Contemporary Art in 2025: Between Consolidation and New Geographies
The Art Basel & UBS 2025 report outlines a global art scene in transition: the rise of galleries, and emerging poles in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Each year, the publication of the Art Basel & UBS report on the state of the global art scene is an event in the sector. The 2025 edition confirms trends already perceptible for several years while revealing new evolutions worth attention. For artists active on the international scene, here are the key findings.
Galleries occupy an increasingly central place in this ecosystem, especially mid-sized structures. These continue to build the careers of emerging and mid-career artists, bring visibility to geographies without a tradition of institutional recognition, and maintain a relational fabric with the public that large institutions cannot reproduce. The gallery remains the central ecosystem for an artist's development — before museums, before fairs.
The new geographies of the art scene are perhaps the most significant trend. While New York, London and Hong Kong remain historic poles, regional scenes are rising that now have their own infrastructure of fairs, galleries and museum institutions. Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with Art Dubai and Abu Dhabi Art, have transformed the Emirates into an essential hub for the Middle Eastern and international scene. South Africa, with Johannesburg's Turbine Art Fair and the growth of Cape galleries, asserts itself as the reference African pole. Morocco itself, with 1-54 Marrakech and a developing Casablanca gallery scene, is gaining visibility.
For Moroccan artists wishing to position themselves in this evolving international dynamic, the strategy is not to choose between local anchoring and international ambition — it is to articulate both. Build a solid base in Moroccan and Maghrebi collections while exhibiting at international fairs and galleries. Develop lasting relationships with representing galleries rather than multiplying one-off participations. And above all, continue producing works that have something to say — because on an increasingly informed and demanding scene, that is ultimately the only thing that truly matters.
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