MENA Galleries at Art Basel Paris

The second edition of Art Basel in Paris is just about to open in the Grand Palais, and this year there is a strong presence from MENA region galleries. The fair will even be hosting a talk as part of their "Art Basel Conversations" titled "Charting the Rise of Arab Art" on 25 October at the Petit Palais, with Andree Sfeir-Semler, Rayyane Tabet, Alexandre Kazerouni, and Antonia Carver. This season there will be a presence from galleries in Beirut, Riyadh, Tunis, and more, so let’s see what’s on offer.

Running straight from Frieze in London to Paris, Beirut’s Marfa Projects will be presenting a mixed-media group show of work by Mohamad Abdouni, Majd Abdel Hamid, Tamar Al Samerraei, Caline Aoun, Ahmad Ghossein and Paola Yacoub.

From Tunis, Selma Feriani will be presenting a group exhibition of works by Yann Lacroix, Nidhal Chamekh, Aymen Mbarki, Monia Ben Hamouda, Nadia Ayari, and Zineb Sedira.

Saudi’s ATHR will present a booth highlighting three rising female Saudi artists through the work of Sarah Abu Abdallah, Hayfa Algwaiz and Lulua Alyahya, three women voices helping to shape Saudi Arabia’s youth-driven contemporary art scene. Abu Abdallah captures culture in a stream of images, mixing daily life meanderings and regional pop culture into canvases that unfold like a visual feed. Algwaiz meanwhile, works like an architect of emotion. She begins with the Saudi home and urban space, shifting into 3D renderings and AutoCAD pencil work, layering bold acrylics until structure and feeling meet. While Alyahya’s process is intuitive, painting and layering, waiting for the moment when the elements align into what she calls “poetic logic”.

Sfeir Semler will be curating a group presentation through the works of Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Etel Adnan, Dana Awartani, Taysir Batniji, Tarikki Swanson, MARWAN, Walidd Raad, Rayyane Tabet, and Sung Tieu. And, following from their booth at Frieze Master’s last week, they will also be including works by Samia Halaby.

In addition to MENA-based galleries, others from around the world will also be highlighting MENA artists. The Chicago, Paris, and Mexico City gallery Mariane Ibrahim will be presenting a booth which features the work of Cairo-based Sudanese-artist Salah Elmur, known for his acrylic figurative paintings.

As well as its main gallery booth section, Art Basel Paris will have an "Emergence" presentation of emerging artist booths which includes Tehran-born Arash Nassiri from London's Ginny on Frederick. Nassiri will present a sculptural installation that reconfigures Tehranian shop signs within miniature architectural forms based on Sylvanian Families dollhouses, constructing intimate yet uncanny sculptural environments.

Art Basel Paris will also be presenting an initiative called "Oh La La!", which highlights creative rehangs across participating galleries’ booths. Curated by celebrated journalist and fashion editor Loic Prigent, it all falls under the theme “a la mode.” As part of this curation, Selma Feriani will make a second presentation, this time a solo exhibition of work by Filwa Nazer. Meanwhile, the US-gallery Francois Ghebaly, will be exhibiting a joint display of work by Farah Al Qasimi and Meriem Bennani.

Art Basel will be taking place in Paris between 24 and 26 October 2025