AIRIE celebrated on Instagram their inclusion in my latest book, MIAMI’S ART BOOM.

Anastasia Samoylova, Artist, Miami and New York
Elisa Turner, Art Critic, Miami
Moderator: Coline Milliard, Executive Editor, Art Basel

What does it take to put a pin on the world’s art map? When Art Basel landed in Miami Beach in 2002, it helped galvanize a city already alive with creative energy. To mark the release of her new book Miami’s Art Boom: From Local Vision to International Presence, art critic Elisa Turner joined photographer Anastasia Samoylova to reflect on how Miami evolved from a regional scene into a meeting point between North and Latin America, the Caribbean, and the wider art world. One brings the long view of Miami’s evolution; the other the perspective of an international photographer who has made it her home – and her muse. In dialogue, they unpacked how artists, institutions, and galleries have shaped a city that continues to redefine what it means to be a global art hub today.

Anastasia Samoylova is an American artist working at the intersection of photography and studio practice. Her work explores how images shape our understanding of place, blending documentary observation with constructed scenes. Her recent projects – ‘FloodZone’, ‘Floridas’, ‘Image Cities’, and ‘Atlantic Coast’ – examine the visual politics of environmental and urban transformation. Exhibited internationally, her work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Elisa Turner is an award-winning art critic and journalist in Miami. Her book Miami’s Art Boom: From Local Vision to International Presence was published in October 2025 by University Press of Florida. In 2020 and 2021, she was awarded first place for Arts Commentary and Criticism from the Society of Professional Journalists, Florida. In 2020 she received the prestigious Rabkin Prize. She is a contributor to ArtBurst Miamiand other publications.

Coline Milliard is the executive editor at Art Basel, where she oversees the editorial strategy and its implementation, as well as the Conversations program worldwide. Over the last 15 years, she has held several senior editorial positions including at artnet News and Modern Painters, and has written extensively about art across all sections of the market. Milliard has lectured at London’s Royal College of Art and Chelsea College of Arts and holds postgraduate degrees from the Royal College of Art and the Sorbonne in Paris. (Source: ArtBasel.com)