Tigo Ayres at Miami Basel 2024: Encounters, Dialogues, and the Strength of Latin Culture at the Heart of the Global Art Scene

From 4 to 8 December 2024, Miami once again became the epicentre of the contemporary art world with the staging of Art Basel Miami Beach, regarded as the largest and most influential art fair in the Americas. For visual artist, performer, and psychologist Tigo Ayres, the experience went far beyond a visit — it was a profound immersion in cultural dialogues, inspiring encounters, and the pulsating Latin energy that runs through the city and reverberates within the global art universe.

The Vibrancy of Miami Art Week

During the event, Miami vibrates in multiple directions: international galleries, collectors, artists, and luxury brands transform the city into a vast multicultural stage. Alongside the main fair — which filled the Miami Beach Convention Center with more than 280 galleries from 38 countries — dozens of satellite exhibitions, parties, and independent shows spread across the city, making Miami Art Week a unique highlight of the cultural calendar.

Tigo Ayres followed this effervescent atmosphere closely. Within sections such as Meridians, Nova, and Positions, he discovered works by emerging young artists, monumental installations, and creations by already established names. More than simply observing, his presence was marked by dialogues — exchanges with galleries from different continents and conversations with artists who, like him, navigate between identities and global contexts.

Miami and the Power of Latin Culture

If Art Basel is international, Miami is Latin at its core. For Tigo Ayres, who lives between London and Natal, the visit also meant a reunion with his own cultural heritage. The city, where Spanish and Portuguese echo through the streets, places Latin American culture at the centre of the artistic stage: Brazilian, Colombian, Cuban, and Mexican artists hold a prominent place in galleries and discussion spaces.

This presence reinforces Miami’s role as a bridge between Latin America and the global art market, creating opportunities for diverse voices to be heard, valued, and traded on an international scale. For Ayres, being part of this environment meant realising how his own work — which engages with memory, identity, spirituality, and resistance — resonates with an audience attuned to narratives from the Global South.

Memorable Encounters: From the Fair to the Streets

Beyond visiting the main fair, Tigo Ayres also took part in parallel events and parties that make Miami Art Week such a unique celebration. These were moments of closeness with different artistic languages, from experimental performances to more informal encounters with collectors, curators, and intellectuals who moved through the same spaces.

One of the highlights of his agenda was a visit to the atelier-boutique of Romero Britto, one of the most recognised Brazilian names in the international pop art market. There, Tigo Ayres had the opportunity to meet the team that works with the Pernambuco-born artist, exchange views on the role of Brazilian art abroad, and reflect on the different ways in which national identity can be expressed on the global stage.

This encounter symbolised not only a connection between two generations of Brazilian artists following distinct paths, but also the recognition of the plurality of voices that shape Brazil’s presence in the international art scene.

Reflections Along the Way

Throughout his journey at Miami Basel 2024, Tigo Ayres reaffirmed a conviction: art is a space of open borders, where different worlds meet, and memories intertwine. Miami, with its Latin vibrancy and its strategic position between North and South, reinforces this idea.

More than simply consuming or exhibiting art, being at Miami Art Week means taking part in a broader movement — a place where aesthetic, social, and political futures are negotiated, and where artists such as Tigo Ayres insert themselves into a global network of exchanges and inspirations.

Tigo Ayres’ visit to Art Basel Miami Beach 2024 was not merely a moment of observation, but an act of presence and cultural affirmation. Between galleries, encounters, and special visits, the artist expanded his connections and strengthened his role as a bridge between cultures, bringing with him the richness of his collection Between Worlds and Memories and the certainty that Latin American art is increasingly occupying its rightful space in the international dialogue.