Paris, 20 october 2026– An ideal bridge connects Venice and Paris: the bridge of art, a universal language that crosses geographies, cultures and different sensibilities. It is along this path that illycaffè returns to Art Basel Paris for the third year, once again confirming its special bond with the world of contemporary art and bringing the illy Art Collection “In Minor Keys” to the French capital.
Within the fair, illycaffè will be present with a dedicated space, conceived as a welcoming meeting place where visitors, collectors, gallerists and art enthusiasts can enjoy a coffee break and experience illy at the heart of one of the most important international events for contemporary art.
After travelling through Venice and London, the collection arrives in Paris as the natural continuation of a narrative in which art becomes a place for encounter, dialogue and connection. The iconic illy cups, created from Matteo Thun’s design and transformed since 1992 into blank canvases entrusted to the creativity of international artists, once again become ambassadors of beauty and contemporary thought.
On the occasion of Art Basel Paris, the public will be able to discover the illy Art Collection “In Minor Keys”, created by four artists featured at the Biennale Arte 2026: Irish artist Alice Maher, Cameroonian artist Werewere Liking, South African artist Thania Petersen and British-Bengali artist Mohammed Z. Rahman. Four visions, four cultural geographies and three different generations come together in a collection that explores the relationship between art and everyday life, transforming the ritual of coffee into an intimate space for storytelling, memory and imagination.
Each cup interprets the theme “In Minor Keys” as a tonal variation: from the mythical and bodily dimension of Alice Maher to the collective and ritual power of colour in Werewere Liking’s work, through the textile and botanical memory of Thania Petersen and the use of word and image as a political gesture in Mohammed Z. Rahman’s practice. Together, the artists give shape to a collection that reflects the plurality of the present and art’s ability to build new imaginaries.
illycaffè’s presence at Art Basel Paris thus renews a journey that for more than thirty years has made art part of everyday experience. The illy Art Collections were created with the aim of bringing contemporary art closer to people, taking it into homes, cafés and the places where coffee becomes an opportunity for connection. In this sense, the illy cup is not only a design object, but also an artistic medium, a vehicle for storytelling and an invitation to sharing.
“We are proud to return to Art Basel Paris with ‘In Minor Keys’, the illy Art Collection presented on the occasion of the Biennale Arte. The four works stem from different experiences and sensibilities and invite us to pause, to listen and to look at the world with new eyes. This is the value we recognize in art: opening up perspectives and continuing to speak to people, even through a simple and universal gesture such as drinking a coffee,” says Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè.
With Art Basel Paris, illycaffè therefore confirms art as a bond: between Venice and Paris, between the major international stage of contemporary art and everyday life, between the beautiful and the good that have always inspired the brand’s culture.
