VOLTA Basel 2025 Spotlights MENA Pavilion: A Bold Move Turning Heads and Sparking Debate
At its 20th anniversary edition 2025, VOLTA Basel launched a significant new feature: the Middle East–North Africa (MENA) Pavilion, curated by Beirut-based curator Randa Sadaka. This curation marks the first time VOLTA has dedicated a regional spotlight to MENA, showcasing galleries from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, and beyond.
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Why It’s Getting Attention
• Diversifying the fair: The Pavilion brings together underrepresented narratives, from politically engaged works to explorations of identity and urban transformation. The artists tackle issues like displacement, history, and taboo—covering a spectrum of cultural dialogues .
• First European appearances: Many galleries—Fann À Porter (Dubai), Gallery Misr (Cairo), Mojdeh Gallery (Tehran), and Khawla art Gallery, are making their European debut .
• Strategic timing: Amid a global shift toward emerging regional art markets, VOLTA's anniversary edition reinforces the fair's identity as a discovery platform for bold, boundary-pushing voices .
Yet the spotlight isn’t purely celebratory. Several tensions have emerged. Some unhappy questions were addressed to the fair’s director about this representation and its timing, asking if this would be adopted every year.
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Fulvio Codsi - Immemorial 2025
Looking Ahead
Whether hailed as a triumph or critiqued for its pitfalls, the MENA Pavilion has undeniably stirred global conversation. The true test will be what comes next:
• Will VOLTA continue the Pavilion in future editions?
• Will galleries, collectors, institutions follow suit, building sustainable platforms for MENA artists?
• Will acknowledging the region’s art translate into more equitable representation within the larger global art market?
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Georges Yammine Photography
VOLTA Basel’s 2025 MENA Pavilion isn’t just a new addition to the fair—it’s a statement. Its success will depend not only on the works on display but on ongoing institutional support and open discourse. It has the potential to shift perceptions, dismantle outdated narratives, and rewrite the playbook on how global art fairs engage with the Middle East and North Africa. And if it does, the spotlight won’t dim—it will burn brighter.
Author: Jihad Mikhael
