The Art Basel Awards are the first global initiative to recognize the full breadth of the contemporary art ecosystem, spanning nine categories that honor both artistic excellence and the individuals and institutions shaping and sustaining it. From artists to curators, patrons, media figures, and cultural platforms, the Awards reflect a field in which influence is increasingly distributed across disciplines and forms of practice.
Entering its second year, the initiative’s cross-industry perspective is further underscored by the continued support of BOSS as presenting partner, whose longstanding engagement with art and culture reinforces the Awards’ commitment to dialogue across creative fields.
Fifteen artists are recognized in the Emerging, Established and Icon categories, while eighteen Medalists are honored across Cross-Disciplinary, Museum & Institution, Media and Storyteller, Patron, Allies, and Curator. Rather than focusing on singular achievements, the Awards identify and support practices with lasting influence – those that shape cultural narratives across borders, disciplines, and industries.
The Awards are rooted in celebration, peer recognition and a community-led selection process. Each cycle starts with anonymous nominations by industry leaders and influential voices from around the world, from which the Jury of nine international experts selects 33 Medalists for their vision, skill, and impact. The 2026 Medalists embody an expanded vision: a cross-generational and cross-disciplinary group whose practices actively reshape how art is produced, experienced, and connected to wider cultural and societal frameworks.
The 2026 Medalists span an expansive geographic and cultural spectrum, with roots in the United States, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, France, Italy, UAE, Thailand, Cuba, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Spain, the UK, and Bangladesh, among others. Many of these practitioners are deeply engaged with histories, communities, and urgencies that extend well beyond national borders, reflecting a distinctly global outlook. There is a particularly strong presence of artists, curators, and institutions connected to the Global South, whose practices foreground postcolonial histories, migration, climate justice and urban transformation, and whose practices spill out across disciplines, from visual art, film and performance, to music, theatre, design, architecture, and publishing, and whose patronage is redefining exhibition-making and research.