Art News. Vasari Codex

Venice Biennale 2026 Highlights: Off-Site Exhibitions

ArtReview editors highlight off-site pavilions and exhibitions at the 61st Venice Biennale, running from 9 May through 22 November 2026. Featured works include Li Yi-Fan's film *Screen Melancholy* at Palazzo delle Prigioni, which uses motion capture and a free-trial videogame engine to explore digital alienation and the 'enshittosphere,' and Roberto Diago's installation *Free Men* at the Pavilion of Cuban Republic, comprising rusted iron heads, fragmented wooden figures, and text works critiquing political oppression in Cuba.

museum exhibitions schedule May 13, 2026 visibility 9 link 7 artists

‘It takes an entire museum to do it justice’: the Smithsonian celebrates America in 250 objects

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington DC is marking the 250th anniversary of US independence with a major exhibition titled "In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness," opening on 14 May. The show displays 250 objects spanning all three floors of the museum, ranging from a Revolutionary War-era gunboat (the Philadelphia) to a Donald Trump "Make America great again" hat. Seventy-six rarely seen objects are concentrated in entry hall cases, while the rest are embedded throughout existing galleries, connected by a "ribbon" design. Director Anthea Hartig frames the exhibition as a commemoration of moments where individuals and communities fought for recognition and identity, pairing each object with an action verb to emphasize democracy as participatory.

newspaper The Guardian open_in_new Read original