The giant annual event in the Swiss border city of Basel, which aims to reflect current trends in the contemporary world, begins with private viewings for wealthy collectors before opening its doors to the public from Thursday to Sunday.
Long underrepresented, African artists are playing an increasing role.
There is a triptych by Kenya's Kaloki Nyamai, and "The African Library" installation by the Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare.
This work is filled with books covered with fabrics bearing the names of Africans who helped shape the continent's identity.
In Art Basel's "monumental works" section, a video by the French-Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed shows an approaching burning boat, intended as an allegory of the tragedy awaiting many migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
Close by, Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey illustrates the water shortage crisis through a huge installation entitled "Sea Never Dries."
The giant tapestry is made up of fragments of the yellow cooking oil containers found throughout Ghana, which are then reused to collect water.
U.S. artist Adam Pendleton questions racism in the United States with a video centered on the statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Virginia's capital Richmond, which came under the spotlight in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The artist, who hails from Richmond, documents the transformations the statue went through - being covered in graffiti, sprayed with paint, then finally pulled down to be transferred to the city's Black History Museum - symbolizing the changes in U.S. society.
"Artists are the thermometer of what's happening in the world," said Giovanni Carmine, one of the Art Basel curators, told AFP. The monumental works offer "a mirror on the interests of artists and of the art market," he added.
The giant annual event in the Swiss border city of Basel, which aims to reflect current trends in the contemporary world, begins with private viewings for wealthy collectors before opening its doors to the public from Thursday to Sunday.
The fair takes over the city for an entire week. Works by renowned artists are dotted throughout Basel, including one by Britain's Martin Creed, who won the country's prestigious Turner Prize for contemporary art in 2001.
More than 4,000 artists from 36 countries are represented in 284 galleries, often by their most expensive works.