Art Basel Miami Beach Ends Its Sixth Edition

Art Basel Miami Beach closed on December 9 after its sixth edition. The fair’s report described a record application field of more than 850 galleries, a useful indication of the competition for a place in the Miami Beach presentation.

For visitors, a selected international gallery program offers a particular kind of access. Works usually separated by cities and national borders can be considered within a single visit, even if the compressed setting demands careful choices about where to spend time. The fair’s appeal is partly that concentration, and partly the conversations it enables between people who do not normally share a room.

The next edition has already been scheduled for December 4–7, 2008. For now, the completed show marks another year in which Miami Beach has become a working meeting place for the international art trade. The significance extends beyond any individual sale: galleries are competing to participate in a cultural event firmly attached to the city’s December calendar.