The Grand Palais alone isn’t enough to contain Art Basel Paris. One of the art world’s most anticipated weeks, each year the event, now in its fifth edition, gives life to new perspectives and possibilities, be it at the fair floor, satellite shows, or overheards at the afters.

But this year’s edition feels especially urgent. Protests over education cuts and the rising cost of living have left several fairs, museums, and galleries to scale back their weekend programming. While this means an abrupt end to the main event, it’s also a wake-up to the reality of living, a subject that, for centuries, artists never feared to confront. ⁠

What’s happening outside the white cube is defining our look inside of it. From new ways of seeing, ancestral histories, and trips through Paris’ own protest history, we’ve rounded up a list of must-see satellite moments, many of which are up through next year. Artists have always had a way with capturing the world, and in these shows, they’re not just facing, but imagining it anew. ⁠

Jenny Holzer’s ‘J’ai Vu’ at Musée d’Orsay

On view until February 21, 2027.

There’s no one “right place” for Jenny Holzer’s texts. From the streets to the world’s most esteemed museums, the conceptual artist has spent decades turning art into tools of confrontation. At Musée d’Orsay, Holzer pulls from the museum’s own archives, putting yesterday’s writings into monumental LED installations, projects, stone sculptures, and metal paintings into conversation with today’s conflicts and contradictions.

Barbara Kruger’s ‘The History of Tears’ at Bourse de Commerce

On view until January 25, 2027.

Barbara Kruger’s massive Bourse de Commerce commission sizes up to both her own artistic imprint and ceaseless exploration of visual systems that rule us. Streams of text, video, and collage pour through the rotunda, bringing issues of power, sexuality, and alienation to light. Highlights include “Power, Pleasure, Desire, Disgust,” her 1996 video work that inaugurated Jeffrey Deitch’s 18 Wooster space back in ’97, and the wise words of authors George Orwell and Aimé Césaire, bolded and blown-up around the space. Take it from her floor installation, which riffs off 1984: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever.”

Ibrahim Mahama’s ‘The Harvest Season’ at Fondation Cartier

On view until February 28, 2027.

Remnants of the industrial past become raw material for tomorrow in The Harvest Season by Ibrahim Mahama. At Fondation Cartier, the Ghanaian artist showcases new and some of his best-known installations beside the that of nine longtime collaborators. Examining how objects, architecture, and infrastructure tell the stories of their makers, his practice is one of reinvention. One notable piece is “Things Fall Apart,” a newly debuted reconstruction of Mahama’s glass bottle factory in his hometown, Tamale.

Yu Nishimura’s ‘Towards a Sea’ at Lafayette Anticipations

On view until January 3, 2027.

Yu Nishimura’s first Paris solo, Towards a Sea, is also his largest to date. The Japanese artist, whose mastery to land soft on the eyes fueled his meteoric ascent, brings some 50 works to Lafayette Anticipations, spanning drawings to large-scale paintings. Inspired by his upbringing in Kanagawa, Nishimura turns to the ethereal qualities of the seaside for this presentation. Rich in mood and landscape, he imbues his work with a kind of beauty just strange enough to allure, unraveling the mystery in even the most minute moments for a lesson in sight.

‘Rafael Pavarotti: Photographer’ at Musée des Arts Décoratifs

On view until May 2, 2027.

Rafael Pavarotti is an artist changing up the fashion photography game, challenging representation and belonging in his industry and image culture at large. The photographer gathers 200 works, from magazine covers to campaigns, paired with pieces from the Musée des Arts Décoratifs‘ collection for a new retrospective. Brilliantly hued and highly stylized, each of his images traces back to the hues of his upbringing in Brazil’s Amazon region. The natural environment, heritage, and matriarchs are central sources of inspiration for him, alchemized into powerful, brilliantly hued shots that bring a near sculptural presence to mind.

Sylvia Ken’s ‘Land and Sky’ at Cassandra Bird

On view until January 17, 2027.

Australian First Nations artist Sylvia Ken looks to the stars to tell a story rooted in land. Her meticulously dotted paintings, which channel earthly landscapes and celestial families, bear the weight of generations. They figure the sacred sites of South Australia in forms that transcend conventional depictions of landscape, merging ancestral memory, Country, and the cosmos in compositions that, more than they are rich in splendor, are undoubtedly alive.

OFFSCREEN Paris at La Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière

On view until October 25, 2026.

While the Grand Palais program was cut short, much of the city’s satellite scene is still on the move. One of the most unique fairs, OFFSCREEN is where you’ll find some of the week’s most experimental image-based installations, photography, films, and experiences, all set in a 17th-century chapel. With a taste for the avant-garde, this year’s edition features work by 29 artists, including an installation by Mahama, with pieces by Ana Mendieta on show as the guest of honor.

‘Estampes choisies’ Group Exhibition at Galerie Lelong

On view until November 14, 2026.

The human body and how we make sense of the world around us bind a group exhibition at Galerie Lelong. With its international trio — Mamma Andersson, Nalini Malani, and Alison Saar — the print selection spotlights three distinct technical and stylistic approaches to world-building.

We’ve especially got our eye on works by Malani, the pioneering Mumbai-based artist whose work draws on her experience as a child refugee during the Partition of India. Through mythology and history, she challenges how we understand the past and its implications for the present.

Gallery and museum hours are subject to change.