Art
Exterior view of Wat Arun in Bangkok. Courtesy of Bangkok Art Biennale.
If your 2026 travel plans have an artistic aspect in mind, then you’re in luck: This year is packed with standout biennials, art fairs, and major exhibitions around the globe.
Here, we pick seven spots—from marquee art events to rising scenes—that are worth adding to an art-inspired travel itinerary in 2026.
Venice, Italy
Why Visit: The Venice Biennale returns
Venice. Photo by Kristoffer Trolle. Image via Flickr.
The Venice Biennale is colloquially known as the “Olympics of the art world,” and visitors should expect a marathon of artistic activities for its 2026 edition.
More of a citywide takeover than an individual event, the Biennale is anchored by its main exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” which will take place from May 9th to November 22nd in the Arsenale, a vast venue in the city’s east. Conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, the expansive show is expected to focus on a theme of subtlety and voices that are often unheard in the mainstream art world.
The main show is merely the start of the art to discover throughout the labyrinthine city. The Biennale will unfold further across the Arsenale and nearby Giardini with exhibitions mounted by national pavilions featuring artists including Yto Barrada for France and Lubaina Himid for the United Kingdom.
Beyond the Biennale, a jam-packed slate of museum exhibitions and pop-ups will reward visitors willing to rack up their step counts. The city is home to a dense network of historic institutions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Palazzo Grassi. In 2026, they will be joined by some of the year’s most anticipated exhibitions, among them Marina Abramović’s landmark show at the Gallerie dell’Accademia. Many of these shows and pop-ups are open throughout the course of the main Biennale exhibitions, meaning you can visit any time during the six months.
Doha, Qatar
Why Visit: Major events in a rising Middle East art capital
Doha, Qatar. Photo by Jimmy Baikovicius. Image via Flickr.
In a banner year for the Middle Eastern art world, Doha is poised to capture global attention in 2026.
Teeing things up is the inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar, running from February 3rd to February 7th, which marks the fair’s first edition in the region. Hosting 87 galleries from 31 countries, the M7, and Doha Design District, the closely-watched fair will be curated by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky under the theme “Becoming.”
Other key events worth visiting for this year include the second edition of the Doha Design Biennale in April, which will launch with a citywide program of exhibitions and events. In November, meanwhile, Qatar Museums—the umbrella organization for the country’s museums and public art initiatives—will launch the Rubaiya Qatar. This new quadrennial debuts in November across multiple venues, headlined by the exhibition “Unruly Waters.”
The Qatari capital is also home to an increasingly robust museum ecosystem, including Mathaf and the National Museum of Qatar. The Mathaf, dedicated to modern art, will celebrate its 15th anniversary this year with a large expansion, while the Lawh Wa Qalam: M.F. Husain Museum—the first institution dedicated to Indian modernist Maqbool Fida Husain—opened last year, making it the city’s newest institutional arrival.
Sydney, Australia
Why Visit: A sun-soaked biennale in a thriving coastal arts scene
Sydney, Australia. Photo by Beau Giles. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
With perennially sunny weather and an exciting art scene, Sydney makes for an appealing aesthetic escape. This year, the 25th Biennale of Sydney (March 14 to June 14 2026) will take place across harbor-front institutions and vast industrial sites like White Bay Power Station, placing contemporary art directly into the rhythm of ferries, waterfronts, and public spaces. This year’s theme will be “Rememory,” curated by Hoor Al-Qasimi.
The biennale is the headline event, and can also be paired with a visit to Vivid Sydney (the world’s largest festival of light, music, and ideas, taking place from May to June), The Sydney Fringe (an expansive multi-arts festival in September), and its tentpole art fair, Sydney Contemporary (September 5th through 8th). The city is home to a growing network of galleries, many of which, such as Sullivan+Strumpf and Piermarq, appear at art fairs around the world.
The city’s art scene is idyllically embedded in its coastline. Beaches such as Bondi, Bronte, and Manly sit a short trip from museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Bangkok, Thailand
Why Visit: One of Asia’s most exciting art spots steps into the spotlight
Exterior view of the One Bangkok. Courtesy of the Bangkok Art Biennial.
Warm, frenetic, and famously hospitable, Bangkok is home to one of Asia’s fastest-growing art scenes.
In October, the Bangkok Art Biennale returns for its fifth edition. Under the theme “Angels and Mara,” the exhibition will unfold across the city, through temples such as Wat Pho and cultural institutions such as the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre.
Beyond the biennial, Bangkok’s institutional landscape offers any art-loving tourist a full schedule of activities. Dib Bangkok, which opened in late 2025, houses more than 1,000 pieces of Thai and international contemporary art, while the Bangkok Kunsthalle, which opened in early 2025, hosts major conceptual exhibitions throughout 2026. Elsewhere, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA Bangkok) offers a survey of modern and contemporary Thai art, while Museum Siam presents Thailand’s cultural history.
Lagos, Nigeria
Why Visit: A banner biennale in West Africa’s preeminent art capital
Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Reginald Bassey. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Lagos is rapidly becoming the commercial and creative engine of African contemporary art, and this momentum will continue in 2026.
The fifth edition of the Lagos Biennial returns to the city from October 17th to December 18th. Its main exhibition—curated this year by Folakunle Oshun—is distinguished for its thematic urgency and use of non-traditional sites, mirroring the city’s density and political charge. This year, the theme is “The Museum of Things Unseen,” a reflection of ancestry and cultural history through the lens of museology.
Amid the biennial, The Àkéte Collection – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art will officially launch its permanent home in the city in October, aiming to become a “living archive” for the African continent. Also taking place is the 11th edition of the ART X Lagos art fair from November 5th to 8th. “Many of the young artists in Nigeria believed they had to leave the country to establish themselves globally,” the fair’s founder, Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, told Artsy in December 2025. “I wanted to change that. I wanted to bring the world to us.”
The city’s momentum is further sustained year-round by a fast-evolving arts community. Galleries such as Rele, kó, Ogirikan Art Gallery, and Nike Art Gallery support artists shaping contemporary African discourse, while institutions like the John Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture & History ground new work in deeper historical narratives.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Why Visit: A new cultural touchstone in one of America’s great institutional cities
Exterior view of the Calder Gardens in Philadelphia. Photo by Bairdwarp. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
Known for its best-in-class institutions and historical attractions, Philadelphia enters 2026 with a new cultural anchor: Calder Gardens.
The museum and sculpture garden dedicated to the work of Alexander Calder opened in September 2025. Designed as a contemplative, indoor-outdoor experience, the site presents rotating installations spanning Calder’s five-decade career, from intimate works on paper to large-scale mobiles and stabiles.
The venue joins a robust network of museums in the city of brotherly love, all of which will be staging monumental exhibitions in 2026. The Barnes Foundation will present Sky Hopinka’s “Red Metral Dust” on March 21st, while the Philadelphia Art Museum opens a long-awaited solo exhibition of Noah Davis on January 24th. At the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, “A World in the Making: The Shaker” arrives from Switzerland’s Vitra Design Museum.
Beyond the city’s institutions, murals and public artwork permeate daily life—one reason USA Today named Philadelphia the best city in America for street art. Some of the must-see works include Robert Indiana’s LOVE (1976) in John F. Kennedy Plaza and a six-story high mural in Center City by Amy Sherald.
Malta
Why Visit: A Mediterranean biennale in a location where past and present commingle
Valletta, Malta. Photo by Mike McBey. Image via Flickr.
Still under the radar for many, Malta is emerging as a Mediterranean art hub worthy of international attention.
The Malta Biennale will highlight a major year for the island. Running from March 11th to May 29th, the exhibition, “CLEAN | CLEAR | CUT,” will lean into the island’s dramatic landscape and layered history, staging contemporary work inside fortresses and palazzos. Positioned as a cultural hinge between Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, the exhibition foregrounds questions of movement, power, and exchange that feel inseparable from the island itself.
On the institutional front, 2026 will be the first year of operations for Malta International Contemporary Art Space, which opened in late 2025 and will mount a landmark survey of Milton Avery in April. The Gozo Museum & Cultural Centre is expected to open later in the year, and the Maltese capital of Valletta is home to several longstanding cultural anchors. This includes MUŻA, an art museum with works spanning the 15th to 21st centuries, and Valletta Contemporary, a revered art gallery featuring blue-chip works by Georg Baselitz, Tracey Emin, and more. Other art events this year include the Malta International Arts Festival in June, which is known for its site-specific performances.
