Stepping on to Basel’s Messeplatz square ahead of the opening of the world’s largest art fair in mid-June this year, the visitor will already be immersed in a large-scale artwork: artist Katharina Grosse is set to transform the space into one of her enormous paintings, spray painting the buildings and fountains in her signature swirls and loops. Meanwhile, with less than a week to go before the fair, director Maike Cruse is busy, fielding phone calls and WhatsApps from galleries, journalists, and collectors, all eager for a piece of the action. We caught up with her to find out about this year’s highlights.

Skye Sherwin: A lot of new things are happening for Art Basel in 2025, including a new sector, the Art Basel Awards, and a high number of galleries making their debut at the fair. What can we expect?

Maike Cruse: Art Basel is our marquee fair, with galleries bringing their A game. Highlights on view include a large, late-career painting by Pablo Picasso, Homme à la pipe assis et amour (1969), at Pace, who are also bringing a 1969 abstract painting by Joan Mitchell – finally being recognized as the trailblazing Abstract Expressionist she was. Likewise, Yares Art are bringing her fellow painter Helen Frankenthaler’s Swan Lake I (1961). Di Donna gallery is bringing Leonora Carrington’s Sueño de Sirenas (Mermaid’s Dream) (1963), an unusual triptych painting in a carved, wooden frame; and Lehmann Maupin are bringing a rare Heidi Bucher: a fragile, large-scale latex imprint of a room. These works are almost never seen outside museums. Of course this is only a small selection: I have been very impressed by the work lists galleries are sharing with me, and I am excited to see the show coming together.

We’re always looking to make the fair feel fresh – 20 galleries are joining us in Basel for the very first time. Younger voices include Emalin and Arcadia Missa, both from London; François Ghebaly from Los Angeles and New York; and Hunt Kastner from Prague. There is a strong Asian presence too. Beijing Commune is presenting Chinese artists from four generations – pioneers Zhang Xiaogang and Wang Luyan alongside contemporary figures like Ma Qiusha and Chang Yuchen ­– with works that explore identity, memory, globalization, and materiality. Third Gallery Aya from Osaka are highlighting three pioneering Japanese female photographers: Amazawa Eiko, Okanoue Toshiko, and Ishiuchi Miyako. The gallery is showcasing rare vintage prints, collages, and iconic works that celebrate their groundbreaking contributions to the medium.

SS: What is the new sector, Premiere, and why did you decide to create it?

MC: It’s a section for newer galleries to showcase cutting-edge works from the past 5 years. It allows galleries to bring new works to market at Art Basel by mid-career or more established artists. We’re creating space for galleries that are in the sweet spot between emerging and more established blue-chip galleries, who want to participate in Art Basel.

The response has been very positive. For example, Edel Assanti from London is bringing Lonnie Holley’s work focused on social justice, including a key sculpture from his solo exhibition at Camden Art Centre last year. Lonnie will also present a recent video work in Unlimited. Jacky Strenz from Frankfurt will present a solo booth of Lin May Saeed’s work – ­ an artist whose sculpture reflected her work as an animal rights activist, and who sadly died at the age of 50 in 2023. Gypsum Gallery from Cairo has a dual presentation, bringing together new paintings by Dimitra Charamandas and analog photography by Basim Magdy exploring coastal and volcanic landscapes.

SS: The Unlimited sector is a highlight for many people. What’s happening this year?

MC: We have 67 monumental, museum-scale works, including videos and performances. The Cairo-based dance collective nasa4nasa is performing daily. Among the museum-quality pieces are Martin Kippenberger’s Transportable Subway Entrance (1997), an example of his ‘METRO-Net’ vision for a subway network spanning the world, and Félix González-Torres’s Untitled (Go-Go Dancing Platform) (1991) which addresses corporeal reality during the AIDS crisis and the homophobic climate of the 1980s and 1990s.

We’re also presenting brand new, never-before-seen works, including Ayan Farah’s Desert Seeds (2025), a 12-meter-wide landscape painting made with the land itself ­– Somali clay and cloud-seeded water from the UAE. Nicola Turner’s Danse Macabre (2025) is a twisting, larger-than-life abstract sculpture crafted from salvaged horsehair and raw wool, evoking a body in motion or decay.

SS: The fair is taking the big step of launching the Art Basel Awards, a comprehensive set of art world accolades, with 36 medalists across nine categories, ranging from younger talents like the artist and composer Pan Daijing or the fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner to established names like Lubaina Himid and the design studio Formafantasma. What can we expect from the initial event taking place at the fair in Basel?

MC: We’ll celebrate the medalists on Thursday evening with a gala event, followed by the public Art Basel Awards Summit on Friday in the auditorium next to Unlimited. The summit will feature discussions between our jury members and medalists, honoring their work.

This is the first award of its kind – a year-long project culminating later this year in Miami Beach, where the Gold Medalists will be revealed. We want to energize the art world through this initiative, also recognizing those who aren’t always as visible as they should be: institutions doing vital work and the specialists behind the scenes, from studio managers to art fabricators.

SS: Basel is a great place for art world community-building, it’s such a manageable city. How does Art Basel extend beyond the fair itself this year?

MC: Parcours is a free exhibition that unfolds throughout Basel’s cityscape, transforming empty stores, shops, hotels, underpasses, office buildings, and other everyday spaces into sites for contemporary art. The sector presents site-specific artworks by internationally renowned artists that engage with Basel’s past and present. It features 21 artworks, including new commissions, installed between Clarastrasse and Mittlere Brücke, extending up to the Münsterplatz.

Stefanie Hessler, the director of the Swiss Institute in New York, is curating the exhibition for the second time. The theme is ‘Second Nature’, exploring the boundaries between life and the lifelike; examining what we perceive as natural. Several artworks – including pieces by Shahryar Nashat, Marianna Simnett, and Sturtevant – will be installed in and around the former Hotel Merian. An installation of painted car hoods with scent and soundscape by Selma Selman will be on view in Clara Church. Thomas Bayrle will present a functional shop in the Manor department store, selling transparent raincoats featuring his signature ‘superform’ style.

SS: Basel also has world-class museums. Can you share some of the highlights programmed to coincide with the fair this year?

MC: The quality of museum shows is exceptional this year. Legendary Oscar-winning filmmaker and artist Steve McQueen’s Bass (2024) will be shown at Schaulager. The immersive installation of 60 ceiling-mounted LED lightboxes is accompanied by sounds created entirely with bass instruments and performed by renowned musicians including Marcus Miller and Meshell Ndegeocello.

Fondation Beyeler will present a retrospective of Vija Celmins’s work from the1960s to today, as well as a new virtual reality work by Jordan Wolfson. The Kunstmuseum has already opened a beautiful exhibition looking at how Medardo Rosso revolutionized Modern sculpture and his influence on contemporary artists. Kunsthalle Basel’s solo exhibitions include Ser Serpas, who is working with a theater group from Georgia to present performances throughout the week, as well as a solo show by Dala Nasser. At Museum Tinguely there is a solo show by Julian Charrière.

SS: Beside the art, what would you recommend to kick back?

MC: Swimming in one of Europe’s longest rivers! Imagine 300 gallerists and Art Basel collaborators swimming down the Rhine – that’s how we kicked off fair week 2 years ago, followed by a relaxed barbecue. We are planning to do so again this year, hoping that the weather will be in our favor.