Co-commissioned by M+ and Art Basel, and presented by UBS, Shahzia Sikander’s 3 to 12 Nautical Miles (2026) is a radiant cinematic tableau, animated from hand-painted images, navigates the enduring currents of power and trade that have shaped the global landscape from the nineteenth century to the modern era. The work will be shown on the M+ Facade every night from Monday, 23 March to Sunday, 21 June 2026. The commission marks the fifth consecutive year of collaboration between M+ and Art Basel, presented by UBS, in activating the M+ Facade.

In '3 to 12 Nautical Miles', Sikander traces the entangled histories of empire, trade, and maritime power that linked the British East India Company, Mughal India, and Qing China. This animation charts the decline of Mughal authority under Akbar II, the internal strains of the Qing dynasty, and the East India Company’s rise from commercial venture to territorial power. Within this context, the work interrogates Britain’s opium cultivation in India, its coercive trade with China, and the First Opium War, exposing the mechanisms of imperial extraction and the deep power asymmetries between Britain and China at the time.