MIAMI, FL.- From December 7 through 10, 2006, Florida, USA, will be home to the 5th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the celebrated international art show. The leading art show of the Americas, it is the favorite winter meeting place of the international art world. 200 galleries from the USA, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa will take part. Picked by the Selection Committee from a record number of over 650 applicants, the 200 galleries, which include over 10% new participants, will present works by over 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Special sectors will feature presentations of new art works, curated exhibitions, video and sound art lounges, a performance program, and art in public spaces. 20 young galleries will present cutting-edge projects in converted shipping containers on the beach. There will also be a new Guest Lounge offering a concentrated range of information and services to visitors. Art Basel is also introducing a new concept of private show rooms for the exhibiting galleries. Following its success last year, the special «Art Nova» sector will be extended even further.

«Art Basel Conversations» will feature prominent art-world personalities. An exciting program of special exhibitions, visits to private art collections, and crossover events linking art and music, film, architecture, and design also await visitors. And the museums and collections of South Florida are organizing impressive exhibitions. Art Basel Miami Beach promises to be one of the high-lights of the international cultural and social calendar.

Art Basel Miami Beach will take place in Miami Beach, Florida (USA) for the fifth time from December 7 through 10, 2006. On the eve of the opening, invited guests from around the world will attend the glamorous Vernissage. Over 30,000 art enthusiasts are expected to visit the international art show. 200 carefully selected galleries from 28 countries in North and Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa will be showcasing all forms of artistic _expression (painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, editions, performance, video and electronic art). Prices start at a few hundred dollars for multiples and works by young artists, and soar into the millions for museum-quality masterpieces. Its prominent list of participants from some 30 countries makes Art Basel Miami Beach the most prestigious art show in the Americas for 20th-century classics and contemporary art. A preliminary list can be found at www.ArtBasel.com / Galleries.

Applications were submitted by a record number of over 650 galleries, including 99% of last year’s participants. Newcomers include contemporary galleries such as Mary Boone Gallery (New York), Robert Miller Gallery (New York), Skarstedt Fine Art (New York) and Galerie Daniel Buchholz (Cologne), as well as dealers in 20th-century masterworks like DC Moore Gallery (New York) and Knoedler & Company (New York), and vintage photography specialist Edwynn Houk Gallery (New York). Over 10% of the galleries are new this year. About half of the exhi-bitors will be international, with strong participation from Europe and Latin America, a number of galleries from Asia, and one from Africa.

Last year, the «Art Nova» sector was a great success with visitors and exhibiting galleries alike. This year, over 200 galleries applied and the sector has been expanded from 52 to 61 booths. Attracting both well-established and young galleries, «Art Nova» offers exhibitors a platform to show new works by a maximum of three rising artists. New participants include David Kordansky Gallery (Los Angeles), Galería Comercial (San Juan), Galeria Pedro Cera (Lisbon), Thomas Dane Gallery (London), Lombard-Freid Fine Arts (New York), Monte Clark Gallery (Vancouver), Nature Morte/Bose Pacia Gallery (New York), Reena Spaulings Fine Art (New York), Shugoarts (Tokyo), Sies + Höke Galerie (Düsseldorf), and Taka Ishii Gallery (Tokyo).

This year’s Art Basel Miami Beach will again feature the «Art Kabinett» initiative, giving participating galleries an oppor-tunity to show small curated exhibitions. The projects chosen by the Selection Committee will be presented in a separate cubicle of the gallery's booth.

«We are pleased to continue our partnership with Art Basel Miami Beach. Supporting the arts is a valued tradi-tion at UBS. We believe that art awakens new ways of seeing the world, and we are committed to investing in cultural expres-sion and making the arts accessible to our clients, our employees, and the broader community», says Mark B. Sutton, Chairman and CEO, Americas. «Art is a means of sharing insight – a crucial process echoed at UBS as we share fresh financial perspectives with our clients in creating tailored in-vestment solutions to meet their needs».

«Art Basel Conversations», organized in cooperation with Bulgari, will be held on the mornings of December 8, 9, and 10 this year. They are open to the public and free of charge. Fostering direct exchange with leading international art-world personalities, this forum provides privileged access to first-hand information on all aspects of collecting and exhibiting art. Distinguished art collectors and museum directors, prominent artists, architects, publishers, sponsors, and art celebrities will be discussing subjects like «The Future of the Museum: Focus on Latin America», «Architecture for Art: Artists Who Build» and «Memory and Collecting». There will also be leading inter-national art journals and cultural organizations participating, along with many celebrated artists.

«Art Positions», a beachfront village of shipping containers transformed into mobile art spaces, promises to be the most exciting outpost of Art Basel Miami Beach. 20 young galleries have been selected to showcase cutting-edge projects: Anna Helwing Gallery (Los Angeles), Daniel Hug Gallery (Los Angeles), Daniel Reich Gallery (New York), Galerie Kamm (Berlin), Galerie Michael Zink (Munich), Gavlak Projects Gallery (West Palm Beach), Grace Li Gallery (Zurich), Harris Lieberman Gallery (New York), Herald St. Gallery (London), IBID Projects (London), KBK Arte Contemporáneo (Mexico), Kenny Schachter Rove (London), Marília Razuk Galería de Arte (São Paulo), Perry Rubenstein (New York), Punto Gris (San Juan), Salon 94 (New York), Store (London), Taxter & Spengemann (New York), Zach Feuer Gallery, LFL (New York) (list in preparation, index June 06). This project is sponsored by W South Beach, which will again be commissioning one of the exhibiting artists to create a piece for its new residential building next door.

«Art Positions» will be the epicenter of an extensive cultural program including public art projects, sound art, and an artist-DJ program. Jens Hoffmann, director of exhibitions at the ICA London, will curate a daily performance program.

This year’s «Art Video Lounge» in the Botanical Garden opposite the Miami Beach Convention Center will be curated by Michael Rush, Director of the Rose Art Museum, Waltham.