As a content freelancer, social media can be a breeding ground for FOMO. There’s always something happening—press trips, brand launches, fashion weeks—but until recently, design weeks had passed me by. Even with my connections to that world, they felt distinctly “too industry.”

This year, however, Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign began dominating my feed. I noticed influencers like New York–based Laura Reilly, founder of fashion newsletter Magasin, traveling for the festival, posting images of Louis Poulsen lamps and sculptural chairs. Suddenly, it felt too cool to ignore. “There’s a noticeable shift: those shaping the conversation are no longer exclusively industry professionals,” says Sophie Axon, PR Manager at Danish brand Ferm Living. “In 2025, we opened our brand events to a wider cross-section of lifestyle voices from abroad,” she continues. “If audiences discover design through social media, why not meet them where they already are?”

But are art and design showcases worth traveling for without an invite? Surprisingly, yes: many festivals are ticketed, with city-wide pop-ups designed for dropping in and out of. “I went to Milan’s Salone del Mobile for the first time and was amazed by how much I could access,” explains New York–based journalist Sarah Wood González. “Brands know fans want to experience their universe, and not everyone gets invited. Lines were snaking around the block for Gucci’s bamboo exhibition—it’s a chance to step briefly into that world.”

With many fairs held in Europe, they require extra planning for travelers based elsewhere, but interest in traveling specifically for design showcases is growing. “London Design Festival has become a cultural destination in its own right,” agrees Director Ben Evans. “We’ve seen significant growth in non-industry attendees inspired by what they’ve seen online, with the U.S. our top country of origin.”

Whether in London or Milan, Nairobi or New Delhi, the excitement around art and design spotlights is building—mirroring what was once reserved for fashion weeks. Except this time, you can buy a ticket to experience it first-hand, wander at your own pace, and enjoy a broader cultural program.

Design weeks are the newest cultural travel motivator. See below for 2026’s international design calendar—and start planning.

January

Maison&Objet, Paris

When: January 15 – 19

Where: Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, ZAC Paris Nord 2, 93420 Villepinte

Why: Paris is always a good idea, even in January. Maison&Objet is one of the most esteemed design fairs in the business, dating back to 1995 and spanning several exhibition centers with over 2,300 brands. The theme for 2026 is ‘Past Reveals Future’, and will explore the heritage behind contemporary furniture design. There’s also cultural programming across Paris called ‘In The City’ with studios, stores, and workshops inviting guests to take a closer look.
Tickets: from $70 available here

Curator Oyinkansola Dada agrees, describing how the hype around Afrobeats spread to the visual arts. “With Lagos Fashion Week, Art Week, and Design Week, a lot of people are visiting now to take in everything that’s going on. But this movement has been years in the making.” Alongside other creative highlights like the Lagos International Theatre Festival, these events form a seminal moment for Lagos’ cultural calendar. The opportunity to experience cross-creative activity and structured access to African talent is an increasingly powerful draw for visitors.

A Steady Stream of Newcomers

I speak with Oyinkansola as she’s preparing for the launch of her own gallery space in Ikoyi, which took place last month. “We’ll be working with emerging and established artists, exploring themes from identity and sexuality to repatriation,” she tells me. “So it definitely won’t be static.” Brand new openings like these demonstrate the confidence younger generations of international Nigerians have in Lagos as a global art center, now that its art market has crystallized. “It’s heartwarming to see that there are many more galleries than when I started,” Aderenle tells me. “They each bring something different, and African artists deserve a multi-faceted platform.”

I see this variety across the city’s galleries. Most newcomers are independently-run, intimate spaces, though there are roomier venues too, like the Nike Art Gallery, which sprawls across multiple storeys. The visual styles and languages are also expanding beyond paint and clay. At Rele, I see collage portraits made from Ankara (local colorful wax print) by Marcellia Akpojotor, and expressive metalwork charting the highs and lows of a romantic relationship by Ugo Ahiakwo.

There’s clear enthusiasm for emerging artists, but a reverence for pioneers too. At Kó, another gallery establishing Ikoyi as one of Lagos’ art quarters, I attend the opening of a show commemorating the visionary Osogbo Art School (a 1960s movement drawing on Yorùbá mythology that helped define modern Nigerian art). I’m greeted by the thunderous chorus of Yorùbá drummers dressed in Àdìrẹ (Yorùbá dyed textiles) before heading upstairs to join a cross-border crowd in admiring the works. The effervescent atmosphere speaks to the lively cultural exchange fostered by Lagos’ art institutions. Kó was founded in 2020 by Kavita Chellaram, following on from her pioneering auction house Arthouse Contemporary. “We needed to showcase African modernism as it truly is,” she tells me. Kavita explains how auctions were an important precursor in establishing Lagos as a key conductor for the global African art market, leading to more local galleries, before milestones like the first Nigerian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017, culminating in the movement we have now. “I hear there are around 45 galleries in Lagos now—it’s grown exponentially.”

Making an International Impact

With the growth of institutions in Lagos harnessing and showcasing African creativity, more international industry players are drawn to the city, identifying it as a destination to discover and trade in work by African and diasporic artists. “Since we built a platform to go out and show Nigerian art to the world, we’ve had so much interest from art institutions all over, from Britain to the US,” Kavita tells me. Lagos-founded art institutions also now have stronger representation abroad, often with a presence in one or two other important art cities.

After more than a decade of delays and much anticipation, the Grand Egyptian Museum has opened its 12 main galleries, the Grand Staircase, and the Children’s Museum. The caveat is that its prized King Tutankhamun collection and two King Khufu solar boats will remain under wraps until the yet-to-be-announced official opening. Nevertheless, there is plenty to see, with 15,000 artifacts spanning as far back as 700,000 BCE, up until the 4th century AD.

The Grand Egyptian Museum has revealed itself in phases over the last couple of years, starting with private events in November 2022 before opening its main atrium and retail area in February 2023. The over 30-foot high, 82-ton, 3,200-year-old Ramses II statue was the first piece to be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum site back in 2006, and it is the first artifact to greet visitors upon entering. Tours of the Grand Staircase—lined with more than 60 large statues, stelae, doorways, columns, and sarcophagi—followed a year ago. The Children’s Museum also quietly opened, and then, earlier this fall, with only a week’s notice, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that the main galleries would open for a “trial run” starting October 16.

Billed as the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization, the Grand Egyptian Museum holds more than 50,000 artifacts. These include the full Tutankhamun collection of about 5,300 items, another 30,000 in temporary rotating exhibitions, and the 15,000 artifacts that are now on display in the newly opened main galleries. We were among the first inside to get a glimpse.

The view of the Giza Pyramids from the soft-opened Grand Egyptian Museum.

Anadolu/Getty Images

What to expect from the Grand Egyptian Museum (so far)

Visitors can opt to book admission tickets or 90-minute guided tours, which are offered in English and Arabic every hour, seven times a day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, as one of the first to visit, I can attest that 90 minutes doesn’t feel long to cover thousands of years of ancient history, so expect to speed through the museum and just grasp the highlights. After a brief overview of the pieces in the Grand Hall, the guide took my group up the escalator to whizz past the Grand Staircase and touch on its four themes, before stopping at the top to admire a view of the Pyramids of Giza, then turning into the main galleries.

The galleries are organized both in chronological order and by theme. Galleries one to three cover the Prehistoric Period, Predynastic Period, Early Dynastic Period, Old Kingdom, and First Intermediate Period between around 700,000 BCE to 2,034 BCE. Galleries four to six cover the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period between 2,034 BCE and 1,550 BCE. Galleries seven to nine cover the New Kingdom between 1,550 BCE and 1,069 BCE. The last galleries, 10 to 12, cover the Graeco-Roman Period, Late Period, and Third Intermediate Period between 1,069 BCE and 394 AD. Each period touches on three themes: society, kingship, and beliefs.

In one of the oldest galleries in Paris, more than twenty works from the series Les Fables de La Fontaine will be on show for the very first time. Produced between 1926 and 1927, the series was commissioned by art dealer, publisher, and writer Ambroise Vollard to illustrate the eponymous book. It was a choice that was misunderstood at the time: Why ask a Russian painter to interpret the most French of poets? It was precisely this paradox that interested Vollard. The result is a series of free and exuberant works, as well as ten other works by the artist.

Tomona Matsukawa, Finally, 2024, Huile sur lin montée sur panneauTomona Matsukawa, Courtesy Ceysson & Bénétière

Tomona Matsukawa, As I am at Gallery Ceysson & Bénétière

Dates: Now until July 13

There is something striking about the ultra-realistic works of Japanese artist Tomona Matsukawa. Born in 1987 in Aichi, she graduated from Tama University in 2011, and quickly specialized in oil painting. Her works, however, have a distinctive quality. Born from conversations with women of her generation, her portraits depict remnants of everyday life, like fragments of banality, made exceptional by the same process. These realistic canvases take on a dramatic aspect, whether they represent a mobile phone screen, a delicate earring, or a damaged notebook. It’s a way of highlighting life’s great vulnerability by rendering even the smallest moments beautiful.

Ellsworth Kelly, Four Greens, Upper Manhattan Bay, 1957, Collage sur carte postale / Collage on postcard, 8,6 × 13 cm, Collection particulière / Private collectionEllsworth Kelly Foundation

Matisse, L’Atelier rouge at the Fondation Louis Vuitton

Dates: Now until September 9

Comparative exhibitions are undoubtedly one of the great successes of the Fondation Louis Vuitton—and it will do exactly that by putting Henri Matisse’s work face to face with that of Ellsworth Kelly. Titled L’Atelier rouge, referencing the 1911 Matisse masterpiece, this exhibition gathers the works from his renowned red studio for the first time, complemented by previously unreleased archival documents and pieces, offering insights into the central painting’s origins and the journey behind its creation. The exhibition devoted to Ellsworth Kelly’s art is titled Forms and Colours (1949–2015), to emphasize the influence of Matisse on his vision. Matisse’s radical decision to saturate the surface with a layer of red paint captivated Ellsworth Kelly, ultimately reshaping the trajectory of his life, which began in 1923 in New York state, just about 100 years ago. This exhibition is an anniversary, and the opening of a dialogue to find new avenues of reflection, as much on the disciple as on his master.

For more of Condé Nast Traveler’s coverage of Paris this summer and during the 2024 Olympic Games, click here.

Our family was visiting Donuimun Museum Village, a full city block of traditional hanoks and more modern structures that is now a time capsule of Seoul history and culture from the 1890s to the 1990s. The free museum is named for the old western gate of the Seoul Fortress Wall. Which stood nearby until the Japanese colonial government demolished it in 1915. As Meggie Yu, our seemingly omniscient guide from InsideAsia Tours. Explained, these buildings were themselves slated for demolition to make way for a neighborhood park until the city, recognizing their historical value. Changed course and established Donuimun in 2017. The museum continues to expand; its latest addition focuses on clothing, including traditional costumes that guests can rent.

Meggie led us from one corner of village to another. Challenging kids to come up with a question about Korea she couldn’t answer. (Our son eventually struck gold with “How many buildings are there in Seoul?”) In an airy hanok, the artist Dobong taught us how to write our names using Hangul calligraphy. In the Village Yard, Meggie explained how to play jegichagi, a Hacky Sack–like outdoor game widely beloved in Korea. Several dads dazzled their children with their footwork. (I was not among them.)

For lunch, we ducked into Snack Bar for School, a cafeteria-style space like the ones students once tumbled into after finishing their classes to load up on kimbap and tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). Nearby we found a mini-museum devoted to the history of makgeolli, the traditional Korean fermented rice wine that young Koreans are increasingly mixing with Sprite. (We tried it that way—pretty good!) One of the most entertaining parts of Donuimun is a cluster of humdrum buildings separated by steep, crooked alleys with exhibits that capture the postwar rise of South Korea’s robust culture industry. Here you’ll find a pocket-size cinema, a comic-book shop, a music lounge. And a video game arcade decorated with neon Pac-Man flourishes. There’s also an old barbershop and an ’80s-style wedding-hall photo studio, where we gamely posed for a family portrait.

This article appeared in the September/October 2023 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.