Meridians gives Art Basel room to think bigger

Art Basel Miami Beach has introduced Meridians, a new sector intended for work that extends beyond the limits of a conventional fair booth. Its debut at the eighteenth edition gives galleries another format for presenting ambitious projects within the event.

The change addresses a practical issue in art-fair design. A booth offers concentration and clear boundaries, but not every work benefits from those dimensions. Large installations and other spatially demanding projects need a setting in which scale can be part of the encounter rather than a problem to solve.

Meridians therefore changes the visitor’s rhythm as well as the floor plan. It creates opportunities to move from compact gallery presentations into a different kind of space. As this year’s fair closes, the new sector stands out as an attempt to broaden what can be shown within the marketplace while retaining the concentrated experience that brings audiences to Art Basel.