Menart Fair 2025: Your Complete Visitor Guide

Witness a premier art fair unfold in its native city. Below, discover vital details for Menart Fair 2025 — including event dates at Hôtel de la Païva, pass selections, must-see galleries and talents, plus strategic advice on hotels, eateries, and collateral art happenings.

Menart Fair 2025 returns to Paris as the premier showcase for modern and contemporary art from the Middle East, North Africa, and their diasporas! ✨ Held from 25-27th October, 2025, at the historic Hôtel de la Païva (Champs-Élysées), this fair transforms a 19th-century mansion into a labyrinth of artistic innovation. Curated by visionary gallerist Joanna Chevalier, Menart bridges cultures by spotlighting overlooked narratives—from Beirut’s avant-garde scenes to Tehran’s digital art pioneers. Expect 40+ galleries (e.g., Sabrina Amrani, Tanit Gallery), immersive installations, AR experiences, and live performances. Beyond commerce, it’s a cultural dialogue hub where politics, identity, and futurism collide. 🎨 With 15,000+ visitors annually, it’s Paris’s winter art highlight!

Founded in 2021 by Joanna Chevalier (former Christie’s Dubai specialist), Menart Fair emerged during the pandemic as a defiant celebration of MENA art when global travel froze ❄️. Its debut at Palais de Tokyo united just 22 galleries from 12 countries—becoming an instant lifeline for artists censored in their homelands, like Iranian dissident Atena Farghadani, whose prison sketches were smuggled to Paris for display ✊. By 2023, it outgrew its roots, moving to the opulent Hôtel de la Païva on the Champs-Élysées, doubling attendance to 15,000+ and partnering with Art Dubai to amplify Global South voices 🌍.
Key milestones:

• 2022: Launched the Emerging Artists Prize with Cartier Foundation, spotlighting Syrian digital artist Omar Imam.
• 2023: Hosted a landmark auction for Turkish earthquake relief, raising €500K+ 💫.
• 2024: Featured in the Venice Biennale’s “Foreigners Everywhere” collateral program, cementing its global relevance.
• 2025: Expands with its first “Digital Oasis” pavilion, partnering with MIT’s Open Documentary Lab to showcase AI art from conflict zones 🤖.

The fair’s explosive growth (sales ↑200% since 2021!) mirrors rising Western interest in MENA narratives—transforming from a niche platform into a non-negotiable stop on the art world calendar 🚀.

Menart’s core mission is “Cultural Sovereignty”—dismantling Eurocentric art hierarchies by centering MENA perspectives as contemporary, not “exotic” 🌺. It’s a radical reclamation of narrative power, driven by:
✨ Pillars of Action:
Artist Empowerment:

• 30% of profits fund residencies for artists from conflict zones (e.g., Gaza, Syria).
• No censorship policy: Works addressing political oppression (like Palestinian artist Malak Mattar’s war diaries) are showcased boldly 🕊️.

Market Equity:

• Galleries from MENA pay 50% lower fees than European peers—democratizing access.
• Collector development programs mentor first-time buyers from the diaspora.

Education & Legacy:

• Free school workshops with Institut du Monde Arabe (e.g., “Storytelling Through Arabic Calligraphy”).
• Digital archives preserve oral histories of displaced artists 🎤.

Inclusive Ecosystem:

• Multilingual labels (Arabic/French/English), prayer rooms, and halal catering.
• 40% female curation in 2025, with a focus on LGBTQ+ artists from Lebanon and Tunisia 🌈.

Humanitarian Advocacy:

• Jan 18, 2025: Charity auction for Gaza medical aid, featuring donated works by eL Seed and Shirin Neshat.
• Carbon-neutral shipping via partnerships with EcoArt Initiative ♻️.