Art Basel has unveiled its latest initiative—the Art Basel Awards—a groundbreaking recognition platform set to spotlight artists, curators, and influential figures who shape the global art landscape. This ambitious program underscores Art Basel’s growing commitment to acknowledging excellence and fostering innovation across artistic disciplines.
The awards will be conferred annually, with 36 honorees to be announced in May, ahead of a formal presentation at Art Basel’s flagship fair in Basel this June. The program will culminate at Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2025, where 12 gold medalists will be selected. In a strategic move reflecting the increasing significance of the African art ecosystem, Koyo Kouoh, executive director of Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) and curator of the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale, has been appointed to the international jury. Her inclusion signals a pivotal shift in how African artistic narratives are integrated into the broader global discourse.
Redefining Excellence: Art Basel’s Award Categories
The Art Basel Awards will span three categories for artists—Emerging, Established, and Icons—honoring rising talents, accomplished figures, and those whose contributions have attained legendary status. Additionally, six other categories will recognize key players shaping the art world, including Curators, Museums and Institutions, Patrons, Allies, Cross-disciplinary Creators, and Media and Storytelling.
Nominees will be selected by an anonymous group of observers, ensuring a broad and diverse pool of contenders. From there, an international jury, chaired by Vincenzo de Bellis, Art Basel’s director of fairs and exhibition platforms, will determine the 36 medalists. The jury features a distinguished panel, including Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi, founder of the Sharjah Art Foundation; Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries; and Koyo Kouoh. This selection underscores Art Basel’s intent to position the awards at the intersection of artistic rigor, institutional influence, and global reach.
Koyo Kouoh: A Champion of African Artistic Vision
Koyo Kouoh’s participation in the jury is a significant nod to the increasing prominence of African art and cultural institutions in global conversations. As a leading curator and museum director, Kouoh has been instrumental in amplifying African and diasporic voices, both through Zeitz MOCAA and her extensive curatorial practice. Her role in the Art Basel Awards jury ensures that artistic excellence from Africa and the Global South receives the nuanced recognition it deserves.
By including Kouoh alongside other heavyweights of the art world, Art Basel is not merely celebrating diversity; it is actively recalibrating the power structures that define artistic prestige. With the continent’s contemporary art scene experiencing unprecedented visibility, this move reinforces Africa’s positioning as an indispensable contributor to the global art economy.
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