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Art Basel Paris: What to expect from this year’s Conversations program?
From October 24th to 26th, 2025, Art Basel Paris returns to the Grand Palais with no fewer than 206 exhibitors from 41 countries and territories. As usual, the event will open a cycle of Conversations bringing together key figures from the contemporary art scene, from photographers Tyler Mitchell and Juergen Teller to artists Josèfa Ntjam and Marta Minujín, and journalist and curator Edward Enninful.
The Art Basel Paris Conversations at the Petit Palais
In addition to the hundreds of stands full of artworks, the launch of a new path exploring the intersection of art and fashion designed by Loïc Prigent, and a spotlight on both emerging and historic Parisian galleries, the 2025 edition of Art Basel also unveils its annual compelling line-up of talks featuring major figures and opening meaningful conversations.
Edward Enninful, special guest of the event
Held at the Petit Palais, these “Conversations” gather key names from the art world. These thematic discussions are led by equally prominent moderators. Among them is journalist and curator Edward Enninful, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue until 2024. He will present a brand-new format this year – a full day of dialogues with four artists who rose to prominence in the 1990s, including Yinka Shonibare CBE, Juergen Teller, Sonia Boyce, and Mark Leckey.
On Friday, October 24th, each of these four guests will take turns to discuss the impact of that pivotal decade on fashion, art, and photography. A period during which their respective experimental, even visionary, approach challenged traditional boundaries between these disciplines. The theme directly echoes the upcoming exhibition “The 90s”, which will open at the Tate Britain in October 2026, curated by none other than Edward Enninful himself.
Highlights from the programme
Opening on Thursday, October 23rd, the “Conversations” programme will continue throughout the fair with a series of talks led by some of the most renowned voices in the art world. On the first day, American prodigy Tyler Mitchell, who has just unveiled his first institutional exhibition in France at Maison Européenne de la Photographie, will explore the new challenges faced by photography in an era of mass visual information.
That same day, Argentinian artist Marta Minujín will look back on the radical happenings she staged in Paris in the 1960s through a conversation with designer Frida Escobedo, who is currently overseeing the future transformation of the Centre Pompidou. The talk will be moderated by the well-known art critic Hans Ulrich Obrist.
On October 25th, musician and DJ Kiddy Smile will join visual artist and filmmaker Josèfa Ntjam to discuss “narrative as a form of resistance” through the lenses of ballroom culture, cinema, and speculative myth. A programme shaped by a variety of relevant themes and curated by some of today’s most influential figures in contemporary art.
“The 90s. Guest-curated by Edward Enninful OBE”, Friday, October 24th, 2025, from 1 pm to 6:30 pm, at the Petit Palais, Av. Winston Churchill, Paris 8th.
Find the full “Conversations” programme on artbasel.com.
