The Art Basel Awards 2026, presented by BOSS, got off to a stellar start during the 56th edition of Art Basel in Basel. Now in its second year, the awards celebrate individuals and organizations across nine categories whose work is driving the evolution of contemporary art worldwide. The 2026 cohort was out in force in Basel for a week of events, which included a star-studded dinner held in the 15th-century former guildhall, Safran Zunft, and culminated in a ceremony hosted in the city’s 16th-century town hall.
Among the medalists in town were Arthur Jafa and María Magdalena Campos-Pons, in the Established Artist category; Precious Okoyomon, Diego Marcon, and Farah Al Qasimi, in the Emerging Artist category; Sumayya Vally, in the Cross-Disciplinary Creator category; and Siddhartha Mitter, in the Media and Storyteller category.
The Medalist Dinner gathered more than 200 key figures from across the global art world to honor the 2026 Art Basel Awards Medalists and reveal the recipient of the Gallery Legacy Award. Attendees included Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani; guest speaker Glenn Lowry; Max Hollein from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Drew Sawyer from the Whitney Museum of American Art; Art Basel Awards jury members Adriano Pedrosa, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Jessica Morgan, and Elena Filipovic; gallerists Jay Jopling and Sadie Coles; and artists Trevor Paglen, Alfredo Jaar, Cao Fei, Ibrahim Mahama, and Lawrence Abu Hamdan.
During the evening, the Gallery Legacy Award was presented to Paula Cooper Gallery. Founded in New York in 1968, the gallery was recognized for its enduring commitment to artists and its significant cultural and market impact. It was selected by a jury of nine collectors, patrons, and industry leaders, including Füsun and Faruk Eczacıbaşı, Dana Farouki, Jill and Peter Kraus, Alan Lau, Michael Ringier, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and Komal Shah. Senior Partner Steve Henry accepted the award on behalf of Paula Cooper Gallery.
Mentorship is central to the Gallery Legacy Award. Paula Cooper Gallery has nominated Chapter NY as the next-generation gallery it wishes to champion, with Art Basel contributing up to USD 50,000 in its name toward Chapter NY’s participation costs at the June 2027 Swiss show.
‘Whenever I’m asked what kind of gallery I want Chapter to be like, I have always answered Paula Cooper,’ said Nicole Russo, Founder of Chapter NY. ‘It’s a real honor to be recognized by Paula in this way. It means more than I can say.’
The following day saw the second Art Basel Awards ceremony to be held at the town hall, the seat of Basel’s council and parliament, where all medalists present received a certificate and a pin designed by French jewelry designer Lorette Colé Duprat.
The next major milestone in the awards journey will be the announcement of the 2026 Gold Medalists, which takes place during Art Basel Miami Beach this December.
The Art Basel Awards are presented by BOSS.
Learn more about the Art Basel Awards.
All photographs by Matthieu Croizier for Art Basel.
Caption for header image:
Back row, from left to right: Arthur Jafa, Established Artist Medalist; Anton Vidokle, Media and Storyteller Medalist; Kulapat Yantrasast, Cross Disciplinary Creator Medalist; Siddharta Mitter, Media and Storyteller Medalist; Hamza Walker, Director of The Brick, LA, Museum and Institution Medalist; Conradin Cramer, member of the government of the Canton of Basel-Stadt and President of the Government and Head of the Presidential Department; Azu Nwagbogu, Curator Medalist; Stuart Comer, Curator Medalist; Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel; Mark Godfrey of New Curators, Allies Medalist; Diana Campbell, Curator Medalist; Rirkrit Tiravanija, Established Artist Medalist; Vincenzo de Bellis, Chief Artistic Officer & Global Director Art Basel Fairs.
Front row, from left to right: Lema Sikod, Executive Managing Director of SAVVY, Berlin, Museum and Institution Medalist; Carla Gueye, Emerging Artist Medalist; Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock, Executive managing co-director, curation and Colonial Neighbours at SAVVY, Berlin, Museum and Institution Medalist; Aya Al-Bakree, CEO of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Museum and Institution Medalist; Aziza Kadyri, Emerging Artist Medalist; Pamela J. Joyner, Patron Medalist; Precious Okoyomon, Emerging Artist Medalist; Kati Lovaas, Director of Teiger Foundation, New York, Patron Medalist; María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Established Artist Medalist; Farah Al Qasimi, Emerging Artist Medalist; Mercedes Vilardell, Patron Medalist; Renaud Proch, Allies Medalist; Kerryn Greenberg of New Curators, Allies Medalist; Sumayya Vally, Cross Disciplinary Creator Medalist; Tiffany Sia, Emerging Artist Medalist; Diego Marcon, Emerging Artist Medalist.
The Art Basel Awards 2026 Medalist Ceremony at Basel Rathaus, Basel, June 18, 2026.
Published on June 19, 2026.