SHARE It has been a challenging year for the arts. Despite the migration of events to the digital realm, artists and art spaces have grappled with financial downturns, while institutions have been pushed to confront their legacies of violence and exclusion. As 2020 comes to close, here are the biggest moments in the art world, the effects of which will continue to shape how we experience, think about or talk about art in the year to come. Closed and cancelled It started with Art Basel Hong Kong, the first major art fair to be cancelled as the coronavirus made its way around the world. The Asian edition of the mammoth international art event was called off in February, ahead of its March schedule. Others soon followed suit – in the UAE, Art Dubai eventually adapted to a virtual fair, while Sharjah Art Foundation’s March Meeting was postponed, with new 2021 dates only recently announced. Big fairs such as Frieze in New York and Art Basel in Switzerland and Miami also moved to the digital world.