The Reality of Art Weeks: Glamour, Grit, and Everything In Between

Art weeks are the art world’s answer to fashion weeks — a global circuit that hops from one cultural capital to another. Two weeks ago, it was Frieze London; last week, Art Basel Paris; next up, Art Basel Miami. In between, smaller satellite fairs fill the calendar. There’s always something happening somewhere. In major art metropolises, an art fair expands into a full week of art.

The question, however, remains: how does anyone keep up — or at least avoid FOMO?

On Instagram, art weeks look like a glamorous carousel of beautifully dressed people sipping champagne beside blue-chip works and glittering canapés. But beyond the filtered stories and polished reels, what are art weeks really about?