Paris, With
Room to Discover
An independent art fair takes over a new Canal Saint-Martin address, making space for unexpected encounters—and a Miami connection.
By MSM Editorial Desk
October 20, 2026
Paris, France
An art fair can be a race through names, rooms, and appointments. Paris Internationale is proposing a different pace. For its twelfth edition, the independent, gallery-led fair moves to Canal Saint-Martin with a more focused format and an invitation to spend longer with what is on view.
Open to the public October 20–24, the 2026 edition brings together 54 galleries and six non-profit spaces from 19 countries. Sixteen galleries are participating for the first time. Admission remains free, keeping the door open to visitors whose interest in contemporary art does not begin with a purchase.
For Miami readers, there is a direct connection in the participant list: El Apartamento, which lists Havana, Madrid, and Miami among its locations. Its presence places the city within a wider network of galleries traveling to Paris, alongside participants from Cape Town, Mexico City, Seoul, and beyond.
A building that shapes the visit
At 187–189 Quai de Valmy, the 3,500-square-meter venue is divided between a five-storey street-facing tower and a three-level courtyard building. An internal passage connects them; four courtyards bring daylight into the complex.
Basel-based Christ & Gantenbein returns to develop the fair’s architecture. Rather than separating exhibitors into conventional sectors, the organizers mix emerging and established galleries. The result is a framework designed to let different generations and geographies meet along the same route.
Three ways of looking
Discovery beyond the gallery stand
The Special Projects program extends that approach into installations and unexpected parts of the building. Fiona Connor with The Wig and Valentine Gardiennet with Traits Libres are among the participating artists. The supplied image of Gardiennet’s It takes a village, shown in Pantin in 2025, offers a reference for the artist’s work rather than a view of this year’s fair.
A new collaboration with Korea Arts Management Service brings seven emerging Korean galleries together through NEXT KOREA: GALLERIES. Curated by Oriane Durand and Jiwon Yu, Second Nature considers the relationships between natural and artificial worlds, materials, rituals, and contemporary images. RANEE SEOUL, whose presentation includes Kun Kang, is among the participants.
Keeping the conversation open
Directed by Silvia Ammon, Paris Internationale has retained its independent, gallery-led identity since its founding in 2015. Talks organized with Fondation Pernod Ricard and the Daily Dérives—guided visits led by figures from the art world—give visitors ways to encounter the fair through someone else’s perspective.
Stay for another conversation
There is also a reason to pause upstairs. On the fourth floor, Banc Public’s Permanent Hospitality pop-up brings chef Numa Muller together with lighting designer Lucien Nicou and Radiant Studio. A three-course lunch and an evening menu of sharing plates draw on Provençal and Mediterranean traditions; lunch and dinner require reservations.
That space to sit, look again, and continue a discussion suits the fair’s larger proposition. For visitors used to navigating art through a crowded calendar, Paris Internationale offers a useful alternative: fewer assumptions about what deserves attention, and more room to find out.