Latin American art is experiencing an unprecedented wave of attention, especially following the 2024 Venice Biennale, whose central exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, was curated by Brazil’s Adriano Pedrosa, the first Latin American to assume that role. In Venice, Pedrosa presented a group of artists ranging from historical figures like Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and Brazilian sculptor Maria Martins, to contemporary voices like Claudia Andujar, known for documenting the daily life of the Yanomami people and Paraguayan ceramist Julia Isidrez, a Guarani Indigenous artist who learned pottery from her mother and continues to work with ancestral techniques. Four months into 2025, a promising year is taking shape across the regional circuit. This momentum is clearly reflected in the growing strength of contemporary art fairs from Chile to Brazil, with important nodes in Peru and Mexico. These platforms serve as strategic meeting points for artists, curators and collectors, in a diverse and rapidly expanding scene that reflects the distinct ways of thinking and making art from this territory.

Rather than replicate Northern models, Latin America’s contemporary art fairs are forging their own language. A new generation of collectors is emerging alongside a renewed interest in ancestral practices, textiles and local knowledge, positioning the region ever more firmly on the international map. Held from April 2–6, 2025, in São Paulo’s Ibirapuera Park, in an iconic Oscar Niemeyer building, SP-Arte–Latin America’s largest fair– welcomed a record number of foreign visitors including more than 80 collectors, curators and advisors from countries such as Japan, Australia, Germany, Poland, South Korea and the US. “It’s a first result of the interest sparked by the Adriano Pedrosa biennale in the Global South art market,” Fernanda Feitosa, the fair’s director, told STIR.

The event reflects a wider regional trend: growing interest in artists from beyond traditional cultural centres. This decentralisation has led to a kind of cultural introspection, opening space for previously marginalised voices from cities like Belo Horizonte, Salvador do Bahia, Recife, Curitiba and Porto Alegre.

After the pandemic, the participation of international galleries dropped drastically. Today, 90 per cent of the exhibition profile is national; SP-Arte has now launched a second fair, Rotas (August 27-31, 2025), which will gather exclusively Brazilian galleries, demonstrating how the market has expanded to the north and northeast of the country.

“As we rediscovered our artistic richness, we also saw large European and American galleries shift their attention toward emerging markets such as Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai,” Feitosa noted.

A walk through the corridors of the Bienal Pavilion—which will also host the 36th São Paulo Biennial in September—revealed two key trends: the strong return of painting and the resurgence of manual techniques like textiles, ceramics and embroidery, evident in the works of Claudia Alarcón, Sônia Gomes and Vivian Caccuri.

“Collectors are coming in search of works addressing Afro-Indigenous and Afrodiasporic themes. They also seek historical figures such as Adriana Varejão, Mira Schendel, Tunga, Oiticica and Maria Martins,” Feitosa said. Organisers estimated this year’s sales at between 80 and 100 million dollars.

Guilherme Simões de Assis, director of Simões de Assis gallery, observed: “Brazilian artists are receiving a lot of attention thanks to Adriano Pedrosa’s important work showcasing historical artists [who] had never been exhibited before.” He added, “It’s a very local market, but an enormous one. Brazil has over 200 million people and important collectors both in the north and south.”

“The Brazilian art market is undervalued, which makes SP-Arte especially attractive. You’ll find museum-quality works here that haven’t yet circulated abroad. It’s a better place to discover top-level emerging artists than fairs like Frieze,” American collector John Basnage de Beauval told STIR.

The absence of major franchises like Frieze or Art Basel in Latin America has had a mixed impact. As curator Eugenio Viola, director of MAMBO (Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá), explained to STIR: “On the one hand, it has allowed local fairs such as arteba in Buenos Aires, SP–Arte in São Paulo, ArtBo in Bogotá and Zona Maco in Mexico City to develop their own identities, deeply rooted in their cultural and artistic contexts. However, the absence of these franchises has also limited international visibility and the ability to attract high-profile collectors. In short, it has encouraged regional authenticity, but sometimes at the expense of global reach.”

While there are connections and exchanges between Latin American art fairs, these are often informal and fragmented. There is still significant room to explore more solid and coordinated forms of collaboration that could help position the region as a stronger collective force within the international art circuit. This is particularly relevant given the global rise of the emerging art market, a trend with which Latin America is closely aligned. “Latin American art is absolutely in tune with the growth of the emerging market,” said Viola. “The region has long been a breeding ground for innovation, with artists who combine contemporary languages with unique political, social and identity-driven reflections. This type of work resonates with collectors and curators seeking critical narratives beyond mainstream trends.”

Reflecting the growing global interest in Latin American art, MALBA in Buenos Aires—holder of one of the world’s most important collections of modern and contemporary art from the region—is lending 170 works from its holdings to the National Museum of Qatar for a landmark exhibition in the MENASA region. Titled Latinoamericano, the show opens in April as part of the Qatar–Argentina–Chile 2025 Year of Culture and features 170 works by 109 artists from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay and Cuba—an unprecedented presentation in the Middle East. It was also this museum—and its founder, Eduardo Costantini—that lent six works to the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale.

While SP-Arte remains one of the region’s leading art fairs, Mexico’s Zona Maco, held each February, kicks off the annual calendar for the region. With more than 200 exhibitors from 30 countries, the 21st edition of Zona Maco offered curated sections focused on modern and Global South artists alongside major international galleries and drew over 80,000 visitors, including professionals from 65 international museums.

Other fairs adopt a more intimate or “boutique” format, such as Ch.ACO in Santiago, Chile. Its 15th edition took place from March 27 - 30 at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center (GAM), bringing together 35 exhibitors from Argentina, Peru, Colombia and across Chile. More than 200 artists presented works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation and video.

Since its founding in 2009, Ch.ACO has played a pivotal role in shaping Chile’s art market and raising its international profile. “The fair stimulates the industry and fosters links between artists, galleries and collectors. Our goal is to internationalise Chilean art,” said its director, Elodie Fulton, to STIR. In step with broader cultural shifts, the fair introduced a space dedicated to queer art for the first time. “We’ve observed a strong presence of works addressing social and political issues,” Fulton added.

“Ch.ACO is a very friendly, accessible fair, with Chilean art of a very high standard and consistent participation from foreign galleries. It’s ideal for networking and the VIP programme is beautifully curated, with private collection visits and tours that strengthen relationships with international curators,” noted Gachi Prieto, director of the eponymous gallery in Buenos Aires.

Natalia Herrera, general coordinator of AFA Galería, pointed to an increasing interest from new collectors seeking emerging artists. “In Chile, we’ve noticed a growing interest from small collectors who are looking to enter the world of contemporary art by acquiring works by emerging artists. This reflects an opportunity in the market’s expansion,” she said.

Now heading into its 12th edition, the contemporary art fair from Peru, Pinta Lima, formerly Pinta PArC, is preparing for its next instalment from April 24 - 27 at Casa Prado in Lima’s Miraflores district. The fair is part of the international Pinta Group, which includes Pinta Miami and Pinta BAphoto (Buenos Aires) and will launch a new event, Pinta Panama Art Week, in May 2025.

“Latin American galleries not only accompany artistic processes—we actively contribute to shaping the discourses and aesthetics that define the region’s artistic direction,” said Marissi Campos, director of the Lima gallery that bears her name. Speaking to STIR, she also emphasised the role of galleries as cultural mediators: “We build bridges between the local and the global, between contemporary languages and the urgencies of our territories. In that intersection, we help shape… the future—of art in Latin America.”

Pinta Lima has positioned itself as a key event on Lima’s cultural agenda. “Cultural institutions do not fully meet the demand for visibility and the fair plays a vital role in showcasing local contemporary artists,” said the fair’s artistic director, Irene Gelfman, to STIR. For Gelfman, one of the major challenges in Peru is that many artists exhibit and sell abroad while the domestic market remains underdeveloped. “That’s why the fair is essential: it institutionalises practices and amplifies contemporary discourse.”

Gelfman also noted a revival of ancestral techniques such as textiles and ceramics, alongside a new wave of figurative painting marked by a “saturated, almost digital palette,” influenced by the virtual world. Speaking about Latin American art’s global positioning, she concluded, “There is a renewed interest in the region’s art. We still have a long way to go, but we’re beginning to be heard.”

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of STIR or its editors.