A modern Tower of Babel? Pope Leo XIV warns against artificial intelligence

Pope Leo XIV has issued his first encyclical, titled *Magnifica Humanitas*, warning that artificial intelligence poses a major threat to humanity and could lead to a modern Tower of Babel. In the 43,000-word letter, he calls for disarming AI, establishing robust legal frameworks, and regulating tech giants like Meta. He also references Picasso's *Guernica* (1937) as a prophetic work denouncing dehumanization, alongside Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the novel *Schindler's List*. Separately, the Vatican is expanding its contemporary art program, with a new space called Conciliazone 5 currently showing works by British artist George Rouy, and future exhibitions planned for Yan Pei-Ming and Vivian Suter.

Books received from November 7, 2025 to May 27, 2026

Ouvrages reçus du 7 novembre 2025 au 27 mai 2026

La Tribune de l'Art has published a roundup of art books received between November 7, 2025, and May 27, 2026, covering medieval to 17th-century art. Highlights include exhibition catalogues for Martin Schongauer at the Musée du Louvre, a unicorn-themed show at the Musée de Cluny, and a display of Renaissance Limoges enamels at Galerie Kugel. Scholarly works on Michelangelo's sculptures, Caravaggio's early career, and Georges de La Tour are also featured, alongside a volume on Romanesque and Gothic architecture in the Creuse region.

Tourism and Accessibility: Travel is for Everyone. A New Issue of the Pax Newsletter is Coming, Subscribe for Free

Turismo e accessibilità: il viaggio è per tutti. È in arrivo un nuovo numero della newsletter Pax, abbonarsi è gratis

The article announces an upcoming issue of Pax, a newsletter by Artribune focused on cultural tourism. The new issue, arriving Friday, May 29, explores accessibility in travel and cultural tourism, featuring an interview with Anna Rizzo, author of "I paesi invisibili" (2022), and highlighting organizations like Traveleyes and NoisyVision, the latter founded in 2011 by Dario Sorgato to make nature exploration accessible to people with sensory disabilities. It also includes a map for outdoor leisure combining art, recreation, and nature at Italian villa parks, museums, and art centers, along with curated itineraries, trekking updates, cultural initiatives, and hospitality projects—including one by Michelangelo Pistoletto.

Film and Documentary Planned About Louvre Art Heist

Film und Doku zum Kunstraub im Louvre geplant

A heist at the Louvre in October 2025, in which four masked thieves stole crown jewels worth an estimated €88 million, is being turned into a film and documentary series. The projects are based on the investigative book "Main basse sur le Louvre" by journalists Jean-Michel Décugis, Jérémie Pham-Lê, and Nicolas Torrent. The feature film will be directed by Romain Gavras, with production by Iconoclast, while a documentary series will be produced by Misfits of the Mediawan Group. The book was published on Wednesday by Flammarion, though no title, release date, or cast for the film has been announced yet.

The mural project honouring the Black cultural heritage of Rio de Janeiro – photo essay

Two Black men, Pedro Rajão and Fernando Sawaya, created the NegroMuro (BlackWall) mural project in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 to address the severe underrepresentation of Black figures in the city's public monuments. Of Rio's roughly 360 statues and busts, fewer than 10% depict Black people. The project now comprises 80 murals across the city, portraying about 120 Black individuals—including writer Machado de Assis, activist Lélia Gonzalez, and musician Luiz Melodia—on walls of schools, museums, train stations, and private homes. The murals are concentrated in the less touristy north zone, deliberately focusing on underserved neighborhoods. The project was recently recognized by law as part of Rio's intangible cultural heritage.