The Grand Palais in Paris went into temporary lockdown during installation for Art Basel Paris on Saturday, October 17, amid nearby protests over France’s education system and public services, a fair representative confirmed to Hyperallergic.
The Paris Police Prefecture ordered the Grand Palais — which has housed Art Basel Paris since 2024, two years after the Swiss art fair network replaced the exhibition hall's longstanding FIAC (Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain) — to briefly shut down to “ensure the safety of everyone on site and the protection of the artworks,” an Art Basel spokesperson told Hyperallergic. The lockdown occurred at 5 pm, and the building sustained no damage, another fair spokesperson said.
"No one could get out, and no one could get in," an anonymous source from a New York gallery exhibiting at the fair told Hyperallergic. "There were moving trucks loading and offloading works, and at a certain point, they were told to pack up and go."