I could end this set with broader, more expected predictions – about fair convergence in the Middle East, further consolidation among platforms, AI’s expanding role in valuation, or the continued rise of the middle market. All of these trends I do believe in, but they are already underway.
Instead, I’m going to be more specific.
In 2026, I expect Banksy to stage a major exhibition – either as a continuation of Cut & Run or as a new, museum-scale institutional project. In 2023, Cut & Run was deliberately positioned as unfinished, mobile, and shaped by public participation. A poll invited audiences to vote on where it should travel next, but since then, nothing has been formally announced.
Banksy has always used exhibitions strategically, not routinely – often at moments when visibility, narrative control, or market context requires recalibration. His market has been through a period of correction and reassessment, where confidence has become more selective and dependent on context rather than momentum alone.
A major exhibition in 2026 would not function as a retrospective or spectacle. It would act as a narrative reset – reasserting authorship, cultural relevance, and institutional framing at a moment when the market is paying close attention to credibility signals beyond price. If such an exhibition materialises next year, it will be one of the most consequential non-transactional moments for the contemporary market.