The International Jury of nine leading museum directors entrusted with judging the debut Art Basel Awards this month has risen to a notoriously difficult challenge. When it comes to handing out gongs, assessing creative endeavors is a nebulous business. How can one unique artistic practice, with its own geopolitical specificity and reach, be compared with another? How might the achievements of a tiny nonprofit institution measure up against a storied metropolitan museum? Who most deserves tribute – those who ascend to the art world’s pinnacles, or those working tirelessly at its fringes? Yet, as provocative as they can be, awards remain an essential part of the art world’s lifeblood, offering vital exposure to cultural accomplishments that sometimes lie beyond the market’s spotlight. Within this contentious and crowded landscape, the new Art Basel Awards have been designed to stand out.
Rather than reward a particular body of work or exhibition, the jury has been asked to consider the impact of nominees on the evolution of art and its wider ecosystem. As architect of the project and jury chair, Art Basel’s fairs and exhibition platforms director, Vincenzo de Bellis, explains that the awards are not only ‘a celebration of the achievements of individuals and organizations,’ but also ‘a way to support the future of art.’ For de Bellis, who chairs the jury but doesn't weigh in on the selection process, taking a broad view of who should receive accolades has been crucial. ‘If you take one part out of art’s equation, it won’t work,’ he says. ‘Artists are the most important element, but each of us plays a role.’
Thus, the Art Basel Awards are being given across nine different categories: three are dedicated to artists (Emerging, Established, and Icon); Curators; Media and Storytellers; Museums and Institutions; Patrons; Cross-disciplinary Creators (hailing from art-adjacent industries like fashion or architecture); and finally Allies (those working behind the scenes, from studio managers to fabricators). This decision to include those who, in de Bellis’s words, ‘are rarely in the spotlight’ is one of the more eye-catching takes on the prize-giving norm. ‘It’s an intentionally non-prescriptive category that can support all the people who help realize artists’ dreams,’ he explains.
‘Until now, I haven’t seen an award so broad in its scope,’ says jury member Elena Filipovic, director, Kunstmuseum Basel. ‘It celebrates those not typically recognized. I think the role of our jury is to separate ourselves a little from market success or trends. To look at people who are not necessarily in the limelight, but nonetheless contribute greatly.’ It’s a sentiment echoed by her fellow judge Hoor Al-Qasimi, president and director of the Sharjah Art Foundation in the UAE, who believes that the future of art rests in ‘artists taking control of their own narratives.’ She adds: ‘We’re already seeing this happen as artists move beyond traditional exhibition spaces, finding new ways to collaborate, experiment, and challenge market-driven systems.’
The judges, too, have been selected for their range, both in terms of geographic diversity and expertise. Each, in their own way, has challenged the traditional boundaries of the discipline to help shape a more inclusive and innovative art world, one that furthers the development of culture at large.
Alongside Filipovic, the view from North America and Europe will be represented by Jessica Morgan, director of Dia Art Foundation in New York; Franklin Sirmans, director of the Pérez Art Museum Miami; and Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine in London. Hoor Al-Qasimi will represent the Middle East. The curator of the last Venice Biennale and Artistic Director of Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Adriano Pedrosa, will bring a Latin American perspective, while Koyo Kouoh, executive director and chief curator at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town – and the curator of next year’s Venice Biennale – is a leading champion of Africa’s art world. The fast-expanding Asian contemporary art world is represented by two of the region’s museum lodestars, Philip Tinari, director and CEO of UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, and Suhanya Raffel, director of M+ in Hong Kong.
The Art Basel Awards follow a staggered selection process. Following several rounds of discussion, the jury must decide on 36 Medalists, including 18 artists. These Medalists will be announced mid-May and celebrated during a high-profile event held at Kunstmuseum Basel during Art Basel’s Swiss edition. However, the gold medalists won’t be revealed until Art Basel Miami Beach in December, 2025 during the Official Night of the Art Basel Awards in Miami Beach, supported by the City of Miami Beach and the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In this first year, the focus will decidedly be on artists. The Gold Medalists in the three artist categories will receive more than USD 300,000 in honorariums, alongside access to global networks, philanthropic initiatives, tailored partnerships, and high-profile commissions.
The Gold Medalists in the Emerging and Established artist categories will each receive USD 50,000, with the Established recipients also awarded a large-scale public commission to be unveiled in June 2026. For the two Icon Gold Medalists, Art Basel will donate USD 50,000 in each artist’s name to an arts or education organization of their choosing.
There are specific criteria the judges must respond to for each of these artist categories. Emerging artists must show ‘capacity to evolve’ and a ‘significant contribution to the art world based on […] creative ambition,’ de Bellis explains. He adds: ‘for the Established artists category, we are searching for cultural disruption. For the Icon category, we’re looking at legacy building. Of course, those criteria are large enough to give the jury some freedom.’
What the future-focused remit of the awards means to each of the judges will obviously be different. At Dia, Morgan works with long-term, site-specific installations hinged on ‘slower, more immersive forms of engagement [that] offer an important counterpoint to a world that prioritizes rapid consumption.’ In terms of how art’s evolving, she sees an ongoing shift to ‘work that is both deeply personal and universally urgent.’ For Pedrosa, whose 2024 edition of the Venice Biennale shone a spotlight on overlooked historical artists, ‘we are still witnessing increasing recognition of art beyond Euro-America – less in the already integrated, global contemporary arena, more so with 20th-century art. This is how art history becomes so relevant for the contemporary.’ Obrist, a curator whose cross-platform collaborations are legendary, draws attention to how artists are moving beyond ‘one of the problems of our time: short-termism’ with long durational projects including gardening and farming. He also highlights the ways artists are using new technology, as with the artists’ video games developed at the Serpentine.
When it comes to investment in the future by nominated institutions, Filipovic says she’s interested in how they ‘push debates about diversity, sustainability, and the tough relevant topics of our time forward. It’s not about blockbuster exhibitions with high footfall necessarily, but spaces that dare to make bold choices about uncomfortable topics in the present or the underseen in art history.’
Perhaps the Art Basel Awards’ most notable revision of the expected format is how the 12 Gold Medalists will have been selected, when the Medalists convene for the final ceremony this winter. The imbalance of creative competitions – where artworks are supposed to compete as if they were racehorses – has been increasingly called out in recent years, with artists frequently insisting on sharing cash prizes with their fellow contenders. With an eye to equality then, the final judging will not be carried out by the original jury, but by the Medalists themselves (and no, you can’t vote for yourself).
For Morgan, it’s this participant-to-participant appreciation – distinct from ‘commercial success’ or ‘institutional validation’ – which is the key feature that ultimately sets the awards apart. De Bellis sums it up: ‘I don’t think there’s a better feeling than being recognized by your peers.’
Skye Sherwin is an art writer based in Rochester, UK. She contributes regularly to The Guardian and numerous art publications.
About the Art Basel Awards
Launched by Art Basel in 2025, the Art Basel Awards are the world's first global honors dedicated to recognizing excellence across the contemporary art world. Each year, an International Jury of experts awards Medals to individuals and organizations spanning the industry whose practices and contributions are shaping the future of contemporary art. The Art Basel Awards are presented in partnership with BOSS.