This year, there’s no shortage of warm-weather art world detours for collectors who, after Christmas, are thoroughly done with the cold. Up front, this isn’t about fairs in different geographies competing for attention. Instead, it’s about regional expansion and the accelerating localization of the fair circuit. The global fair and art week calendar now gives different destinations comparable billing, and so where collectors go when happenings overlap is driven not by trendiness or the market but by their collecting priorities and their interest in what else a destination might offer beyond art.
For galleries, the question is whether a fair can realistically deliver access to clients, relationship-building and, increasingly, structural support that extends beyond sales. For collectors, the calculus is strikingly similar, as they look for opportunities for research, acquisition and taste development, as well as opportunities to connect more meaningfully with a creative ecosystem.
After more than a decade of fair travel—and having witnessed art scenes at vastly different stages of development as the circuit globalized—I find myself drawn to places I haven’t been yet, or haven’t been enough, where discovery and learning are still possible. What feels less rewarding is returning year after year to the same fairs, especially in regions I already follow closely, where the global brands increasingly present a homogeneous blue-chip lineup with only a handful of surprises tucked into curated sections.
Right now, in terms of February fairs and art weeks, Doha, Mexico City and Los Angeles feel less like competing options than distinct propositions. Their different formats, different vibes and different art offerings will naturally appeal to different collectors. Here’s what to expect at each.
What you’ll find at Mexico City Art Week
Choose Mexico City Art Week if you’re looking to connect—or reconnect—with a fully developed art ecosystem of galleries, museums and, above all, artists. This is a scene whose foundations were laid in the 1990s, when artistic communities held more sway over the conversation than market structures. The first Expoarte fair, in fact, came out of an initiative by artists and collectors in Guadalajara—Mexico’s second city—which still boasts one of the country’s strongest artist communities.
Over the past decade, the Mexican art scene has experienced significant growth, driven largely by internal forces, including the steady rise of local galleries and, most crucially, the launch of ZONAMACO by Zélika García in 2004, which provided Mexico with a durable international platform. For better or worse, the scene’s globalization accelerated during and after the pandemic, as Mexico City became a favored destination for travelers well beyond the art world.
Now in its 12th iteration, ZONAMACO’s 2026 edition will assemble 228 galleries from 26 countries across its main and curated sections. One section not to miss—especially if discovery is your priority—is EJES, dedicated to emerging talent from Mexico and the wider region. Curated by Buenos Aires–based Aimé Iglesias Lukin, EJES brings together galleries, hybrid spaces, and independent projects responding to this year’s theme of “exchange.”
For those looking to expand a Latin American–focused collection, Mexico City Art Week also offers access to some of the most compelling gallery programs in the region, with acquisition opportunities at far more accessible price points. In Mexico, you see something, you love it and you buy it. In the process, you may form a genuine human connection with the gallery, which is something deeply ingrained in Latin cultural dynamics. ZONAMACO’s additional sections devoted to design, photography, books and works on paper further broaden the field, making it possible to support Mexican and Latin creatives at virtually every scale and budget. The 2026 edition also introduces new sections, such as ZONAMACO FORMA, which focuses on the intersection of art and collectible design.
“I’m interested in seeing how different types of collectors respond, from those with long-standing experience to those buying their first work,” founder and director Zélika García told Observer. “There’s genuine excitement around emerging voices, artists, projects, and galleries that are shaping new directions, and that energy runs throughout the fair.”
Beyond ZONAMACO, Mexico City Art Week is defined as much by its satellite fairs as by its main event. Feria MATERIAL and SALÓN ACME, in particular, offer access to younger artists and galleries at similarly accessible price points—often just before broader market recognition. Feria Material’s relatively low participation fees have made it especially attractive to younger, research-driven dealers from around the world, who are drawn to the fair for its curated selection, sustainability and focus on experimentation over scale.
“From the outset, the intention with Material was always to complement ZONAMACO with another high-quality fair, but one that offers a more intimate and focused experience,” founder Brett W. Schultz told Observer in an interview, noting how “the human scale that we offer has been fundamental to ensuring that every exhibitor and visitor feels like they’re part of a meaningful, relevant and coherent conversation.”
Even more fluid in format—and less financially risky—SALÓN ACME offers emerging galleries, project spaces, independent artists and creatives a platform to engage both local and international audiences. Hosted in a soulful, multi-level historic building dating back to 1905, SALÓN ACME melds art, music and community: each evening, DJ sets activate the space, extending daytime programming well into the night and reinforcing the fair’s reputation as one of the week’s most energetic hubs.
Between fairs—or instead of them—Mexico City offers an exceptionally dense gallery landscape. From established leaders like kurimanzutto and OMR, which have played a central role in internationalizing Mexican art since the late 1990s and now anchor major global fairs, to long-standing spaces such as Labor, RGR, Proyectos Monclova and Lodos, the city’s gallery ecosystem is remarkably vibrant. Alongside these established names is a growing number of next-generation players increasingly present on the international circuit—Karen Huber, PEANA, General Expenses, LLANOS—as well as emerging voices such as JO-HS, Salón Silicón, Third Born and Campeche. The best way to experience them? Each night of the week tends to concentrate openings and events in specific neighborhoods, from San Miguel Chapultepec to Roma Norte and Sur, and as far as Nápoles.
Mexico City’s museums likewise offer an unparalleled depth of programming, with much of it timed to coincide with Art Week. These range from historical institutions like the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Museo de Arte Moderno and the essential Museo Nacional de Antropología—which provides a deep immersion in ancient times and ancestral cosmologies—to the contemporary programs at Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo. The latter is opening its 2026 exhibitions during the Art Week—shows include a cross-cultural and cross-linguistic dialogue between Laura Anderson Barbata and Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe on indigenous cosmologies and epistemological and linguistic systems, and “The Gesture and the Invisible,” a group show that emphasizes the power of action and explores how the vital drive toward movement can produce collective synergy. Showcasing the breadth of its collection, the ongoing show “Futuros Arcaicos” stages a cross-generational conversation between modern and contemporary artists who find inspiration in the archaic.
Advance booking is recommended if you want to visit Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo during this especially busy week, or for access to Luis Barragán’s architectural landmarks, but you can also visit the temple-like Museo Anahuacalli, home to Diego Rivera’s pre-Hispanic collection, as well as the newly reopened La Cuadra San Cristóbal—Barragán’s masterpiece of architecture and landscape—revived as a cultural space after its acquisition by Fernando Romero. Another Barragán jewel, Casa Gilardi, will also host a temporary exhibition this year, timed to coincide with the week. Further highlights include Museo Soumaya’s cross-period collection, Museo Jumex—which will still be hosting Gabriel de la Mora—and UNAM, which is slightly out of the way but well worth the trip for a Saturday visit, particularly for their must-see Delcy Morelos show.
Overall, Mexico City will probably be the most compelling destination for those seeking an art-filled escape with better weather and high energy, where serious art, exceptional food and constant daytime and nighttime activity. If your schedule allows, start your trip in Guadalajara, where the pre-MACO weekend—with its studio visits, new gallery openings, Zapopan Museo’s ambitious programming (the museum is currently hosting the first Mexico solo institutional show of Tino Sehgal), Plataforma’s growing presence as the city’s key art platform and the legendary Cerámica Suro gathering—offers an intimate and grounded glimpse into the Mexican artistic community at its source.
What you’ll find at Art Basel Qatar
Choose Qatar if you’re seeking a more institutional framework and are curious to see firsthand how the Gulf is utilizing a new model of art-led development to become a rising global power, both culturally and financially. The inaugural edition of Art Basel in Doha (which opens on February 4) is part of a broad political agenda grounded in substantial national investment in the arts, and it’s no secret that the country is investing heavily to ensure the success of the fair. Even as Art Basel has almost certainly received significant backing to bring its brand to Doha, the scale and terms of that support remain undisclosed.
This fair is the first in Art Basel’s history to be curated by an artist, with Wael Shawky at the helm. What is set to take shape is a more fluid, booth-free presentation—closer to an exhibition than a commercial fair—unfolding across M7 in Doha’s design district. Each of the 87 participating galleries will present a single artist under the curatorial theme “Becoming,” conceived as an invitation to reflect on humanity’s ongoing transformation and the systems that shape how we live, believe and produce meaning.
Shawky’s vision for Art Basel Qatar extends out of the Doha Fire Station’s new chapter: the creation of platforms capable of supporting sustainable, long-term growth for the region’s art scene, while allowing it to articulate its own voice and develop its own model. Almost 50 percent of the galleries participating in the fair are from the region, and “that’s very intentional,” he told Observer in an exclusive conversation ahead of the fair. Approaching Art Basel as an artist meant testing a new curatorial logic centered on focused solo presentations as the most effective way to truly valorize an artist’s universe and singular practice. “It was important that every gallery present just one artist, so that each presentation becomes almost like a minimal solo show,” he said, noting how at most fairs, works are removed from their original narrative and placed in contexts that have little to do with the artist. “Each artist will have their own world, their own logic. Otherwise, everything collapses into a kind of bazaar. That’s precisely what we’re trying to avoid.”
The selections for the first edition, however, still lean heavily toward historical figures and blue-chip names. Gagosian, for example, will focus on Christo, Hauser & Wirth on Philip Guston, Gladstone on Alex Katz and David Zwirner on Marlene Dumas, setting an overall tone of the fair that’s not necessarily in perfect alignment with Shawky’s intentions. But “you can’t isolate yourself from the world. You have to maintain a balance and stay in conversation with the international scene. That dialogue is essential,” he explained, emphasizing that placing artists from the region alongside such established names is key to building lasting international visibility. “It’s part of what we’re really trying to do here: to create a new language and to bring forward voices from the region.”
Roughly half of the artists presented hail from the MENA region, in a mix of historical and contemporary figures. These include internationally recognized names such as Etel Adnan with Anthony Meier and Iranian painter Ali Banisadr, alongside artists long deserving of broader exposure, like Turkish artist Nil Yalter with 1 Mira Madrid / 2 Mira Archiv; Qatari artist Bouthayna Al Muftah presented by Al Markhiya Gallery; Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan with Sabrina Amrani; Lebanese artist Walid Sadek with Saleh Barakat Gallery; and Saudi artist Lina Gazzaz with Hafez Gallery. Berlin-based carlier | gebauer will present the American video artist of Palestinian descent, Nida Sinnokrot. Representing Saudi Arabia, ATHR Gallery is highlighting Ahmed Mater, while Dubai powerhouse The Third Line presents Qatari-American artist Sophia Al Maria. From Beirut, Marfa’ Projects will showcase Lebanese multimedia conceptual artist Caline Aoun. Shawky’s curation also brings several Egyptian artists into focus. Thaddaeus Ropac will present the institutionally acclaimed work of Raqib Shaw, while Leila Heller Gallery will foreground the modernist Egyptian painter Wassef Boutros-Ghali. Alexandria-based painter Farida El Gazzar will be shown by Kalfayan Galleries, and ArtTalks | Kanafani Gallery will present the enigmatic paintings of Ahmed Morsi.
While Art Basel Qatar will certainly offer ample opportunity to explore the region’s rich art history and established artistic voices, there is likely to be limited space for discovery when it comes to younger or emerging artists. One of the youngest participants is the rising Pakistani-born, New York–based artist Aiza Ahmed, presented by Sargent’s Daughters and currently a resident at Doha Fire Station.
The fair’s focus on established names, with pricing largely concentrated in the high five- to early six-figure range, aligns with the region’s current buying power, which remains heavily concentrated among well-funded institutions—particularly in Qatar—while a broader private collector base is still taking shape. As Marc Spiegler recently pointed out in an interview, the number of major collectors remains limited—perhaps counted in the dozens, and so the question is whether this small group of so-called white whales can sustain a market of this scale or the region can succeed in expanding its collector base, particularly as global brands enter the market.
In terms of international reach, Doha sits at a comparable flight distance from both New York and Shanghai, and perhaps more significantly, functions as a frequent stopover along luxury travel routes to destinations like the Maldives. Yet it’s uncertain whether it will evolve into a truly global art destination on par with London or New York. There is a limited gallery ecosystem beyond the fair itself, and the community of artists here is relatively small. At the same time, we’ve seen a broader shift toward regionalized audiences, as collectors increasingly resist nonstop global travel that often delivers disappointingly similar offerings across geographies.
Yet even if Doha doesn’t offer the same opportunities as Mexico City in terms of studio visits and gallery hopping, Art Basel Qatar offers a compelling institutional framework for art engagement that extends well beyond the fair itself, anchored by the country’s world-class museums. These include the National Museum of Qatar, designed by Jean Nouvel as a constellation of interlocking desert-rose crystal formations surrounding Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani’s historic palace, and I. M. Pei’s Museum of Islamic Art, whose heritage library houses more than 21,000 volumes, including rare Arabic and English editions. On the modern and contemporary front, the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art defines and champions Arab modernism and contemporary practice through a collection spanning from the 1840s to the present. During Art Basel, it will present “Resolution,” an exhibition marking its first 15 years through the lenses of its founding under the leadership of Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Thani; its exhibition history; its role in knowledge circulation across the Arab world; and its engagement with post-independence Arab identity.
On both the programming and creative sides, one of the most compelling institutions in Doha is the aforementioned Fire Station, which has played a central role in artist development and cultural production for more than four decades. Originally built in 1982 as Doha’s Civil Defense headquarters, the building was repurposed in 2015 under Qatar Museums as the Fire Station: Artist in Residence. Now led by Shawky, it continues to support emerging and mid-career artists through a structured international residency program while serving as a hybrid space for artistic production, exhibitions and education. In Shawky’s vision, the Fire Station operates less as a conventional institution than as a living, multidisciplinary laboratory—one designed to help formulate the new language and alternative models he has repeatedly advocated for. Strategically positioned between the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar, it functions as a bridge between heritage, national narrative and contemporary practice, effectively compensating for the absence of a dense grassroots ecosystem of art schools, galleries and independent organizations providing that critical space for experimentation, research, professionalization and international dialogue—all of which are essential to the long-term development of a sustainable local art scene.
On the other hand, if your interests extend beyond art, Doha is also home to the 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum, which, through its immersive architecture and multisensory storytelling, ranks among the most forward-thinking sports museums globally. You might also opt to extend your trip to neighboring cultural hubs after Doha. The U.A.E., for instance, has a rapidly expanding museum landscape on Saadiyat Island and Dubai’s commercial gallery scene, along with periodically activated site-specific curatorial platforms such as Manar Art and the Sharjah Biennial—both of which have garnered international attention. Next door, Saudi Arabia has pursued a similar culture-led development strategy under Vision 2030, although it often relies more heavily on international consultancies. Opening later this month, the Diriyah Biennale—now in its second edition—has quickly established itself as a significant international platform connecting the Kingdom with the global art world.
What you’ll find in Los Angeles
Frieze Los Angeles at Santa Monica Airport’s Barker Hangar comes hot on the heels of the offerings in Mexico City and Doha. Last year, L.A.’s tragic wildfires led to a noticeably more local fair, both in focus and attendance, and it’s likely we’ll see a similarly regional tilt this year—especially after witnessing how many international players didn’t make it to Miami. Still, with its 95 international exhibitors spanning blue-chip mega-galleries and younger programs, Frieze Los Angeles will activate a well-established ecosystem of top local institutions and nearby art districts, from the Hammer Museum, MOCA and LACMA to galleries across downtown L.A. and the Hollywood Westside. Then there are the auxiliary fairs: Felix Art Fair and relative newcomer Post-Fair among them. Despite recent gallery closures, the scene remains dense, active and closely tied to a lively artist community—making the fair, and the city around it, very much worth the trip, for collectors willing to get on yet another plane.
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