inspired by a 1900 image of a St. Croix maid named Sarah. Additionally, Primo Mauridi’s Mawe (2022) explores the mythology of Mount Nyiragongo and the environmental and cultural concerns surrounding the volcano, through digitally manipulated photography and video installations.
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Ryuichi Sakamoto: Seeing Sound, Hearing Time
21 Dec 2024 – 30 Mar 2025
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, presents Seeing Sound, Hearing Time, the first Japanese exhibition dedicated to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s immersive installations. These large-scale works, created in his later years, explore the relationship between sound and space, showcasing his artistic evolution.
The exhibition highlights life – fluid, invisible, inaudible (2007/21), a collaboration with Shiro Takani, reframing elements of Sakamoto’s 1999 opera Life through water tank visuals, alongside newly completed works conceived before his passing. Following exhibitions in Beijing and Chengdu, this tribute cements Sakamoto’s legacy at the intersection of music and art.
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India Art Fair Delhi
6-9 December 2025
New Delhi
India Art Fair Delhi announces its 16th edition, promising to be the largest in its history. The event will feature 116 exhibitors, including 77 galleries and 25 institutions, showcasing an impressive range of South Asian modern and contemporary art.
This marks a significant growth from the 108 participants in 2024 and 85 in 2023, which included 71 galleries and 14 institutions. Among the returning international exhibitors are renowned names such as David Zwirner, Lisson Gallery, and Galleria Continua, underscoring the fair’s increasing global appeal. Since its inception in 2008, the India Art Fair has steadily grown from its inaugural showcase of 34 exhibitors, evolving into a prominent platform for artists and galleries alike.
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