From Rabat to Dakar, from Paris to Brussels, and all the way to Abu Dhabi, exhibitions, biennials, art fairs, and museum openings will set the pace for the coming months. Here’s our selection of the must-see events this fall.
By the editorial staff
Daoud Aoulad-Syad at MMVI
In November, the Mohammed VI Museum is dedicating an exhibition to Daoud Aoulad-Syad, a leading figure in Moroccan photography. Since the 1980s, the photographer and filmmaker has turned his lens on Moroccan society, its fringes, and its popular culture. Fairground workers, street performers, and anonymous figures feature in a body of work that pays close attention to gestures, places, and everyday lives. This is an opportunity to (re)discover more than four decades of creative work.
Daoud Aoulad-Syad, starting in November, MMVI, Rabat.
Hassan Hajjaj + Acid Arab at the Cité de la Musique
Hajjaj, also known as “Andy Wahloo”—a playful nickname coined by his friend Rachid Taha—is presenting “My Rock Stars” at the Musée de la Musique, a collection of pop portraits of the singers and musicians who have shaped his career. The exhibition features his famous series Gnawa Connection, begun in the 1990s, which pays homage to the great Gnawa masters. The props used by the artist in his compositions—a clever repurposing of objects from consumer culture—will “ clash with the museum’s instruments in a joyfully irreverent approach,” notes the Philharmonie. For its part, the electronic group Acid Arab presents a unique auditory journey.
Hassan Hajjaj + Acid Arab, “My Rock Stars”, September 22, 2026, through April 25, 2027, Musée de la Musique – Cité de la Musique, Paris.
Sheila Hicks in Lille
A leading figure in textile art since the 1960s, Sheila Hicks is taking over the Atrium of the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille this fall with a new work. This exhibition holds special significance for Morocco: in 1971, at the invitation of the Moroccan government, the artist traveled throughout the country to study its textile traditions, before presenting her research at the Bab Rouah Gallery in Rabat.
Sheila Hicks, “Au-delà”, October 9, 2026, through March 8, 2027, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille.
The 16th Dakar Biennale
Announced in June for November, the 16th edition of the Dakar Biennale is being organized on a particularly tight schedule. The list of selected artists, expected in mid-September, remains unknown. Attention is therefore focused on its artistic director, Morad Montazami, an art historian and curator who has worked at the Tate Modern, among other institutions, and who is tasked with bringing coherence to this highly anticipated edition.
Dakar Biennale, November 19–December 19, 2026, Dakar.
Ibrahim Mahama at the Cartier Foundation
For his first major exhibition in the Fondation Cartier’s new building, Ibrahim Mahama brings together previously unseen works and iconic installations exploring the political, cultural, and social utopias that emerged during the era of African independence. Among them, Parliament of Ghosts, a large-scale installation conceived as a phantom parliamentary chamber, explores Ghana’s political history. True to a practice rooted in collaboration and knowledge-sharing, the Ghanaian artist invites nine other artists to engage in a dialogue with his work, including James Barnor, Gideon Appah, and Zohra Opoku.
Ibrahim Mahama, “The Harvest Season”, October 22, 2026, through February 28, 2027, Fondation Cartier, Paris.
Kerry James Marshall at the MAM
For more than forty years, Kerry James Marshall has been exploring the place of Black figures in the history of Western art and, through painting, has been reintroducing them into genres from which they have long been absent. The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris is presenting a major retrospective of his work, featuring nearly 70 works—including paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures—that allow viewers to appreciate both the coherence and the evolution of this body of work, which has become a major force in the history of contemporary painting.
Kerry James Marshall, “The Histories,” September 18, 2026, through January 24, 2027, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.
William Kentridge at BOZAR
BOZAR has named William Kentridge as its guest of honor for the 2026–2027 season. The South African artist will present “I am not me, the horse is not mine”, while a program of performances and events will complement the exhibition in collaboration with the Centre for the Less Good Idea, an artistic laboratory he founded in Johannesburg in 2016. Drawing, animation, theater, music, and performance will explore the full scope of a body of work that delves into South African history, colonization, memory, and forms of resistance.
William Kentridge, “I am not me, the horse is not mine ”, September 18, 2026–March 7, 2027, BOZAR, Brussels.
Kanal – Centre Pompidou Finally Opens in Brussels
After nearly ten years of development, KANAL will open its doors on November 28 in the 40,000 m² former Citroën garage in Brussels. As a partner in the project through 2031, the Centre Pompidou will showcase part of its collections there and curate two temporary exhibitions per year. For the opening, Otobong Nkanga will take over the space with a participatory installation, while “A Truly Immense Journey” will bring together more than 350 works to trace a century of modern and contemporary art.
Kanal – Centre Pompidou, opening November 28, 2026. Exhibition “A Truly Immense Journey ” November 28, 2026, through January 9, 2028, Kanal – Centre Pompidou, Brussels.
Frieze and the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi
The end of the year will mark a new milestone in Abu Dhabi’s emergence as an international arts hub. From November 19 to 22, the inaugural edition of Frieze Abu Dhabi will bring together more than 80 galleries at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Three weeks later, on December 11, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will finally open its doors on Saadiyat Island. Designed by Frank Gehry and featuring 11,600 square meters of indoor exhibition space, it will become the largest museum in the Guggenheim network.
Frieze Abu Dhabi, November 19–22, 2026, Manarat Al Saadiyat. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, opening December 11, 2026.
Maghreb Weddings at the IMA Paris
Because in the Maghreb, marriage is as much an intimate celebration as it is a communal event, the exhibition “Vive la mariée!” [Long Live the Bride!] will bring together costumes and jewelry on display for the first time in France, along with works by 27 contemporary artists—mostly women—from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and their diasporas. Among them, Moroccan artist Ghizlane Sahli presents a textile installation.
“Vive la mariée!”, September 29, 2026, through February 28, 2027, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.
And also:
London will host the upcoming editions of 1-54 and Frieze, while in Paris, Art Basel Paris and AKAA will be the highlights of October
This translation was generated using AI. For the original text, please see the French version of this article.
