The 17th edition of ArtVilnius, held from 1 to 4 October 2026 at the LITEXPO Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre, closed as a fair shaped as much by geopolitics as by its galleries. Under artistic director Sonata Baliuckaite-Arluskiene, the fair drew galleries, artists, curators and collectors from across Europe and beyond, extending a creative axis from Vilnius through Warsaw, Vienna, Tallinn and Paris.

On the morning of Saturday 3 October, the whole region woke to an emergency alert about possible drone activity along the Lithuanian border with Belarus. The warning cast a shadow over the venue and forced visitors and exhibitors into a sudden reckoning with their proximity to danger, in a part of Europe where such alerts are part of daily life. The fair carried on regardless, and its talks programme that afternoon took on a sharper edge, including a Contemporary Lynx panel on how artists build careers in an age of algorithms, artificial intelligence and uncertainty.

The curated programming gave the edition its international range. Neringa Bumbliene curated the Project Zone, where Gabriele Cerniavskaja's architecturally considered presentation stood out, while Aliaksei Barysionak led the exhibition Takas. Warsaw's Zacheta National Gallery of Art presented Bogna Burska's Deaf Rebellion. Renewal., a performative video revisiting the Deaf President Now! movement, and Vienna's Meyer Kainer gallery showed the collective Gelatin's sculptural series re-examining colonial stereotypes.

The opening night's awards, decided by an international jury, went to Laura Selmistraityte of The Passenger gallery as Best Artist, for work combining woodcarving traditions with domestic life, and to Latvian artist Andris Kalinins of TUR gallery as Best Young Artist. A special mention went to Vytautas Virzbickas of DRIFTS gallery, while Christine König Galerie from Vienna was named Best Fair Exhibition. Beyond the fair halls, open studios at the Sodas 2123 cultural complex and The Garden at Vartai Gallery connected visitors with Vilnius's own art scene.