From December 3 to 8, the crème de la crème of contemporary art lovers and enthusiasts gather at Miami Art Week. This cultural event featuring no less than a dozen art fairs – including the famous Art Basel Miami – doubles up as a festive occasion and a growing number of brand activations. After an absent 2023 edition, luxury brands are well and truly back this year.
Donald Trump effect or not, the 2024 edition of Miami Art Week, the USA’s contemporary art mecca, seems to crystallize the “Roaring Twenties ” that the profession is hoping for with the second term of office of Brooklyn’s golden boy.
Since its creation in 2002 with Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Art Week has grown steadily to become a hybrid social event , bringing together art dealers, gallery owners, music and film celebrities and night owls under the Floridian palm trees.
With a dozen fairs taking place simultaneously and attracting no fewer than 100,000 people each year – including a clientele that is as wealthy as it is aesthete – luxury brands increasingly see this festive event as an ideal opportunity to strengthen their presence on American soil.
Among them, Gucci (Kering), Pucci (LVMH) and Cartier (Richemont) have planned their own ephemeral art installations and animations. For their part, Fendi (LVMH) and luxury resale platform The RealReal took the opportunity to celebrate the opening of their flagship store in the “Magic City”’s most exclusive shopping thoroughfare: the Miami Design District.
Art Basel Miami Beach, the tree that hides the forest
Miami Art Week was created to celebrate contemporary art in Miami, mainly around the Art Basel Miami Beach fair, launched in 2002. This event follows in the footsteps of the famous Art Basel fair, founded in 1970 in Basel, Switzerland. Its establishment in Miami marked a turning point in the development of the city’s art scene.
The organizers of Art Basel were seduced by the distinctive, multicultural character touted by billionaire car dealer and art collector Norman Braman , in order to internationalize their contemporary art fair in the immediate vicinity of the beaches. The first edition attracted 30,000 visitors and featured 160 participating galleries from 23 countries, compared with 280 from 38 countries today.
Dubbed the “Super Bowl of the art world”, Art Basel Miami Beach is the center of attention, attracting no fewer than 70,000 of the 100,000 visitors to Miami Art Week each year.
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Featured photo: © Miami Beach Convention Center
