2. Hundreds of years of art in one place: Frieze Masters features galleries that specialise in objects ranging from classical antiquity to the twentieth century. Among the displays are maps, Inuit art spanning two millennia, and ethnographic works that reflect the diversity of cultural traditions. Visitors can explore a wide array of human-made objects drawn from centuries of artistic and cultural development.

This year, Frieze Masters focuses on South Asian Art. Visitors will encounter works that trace the development of South Asian artistic traditions, from ancient sculptures to contemporary pieces. This work highlights the region’s extensive and diverse artistic legacy, offering insights into its historical and cultural evolution.

3. Curated experience: This year, architect Annabelle Selldorf has designed the fair’s layout to encourage visitors to draw links between objects and artworks from different periods and places. In addition, the project ‘Studio’ highlights the work of ten living artists, offering a space for ‘thinking historically in the present’. Featured artists include Adriana Varejão, Thaddeus Mosley, and Isabella Ducrot, who draw inspiration from historical practices to inform their contemporary work.

There is also a ‘Spotlight’ section, curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver, focusing on solo presentations of 20th-century artists who have changed the canon of aesthetic traditions of their era, but whose work is often overlooked, including work by Judy Chicago, Dora Maar, Frank Auerbach, Aubrey Williams, among others.

4. Cross-disciplinary: Frieze Masters presents a broad spectrum of works across multiple disciplines. Visitors can explore rare books, manuscripts, and indigenous artefacts, including African masks, and Native American objects. European decorative arts – furniture, ceramics, and textiles – are on display alongside antique jewellery, Roman sculptures, Greek pottery, and Egyptian relics. These objects provide nuanced insight into diverse artistic traditions and forms of human artistic expression throughout time.

5. Exclusive access to rare artworks and objects: Frieze Masters provides a rare chance to see and acquire art and objects that are seldom exhibited publicly. Galleries from across the world offer visitors the opportunity to view and purchase works that are not typically available to view in traditional gallery spaces.

Last year, the gallery David Aaron exhibited a baby skeleton for sale – estimated to be between around 66 million years old – priced at $20 million, making it the most expensive juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known to enter the market. Seeing such a significant fossil is exceptional, even in London, as objects of this calibre usually sell through the major auction houses, attracting bidders who may not typically invest in modern art.

6. Networking: Many organisations and galleries will offer tours and talks, exclusive events, with opportunities to meet with curators, scholars, researchers, historians, gallery owners, collectors, and artists. Frieze Masters provides an unrivalled opportunity for networking across various segments of the global art market, allowing visitors to form connections that can lead to collaborations, exhibitions, or acquisitions.

7. A cultural experience: Attending Frieze Masters is not just about viewing artworks – it is an immersion into the cultural, commercial, and social landscape of the art world. As one of the most anticipated annual art events in London, the fair brings together a diverse range of art world figures and provides them a unique marketplace where artworks are exchanged, often for substantial sums. Visiting this dynamic cultural event, and sharing the space where these high-stakes transactions occur, adds an additional layer of excitement for visitors, who themselves become a part of the spectacle.