Art Basel 2023 is gearing up to be an extraordinary event, with the announcement of several exciting new features that will be showcased at the fair. The event, which will take place from June 15 to 18, 2023, at Messe Basel, will feature 284 of the world's leading galleries from across the globe. This year, Art Basel has announced an impressive lineup of large-scale installations, site-specific public art projects, thematic exhibitions, and cultural programming.

One of the most anticipated features of the fair is Unlimited, a sector dedicated to large-scale projects. Unlimited will showcase 76 exceptional projects by distinguished and emerging artists from around the world, providing visitors with a unique opportunity to experience monumental installations, colossal sculptures, comprehensive photo series, and expansive video projections. The sector will be curated for the third time by Giovanni Carmine, Director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, who promises an ever-broader range of artistic positions that challenge and expand traditional narratives.

Another highlight of Art Basel 2023 is Parcours, a site-specific public art project curated by Samuel Leuenberger, founder of the non-profit exhibition spaces SALTS in Birsfelden and Country SALTS in Bennwil. This year's Parcours will present 26 projects and performances under the theme 'Word of Mouth,' reflecting on the current state of artmaking as a means of expression that translates social and political communication. Parcours aims to engage visitors by showcasing projects in various locations around Basel, including libraries, private meeting rooms in financial institutions, domestic gardens, underground tunnels, bars, and even traffic roundabouts.

Art Basel 2023 will also debut Kabinett, a sector focusing on curated exhibitions within the exhibitor's main booths. Kabinett will feature 13 presentations from 14 galleries, spotlighting distinct curated exhibitions within galleries' booths, providing visitors with the opportunity to dive deeper into an artist's practice through focused solo and thematic presentations.

In addition to these exciting new features, Art Basel 2023 will also present Conversations, a series of 12 panels bringing together over 50 of today's most inspiring cultural figures to explore topics of care, collectivity, and connectivity. The public programming will be free of charge, providing visitors with the opportunity to engage with some of the world's most innovative and influential cultural leaders.

The Film program at Art Basel 2023 will present a week of extraordinary artists' cinema projects curated by Filipa Ramos, founding curator of the online video platform Vdrome and lecturer at the Arts Institute of the FHNW in Basel, in collaboration with Marian Masone, New York-based independent curator. The program will feature artists' surveys, documentaries, and a special program on sci-fi and magical realism.

Finally, Art Basel 2023 will feature a site-specific presentation by Latifa Echakhch, a renowned Moroccan artist who represented Switzerland at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. Echakhch's activation of the city's Messeplatz will transform Basel's public spaces into a sprawling superstructure that will serve as the backdrop for a series of live concerts and performances organized in collaboration with Luc Meier, Director of La Becque Artist Residency. The musical acts will interrogate the fundamentals of sound and music-making as a shared experience between the artist and the audience.

In conclusion, Art Basel 2023 promises to be an exciting event, featuring an impressive lineup of large-scale installations, site-specific public art projects, thematic exhibitions, and cultural programming. The fair will provide visitors with a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world's most innovative and influential cultural leaders, explore new artistic positions, and experience monumental installations, colossal sculptures, comprehensive photo series, and expansive video projections.