Art Basel has appointed Ruba Katrib to lead its Unlimited sector for the 2026 edition in Basel.
Ruba Katrib is currently the chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at MoMA PS1 in New York. She is best known for her longstanding dedication to providing a platform to emerging artists in the contemporary art scene, while her intrepid approach to curation challenges audiences to think more deeply about the art they observe.
Succeeding Giovanni Carmine, director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen and leader of Unlimited at Art Basel since 2011, Katrib will bring her fresh curatorial style to the sector, contributing to its innovative style, which seeks to break free from the traditional art fair booth format.
With extensive experience in curating large-scale exhibitions at MoMA PS1 and the SculptureCenter in New York, as curator from 2012 to 2018, Katrib was also co-curator of SITE Santa Fe in 2018 with José Luis Blondet and Candice Hopkins. During her time at MoMA PS1, she has curated exhibition such as Simone Fattal’s retrospective (2019), Greater New York (2021), Jumana Manna: Break, Take, Erase, Tally (2022), Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE (2023) and The Gatherers (2025). Her time at the SculptureCenter saw her lead the curation of more than twenty shows, including 74 million million million tons (2018) in collaboration with artists Lawrence Abu Hamdan, as well as a number of solo exhibitions by artists such as Anthea Hamilton, Kelly Akashi, Nicola L and David Douard, among others.
Art Basel’s Unlimited sector is known for its boundary-breaking format, which reflects an ambitious and forward-thinking approach to the art fair model. Often showcasing large-scale installation work, monumental sculptures as well as immersive and innovative work across media from painting, photography and video, Unlimited is a space where visitors are encouraged to seek out unusual offerings within the context of the more classic art fair format.
Ruba Katrib commented: “Unlimited is a unique and vital platform that allows artists to realize works of a scale and ambition rarely possible in other contexts. It is an honor to shape this celebrated sector and to collaborate with artists and galleries on projects that will resonate with audiences in Basel and beyond.”
Art Basel in Basel runs from 18 until 21 June 2026
