Art Cologne is changing venue for its milestone edition. The fair, founded in 1967 as the Kölner Kunstmarkt and among the world's oldest art fairs, will mark its 60th anniversary in 2027 at the Conference and Exhibition Center Confex alongside Hall 1 of the Koelnmesse, running from 28 to 31 October 2027. KUNSTFORUM International reported the move on 14 October 2026.

The new setting is intended to give exhibitors more space and to encourage exchange between them, underlining the fair's international standing at a moment when the fair landscape is being reshuffled. The Confex spaces, opened in 2024, replace Hall 11, the fair's previous home. The change follows the fair's 2026 edition, scheduled for 5 to 8 November 2026.

The relocation is significant beyond logistics. For a fair that helped invent the modern art-fair format in the 1960s, a move to purpose-built conference and exhibition architecture signals an ambition to reassert its relevance against younger competitors and the growing pull of fairs in Berlin, Basel and London.

Art Cologne's anniversary edition will also be shadowed by Prospect Cologne, a new satellite fair announced for the city, organised by galleries including Manoucher Khoshbakht, Max Mayer and the Cologne collector known as An, suggesting the fair week is expanding rather than contracting. Founded in 1967 as the Kölner Kunstmarkt, Art Cologne is among the oldest art fairs in the world. Hall 11 had hosted the fair for years; the Confex complex, which opened in 2024, is the Koelnmesse's newest venue, making the 2027 move a symbolic as well as a practical upgrade.