The best Art Basel events, parties and things to do for Miami Art Week 2024

As always during Miami Art Week, the six-block Faena District will come alive with its own contemporary art program filled with large-scale artworks, multimedia performances and cultural events—all free and open to the public. On the sands of Faena Beach, Native Alaskan artist Nicholas Galanin will present Seletega (run, see if people are coming/corre a ver si viene gente), a towering 90-by-30-foot installation that ponders interconnectivity and our collective responsibility to future generations. In the hotel’s Cathedral lobby, Lyra Drake’s Faith in a Finite World invites conversation with a divine feminine oracle using AI consciousness. 

Two years ago, the Burning Man community mourned the loss of Mayan Warrior, a monumental art car from Mexico City led by a collective of artists, technicians and designers by the same name. On Thursday, December 5, Mayan Warrior’s next-generation art car, the Galaxyer, will make its Miami debut for a fundraising party at Factory Town, complete with pyrotechnics, a state-of-the-art sound system, live DJ sets and a healthy dose of hedonism.

Trade the usual glitz and glam of Art Week for a gritty underground rave in downtown Miami. On Thursday, December 5, local festival III Points will host a five-hour rager beneath the highway at Lot 11 Skatepark, headlined by none other than German DJ-producer Adam Port of Keinemusik fame. This event is 18-plus with tickets starting at $72.  

​​Time to brush up on your Rockafeller Skank dance. Superstar DJ Fatboy Slim returns to SLS South Beach on Friday, December 6 for a day-to-night rager at the hotel’s poolside venue, Hyde Beach, presented in partnership with The Summer Club NYC. Early bird tickets start at $40.

Sparkling mineral water brand Topo Chico has linked up with legendary local record label Terrestrial Funk to put out the "Sabores Sounds," a groovy EP that perfectly encapsulates the effervescent, underground tropicalia of Miami's music scene. To celebrate the release (dropping on CD, the nostalgic format du jour), Topo Chico is hosting an all-night party at one of our favorite spots, Gramps Getaway. The waterfront tiki bar is the ideal backdrop for spending your Basel Sunday sipping free cocktails (5 to 6pm) and taking in back-to-back live sets from Coral Morphologic, Psychic Mirrors, DJ Fitness and others. The party starts at 4pm and goes until 2am, but you'll want to arrive early to cop your very own "Sabores Sounds" EP, and maybe even snag one of the limited edition CD players while supplies last.

Chance the Rapper returns for another Miami Art Week, bringing his "Writings On The Wall: A Star Line Listening Experience" to Wynwood Studios from December 3 through 6. The 18-plus activation offers fans a multi-sensory preview of his latest artistic project, Star Line, with sessions being held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 3, 6 and 9pm, plus an additional session on Thursday at 1pm. The immersive exhibit aims to reimagine how music and art can be experienced. Expect to don headphones and kick back on massive bean bag chairs as you take in music, visual projections and graphic art. General admission tickets start at $80. 567 NW 27th St

The Adrienne Arsht Center presents the U.S. premiere of The Great Yes, The Great No, a multimedia performance conceived and directed by acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge. Inspired by actual events, The Great Yes, The Great No takes place aboard a ship of refugees and prominent 20th-century figures looking to escape Vichy France during World War II. Through his fictional retelling, Kentridge employs music, dancing, acting, photography and his signature animated drawings to challenge rationalist worldviews with surrealism’s boundless possibilities. 

Returning for another Miami Art Week, LVMH Culture House pops up for five days in the Design District, showcasing diverse narratives and craftsmanship from artists of color, women and people with disabilities. To foster community and encourage dialogue at the intersection of art, culture and luxury, the Culture House includes a pop-up art gallery from December 4 through 8 and panel discussions from December 5 through 7. Highlights include works from artists like Yuki Ando, Glenneisha Darkins and Gustavo Barroso, plus influential panelists like rapper Slick Rick (December 7 at 12:30pm). The gallery is open daily to the public from 10am to 6pm. 151 NE 41st Street
3rd Floor

The style assignment is "1986 Corporate Chic" (think satin garments) at this highly flammable “End of Financial Year” Corporate Disco-themed party in Little River. Step into a night of disco-fueled reverie headlined by Dabeull, who Billboard just crowned “The King of Modern Funk.” Hosted by Poolsuite (the ultra-summer internet radio station) and Miami-born sunscreen brand Vacation, the party also features two additional Parisien music legends, Breakbot & Irfane (of “Baby I’m Yours” fame), together with disco and soul queen Yasmin. Attendees are invited to enjoy additional corporate perks like exclusive merchandise and headshots. Doors open at 8pm with happy hour and food and drink specials from 8 to 9pm. Tickets start at $45.

Amid the corporate takeovers and invite-only parties, the Beach Towel Art Show is a cheeky reminder that art should be fun, and accessible to all. This homegrown event invites the public to create their own works of art – beach towels, to be exact – and exhibit them proudly on the sand of South Beach. Join the fun Saturday, December 7th from 2 to 5pm, behind the big-name art fairs on 9th Street, and stick around for beachside activities led by local artists and culture arbiters including Dále Zine, Raw Figs, LoHi Magazine, Miami Art Society and Art Club Forever.

The so-called “godmother of performance art,” Marina Abramović, will debut a never-before-seen collection of personal drawings, poetry, photographs, and reflections at the Faena Art Project Room. Presented by Massimo Dutti, the intimate exhibition celebrates the artist’s upcoming book, Nomadic Journey and Spirit of Places, and lifts the curtain to Abramović’s creative process throughout her four-decades-long career. 

I’ll be honest, I have no idea what to expect from Teletubbyland, but it sounds hilarious. On Saturday, December 7th, life-sized Teletubbies are throwing a nostalgic rooftop pool party at the citizenM hotel in Brickell, complete with sweet treats and “unapologetic fun.” Do with this information what you will…

Who needs drugs when you have elrow? The wildly creative, world-famous production is back in Miami for one of its most ambitious shows yet: Hallucinarium. Inspired by the psychedelic artworks of visionary artist Alex Grey, Hallucinarium will transform Factory Town into a technicolor fever dream of fractal artworks, mind-bending stage designs, dancing mushrooms and other fun surprises from sunset to sunrise. 

A mecca for immersive art, Superblue Miami has premiered a new multisensory commission just in time for Art Week. Lightfall by Studio Lemercier delves into human perception and our relationship with the natural world through an interplay of light, projection and mathematics set to ambient electronic music by Mexican artist Murcof. This immersive experience is the latest addition to Superblue’s ongoing exhibition, Every Wall is a Door, featuring works by fellow renowned artists including teamLAB, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, James Turrell and Es Devlin. 

If the terms web3, blockchain, and crypto art get you going, mark your calendars for Bitbasel at the Sagamore South Beach. Now in its fifth year, this week-long event gathers art collectors, digital artists, and international gallerists over a shared passion for NFTs. Along with interactive installations, Bitbasel promises avant-garde art, panel discussions and live DJ sets, all surrounded by the Sagamore’s ever-growing art collection.

The charming Betsy Hotel will host a property-wide Art Week celebration with live music, artist meet-and-greets, public art installations and more. Pop into The Piano Bar for riveting jazz performances by Miami musicians; visit the famous Betsy Orb for projection-mapped artworks by [dNASAb], or catch an exciting dance performance by the Peter London Global Dance Company, led by Trinidad and Tobago-born choreographer Peter London.

Get a taste for Moroccan culture at DAR MIAMI 1446, an immersive culinary pop-up by famed contemporary artist Hassan Hajjaj and Michelin-starred restaurateur Rose Previte. Happening December 4th through December 6th, the day-to-night experience draws inspiration from Hajjaj’s Moroccan heritage and signature kaleidoscopes, as well as Chef Rose’s Lebanese-Sicilian roots. Visit between 10am and 3pm for tea and pastries (free entry with RSVP), lose yourself in hypnotic rhythms of Gnawa musician Simo Lagnawi, or make friends with fellow Capital One cardholders at a private dinner complete with after-party entertainment by DJ Pee .Wee (Anderson .Paak), Shaboozey and Kaytranada. Dinner reservations via Capital One.

New York’s famous Tribeca Festival returns for Art Basel week, bringing with it four nights of live entertainment at the Miami Beach Bandshell. Party with Palace Bar’s legendary drag queens at a special screening of The Birdcage, catch the genre-bending percussionist Makaya McCraven, or join a conversation with Miami darling Camila Cabello ahead of her fourth studio album debut. More live music is on the docket, including performances by Miami alt-pop duo Magdalena Bay, DJ extraordinaire Natasha Diggs, jazz collective Brainville, and lots, lots more. 

Once a Green Book hotel during the Jim Crow era, the Historic Hampton House was a place of refuge and revelry for Black travelers in Miami, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Josephine Baker and Muhammad Ali. Starting December 2, the historic inn will present Invisible Luggage, a powerful exhibition that explores themes of journeying, memory, displacement, and freedom through the lens of 50+ modern and contemporary artists such as Jacolby Satterwhite and Marina Abramović, Awol Erizku and Ming Smith, Suzanne Jackson, Cecilia Vicuña, Hugo McCloud, and Frank Bowling. Join the opening night celebrations on Monday, December 2nd and hear from Invisible Luggage curators Beth Rudin DeWoody, Laura Dvorkin, Maynard Monrow, Zoe Lukov and Auttrianna Ward. 

With nearly 200,000 objects in its collection, the Wolfsonian-FIU museum is a fascinating visit any time of year, especially for design lovers. Plan a visit to the Art Deco landmark on Friday, December 6th for the Wolfsonian’s annual Art Week party, Succulent, in celebration of their latest exhibition, The Big World: Alternative Landscapes in the Modern Era. Enjoy live music by Takuya Nakamura along with newly-debuted works by Berlin-based duo Hettler.Tüllmann, and tropical dreamscapes by local artist Natasha Tomchin.

An annual Art Week program presented in Opa-Locka, The Art of Transformation returns with six exhibitions, artist discussions, performances and more – and all free of charge and open to the public. This year’s program looks to bridge Black literary works with visual art and contemporary practices that, together, help to construct “a Black aesthetic of being.” Festivities begin with an opening reception on Wednesday, December 4th at Ten North Group’s campus. Events and exhibitions run daily through Sunday, December 8th, from 10am to 7pm. 

If your interest in art leans 2000s hip-hop, make your way to megaclub E11EVEN for The Art of Nightlife, where headliners like Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, and Steve Aoki will light up the stage along with surprise acts signature acrobatics that will make your head spin. Also on the lineup, an afterhours set by West African sensation AMÉMÉ, and a Basel closing party with Gordo (formerly DJ Carnage) on Sunday, December 8.