As Art Basel Paris shuts its doors for the weekend ahead of Saturday's planned protests, the city's smaller fairs are choosing a different path. Asia NOW and Paris Internationale told ARTnews they intend to stay open as scheduled through October 24, while other satellite fairs are adjusting hours rather than closing outright, each monitoring the social and political situation as it develops.

According to ARTnews' Thursday-night survey, OFFSCREEN exhibitors had received official confirmation that their fair stays open through Sunday, October 25 — the organizers themselves had not responded by publication — and Outsider Paris plans to remain open through Sunday while adapting to circumstances. Post-Fair, the boutique fair across two neighboring Marais buildings, will open an hour early on Saturday at 10 a.m. and close at 1 p.m. instead of staying open into the evening. Other fairs had not confirmed weekend plans.

Wellington gallerist Robert Heald, showing at Post-Fair, backed the cautious approach: closing a few hours early was the right decision given the uncertainty, he said, adding that safety must come first — and that he was happy with how the fair had gone. The Paris edition is Post-Fair's first, founded by Chris Sharp in Los Angeles in 2025: 35 galleries from 15 countries in an open-plan format of one or two artists per gallery, billed as an invitation-only alternative to the conventional art-fair model. Sharp said Monday's preview drew almost 1,000 visitors, and that collectors are taking their time, wanting to learn more about the work.

OFFSCREEN, staged in the 17th-century Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière on hospital grounds away from the planned protests, is devoted to fixed and moving images, with a program honoring Ana Mendieta under the chapel's grand cupola. Galerie Max Hetzler is presenting Rinus Van de Velde's fictional autobiographical film A Life in a Day alongside a handmade mask, and a joint prize with Cultish was awarded Thursday evening. Paris Internationale, with 54 international galleries and a strong Hispanic and South Korean contingent, is keeping its deliberately condensed format. Director Silvia Ammon said the fair condensed intentionally: it was a choice, not a lack of demand.