The biennale was directed by Cecilia Alemani, a female curator from Italy who is the Director & Chief Curator of High Line Park, New York. The biennale saw the largest participation of female artists, perhaps because she is the first woman director in the history of the biennale. They listen to the voice of marginalized groups such as women, black people, and homosexuals. The UK Pavilion, featuring Sonia Boyce, a colored woman artist, as the main artist, won the Venice Biennale’s top Golden Lion prize, and another colored woman artist, Simone Leigh, also won the Golden Lion award probably in the same context. The Korean Pavilion captured the audience with Gyre by Yunchul Kim, which is a piece of art that combines art, science, and music. The movement of the colorful kinetic cells that resemble fish scales wowed the viewers.

As it is the first grand-scale art event since COVID-19, the Art Foundation, created by luxury fashion houses like the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Pinault Foundation, and Prada Foundation, is holding numerous special exhibitions and shows. Big names like Georg Baselitz from Museo di Palazzo Grimani, Anish Kapoor from Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia, Ugo Rondinone from Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista, and Anselm Kiefer from Palazzo Ducale have all come to the Biennale, making it the greatest show ever.

Art Basel is like the dinosaur of art fairs, and it is also held in Miami and Hong Kong. This year, Art Basel plans to enter France under the name, Paris Plus. From Miami where you can easily spot Hollywood stars, to Hong Kong a place often visited by Asian collectors, and Paris, the new center of contemporary art in Europe, Art Basel has secured great venues suitable to its reputation as the most successful art fair in the world.

The commercial aspect of Art Basel, which began in Basel in 1970, is also demonstrated in the fact that it received support from UBS, a multinational investment bank and financial services. This is why the Art Global Market Report published by UBS enjoys a reputation that is on par with that of the New York Times in the art market. It is sure to be exciting to watch art crowds in their chic outfits as they flock to the art tours sponsored by BMW, parties sponsored by prominent sponsors like Vitra and Audemars Piguet, and events and speaker sessions held by different galleries targeting collectors.

The documenta exhibition in Kassel, Germany is the only place in the world where you can see renowned artworks like 700 Oak Trees by Joseph Beuys and 1,001 Qing-Dynasty chairs by Ai Weiwei. The scale and unconventionality, among others, make Kassel Documenta a truly unique exhibition worth watching.

Kassel Documenta is held for 100 days every five years and is considered a utopia for contemporary artists. Ever since it began in 1955 to promote modern art, it has strived to articulate the importance of community and solidarity. Instead of simply pursuing blue-chip works that sell well, it values the public nature of art and appreciates works that resonate with the largest number of viewers. They have a unique system of designating only one Art Director and entrusting that person with the full authority of the show. Past art directors include Catherine David, an influential figure in contemporary art and a former director of Paris Museum of Modern Art and Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Okwui Enwezor, a master of contemporary art. The person who will become the next Art Director at Kassel Documenta is always a keen topic in the art sector as it is a hugely popular event visited by over 700,000 people. Documenta Fifteen, the first Documenta held following the outbreak of COVID-19, is set to be directed not by one person, but by an artist group, Ruangrupa, a leading artist group based in Indonesia composed of seven artists. It gives evidence of the spirit of Documenta that moves away from a Euro-centric perspective and faces up to social issues.

Berlin Biennale, which started in 1998, is fairly new compared to the other shows mentioned above but that does not mean it falls behind in terms of the weight of the works showcased. Artists like Olafur Eliasson, Thomas Demand, Monica Bonvicini, and Stan Douglas became star artists through Berlin Biennale. This is one of the few art events that places the focus on creators and the audience including artists, theorists, and participants, rather than gallerists, auction officials, and curators who play the leading role in the art market. Perhaps this is why they are wide open to independent, experimental works.

Kader Attia will be the curator of the 12th Berlin Biennale. He is an artist from Algeria based in Paris. For many years, he has worked with the concept of fairness by highlighting social justice and cultural phenomena. This is also in line with the rather heavy topic of Berlin Biennale 2022, colonialism. The list of participating artists, which includes Uriel Orlow, Gian Tairi, and Monica de Miranda, shows an awareness of social issues like racism, gender, capitalism, environment pollution, and the gap between the rich and the poor that is sharper than that of any media outlets. The spirit of Berlin Biennale laid out in view throughout the city of Berlin in support of art in the open space is young, free, and therefore, perilous.