Paris Art Week Opens with Focus on Contemporary Art

- The Bourse de Commerce building has a layered history, originating as a grain exchange in the 18th century and later serving as the city's stock exchange before its recent transformation into a contemporary art museum. - French businessman and art collector François Pinault commissioned Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando to spearhead the building's conversion, which involved inserting a nine-meter-high concrete cylinder to create a new exhibition space within the historic rotunda. - The anchor of Paris Art Week was, for nearly 50 years, the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain (FIAC) until 2022, when the Swiss MCH Group, which owns Art Basel, was awarded the prestigious October time slot at the Grand Palais. - Now officially named Art Basel Paris, the main fair has grown into a major international event; the 2026 edition is scheduled for October 23-25 and is expected to feature over 200 galleries from around 40 countries. - Beyond the main exhibition hall, Art Basel Paris extends its presence across the city with a public program of free-to-view installations and performances at iconic sites like the Place Vendôme and the Jardin des Tuileries. - The Paris edition of Asia Art Week, known as Asia NOW, is a curated fair dedicated to amplifying the voices of artists from Asia and its diaspora, taking place at the Monnaie de Paris (the Paris Mint). - The week's programming is complemented by a number of satellite fairs, each with a distinct focus, including Paris Internationale for emerging artists and AKAA (Also Known As Africa) for contemporary art from Africa.