S6:E1 Allowing a city to be the best version of itself... Noah Horowitz, CEO, Art Basel
Guest
Noah Horowitz
In conversation with
Adrian Ellis
In the first episode of Season 6, Adrian Ellis speaks with Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, about how art fairs shape cities and cultural ecosystems. Their conversation explores the evolving role of Art Basel as a cultural platform operating at the intersection of culture, capital, and place – and what that means for the cities that host them.
Date of Recording
10 December 2025
Date of Publication
15 January 2026
[00:00:00]
Noah Horowitz: What Art Basel is uniquely capable of doing, is allowing a city or a place to see the best, or be the best version of itself.
[00:00:08]
THEME MUSIC
[00:00:13]
Adrian Ellis: Hello, and welcome to The Three Bells. This podcast is part of the sixth season produced by AEA Consulting for the Global Cultural Districts Network. The focus is, as always, the relationship between cultural and urban life, and the ways in which cultural life contributes to urban vitality and vice versa. The series and supporting materials can be found at www.thethreebells.net. And if you like our content, please subscribe and give us a positive review on your favourite podcast listening platform.
I'm Adrian Ellis, the chair of GCDN and a director of AEA Consulting. I'm thrilled to have Noah Horowitz on the podcast to open our 2026 season. As well as being a colleague with whom I've had the pleasure of working, Noah is best known as being the CEO of Art Basel, a role to which he was appointed three years ago. As everybody who listens to this podcast probably knows, Art Basel is really the most significant player in the global art fair business.
With the mothership of Art Basel, Basel itself opening in 1970 – some 55 years ago, and followed by Art Basel Miami Beach in 2002, then Hong Kong in 2013, Paris in 2022, and now, Art Basel Qatar, with the first edition taking place in Doha this February.
From the point of view of people interested in the intersection between cultural ecology and urban life, Art Basel is a fascinating phenomenon. At one level, a very simple device, a platform in which buyers and sellers of art meet. But at another level, an immensely complicated, nuanced piece of cultural machinery that, as we will explore today, has a profound impact both on the art world and on the cities in which it operates.
So Noah, I'm thrilled to have you, and I'd like to start with you, rather than Art Basel. Give us some idea of your professional, what the French called formation, and how you arrived at this really very significant role.
[00:02:11]
Noah Horowitz: Thanks Adrian, and great to be on with you, and your audience.
…
External Links
Art Basel: Global art fair platform founded in Basel in 1970, with editions in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, Paris, and Qatar.
MCH Group: Swiss-based live marketing and events company and parent company of Art Basel.
UBS & Art Basel – The Art Market Report: Annual research report referenced in the discussion of market dynamics and collecting trends.
Art Basel Paris: Art Basel’s Paris edition, held at the Grand Palais.
Art Basel Qatar: Newly announced Art Basel edition, launching in Doha, Qatar, 5-7 February 2026.
About our Guest
Noah Horowitz, is CEO of Art Basel. Previously Director of Americas for Art Basel, he has also held leadership roles at Sotheby’s and The Armory Show. Trained as an art historian, his work sits at the intersection of the art market, cultural institutions, and urban life. +
