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The U.S. Department of Justice has released approximately 3 million additional files related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, sparking a new wave of resignations and investigations across the global art world. The documents detail extensive connections between Epstein and high-profile figures, including museum leaders, major collectors, and artists. While inclusion in the files does not prove criminal wrongdoing, the public pressure following these revelations has forced several prominent individuals to step down from influential institutional roles.

Recipients of $100,000 Rauschenberg Centennial Award Named

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation has announced the recipients of its one-time Rauschenberg Centennial Award, a $100,000 unrestricted prize honoring the artist's 100th birthday. Winners include artist Senga Nengudi, performer David Thomson, photographers Chandra McCormick and Keith Calhoun, and poet Patricia Spears Jones, all of whom were selected from past participants of the foundation's Captiva Residency program.

Artists Gala Porras-Kim, Jeremy Frey and Tuan Andrew Nguyen among winners of 2025 MacArthur ‘genius grants'

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced its 2025 cohort of MacArthur Fellows, awarding 27 recipients—including visual artists Gala Porras-Kim, Jeremy Frey, Matt Black, Garrett Bradley, Tonika Lewis Johnson, and Tuan Andrew Nguyen—with $800,000 each over five years. The artists span conceptual institutional critique, Indigenous basketry, documentary photography, film, and social practice, with several currently holding major solo exhibitions or biennial features.

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Zanele Muholi has been named the winner of the 2026 Hasselblad Award, widely considered the world’s most prestigious photography prize. The South African photographer and "visual activist" will receive approximately $218,000, a solo exhibition at the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg opening in October 2026, and a dedicated publication. Muholi’s work is celebrated for its monumental grayscale portraiture that documents and honors the Black LGBTQIA+ community, challenging historical omissions and systemic oppression.

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David A. Ross, a prominent museum director and chair of the MFA Art Practice program at New York's School of Visual Arts, resigned after ARTnews revealed his numerous appearances in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files. The documents, released by the Justice Department, show correspondence between Ross and Epstein dating back to 1995, including emails where Ross offered support to Epstein after his 2008 arrest and discussed a controversial exhibition concept proposed by Epstein.

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Ronald Lauder, the billionaire art collector and heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, is named over 900 times in the recently released Jeffrey Epstein court documents. The emails reveal his assistants frequently scheduling meetings and calls with Epstein in 2017, though the substance of their discussions remains largely unclear. One email suggests Epstein sought to review Lauder's tax returns and will, while another indicates Epstein attempted to arrange a dinner involving filmmaker Woody Allen.

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Newly released documents from the Department of Justice, part of the Jeffrey Epstein case, contain email exchanges from 2013 that reference prominent art collectors Steve Tisch and Jean Pigozzi. The emails show Epstein facilitating introductions between Tisch and multiple women, with discussions about their backgrounds and travel arrangements. Tisch has stated the association was brief and expressed regret.

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The Munch Museum in Oslo has awarded the second Munch Award to Palestinian artist Samia Halaby, recognizing her long-standing courage and integrity in artistic expression. The prize, worth 300,000 Norwegian krones (about $30,000), honors Halaby's decades-long commitment to protesting injustices related to class, gender, and race, as well as her vocal criticism of censorship in the arts. The jury included Munch director Tone Hansen, artist-curator Wanda Nanibush, Yvette Mutumba of Contemporary And, Cosmin Costinas of Haus der Kulturen der Welt, and Munch curator Tominga O’Donnell.

Kader Attia to Curate 2027 Kochi-Muziris Biennale

French Algerian artist, curator, and educator Kader Attia has been appointed curator of the Seventh Kochi-Muziris Biennale, scheduled to open in Kochi, India, in December 2027. The selection was made by a jury led by Biennale president Jitish Kallat and including Shilpa Gupta, Amrita Jhaveri, Pooja Sood, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Mariam Ram, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Attia, who participated in the 2014 edition of the biennale, is known for his practice addressing social injustice, postcolonialism, and marginalized communities, and previously curated the 2022 Berlin Biennale.

Art Collector and ‘Galerie’ Magazine Founder Lisa Fayne Cohen Fawned Over Jeffrey Epstein in Emails: ‘There Is No One Else Like You’

Newly released documents from the Justice Department's Epstein files reveal that New York art collector and Galerie magazine founder Lisa Fayne Cohen and her husband, real estate developer Jimmy Cohen, were in close contact with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 and 2016. The emails show Cohen seeking Epstein's advice and arranging to photograph his Paris apartment for her magazine, which later featured the residence anonymously in its second issue.

art diya vij commissioner zohran mamdani new york

Diya Vij has been appointed as the new commissioner of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, the largest municipal funder of culture in the United States. Vij, a 40-year-old arts administrator with experience at Powerhouse Arts, the High Line, Creative Time, and the Queens Museum, previously worked for the department from 2014 to 2018 under former commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. She now oversees a $300 million annual budget and a 50-person staff, tasked with sustaining artistic communities across the five boroughs amid federal funding cuts to the NEA and NEH.

The 2026 Medalists at a Glance

Art Basel has announced the 33 medalists for its 2026 Awards, a global initiative recognizing excellence across the contemporary art ecosystem. The awards span nine categories, including Emerging, Established, and Icon artists, as well as curators, patrons, and institutions. Notable honorees include Barbara Kruger, Howardena Pindell, and Jenny Holzer in the Icon category, alongside established figures like Arthur Jafa and Julie Mehretu. The selection process, led by a jury of nine international experts, emphasizes a cross-disciplinary and geographically diverse group with a strong representation from the Global South.

Minor Keys and Major Silences: Yoshiko Shimada and the Art of Outrage

Yoshiko Shimada, a Japanese feminist and antiwar artist, is featured in a conversation with ArtAsiaPacific ahead of her inclusion in the 2026 Venice Biennale, curated by Koyo Kouoh under the theme "In Minor Keys." The article explores Shimada's decades-long practice of excavating the gendered scars of Japanese imperialism, focusing on her collaborative work with BuBu de la Madeleine, which uses drag and irony to critique imperial frameworks and the erasure of wartime atrocities. It also highlights her revival of the Chū-pi-ren movement, a 1970s feminist group that fought for abortion rights and access to birth control, arguing that their legacy remains urgent in 2026 given Japan's slow progress on women's bodily autonomy.

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Olivia Walton, former TV journalist and current board chair of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, discusses her leadership and vision in an interview for Cultured's 2026 CULT100 honorees. She took over from founder Alice Walton, her husband's aunt, in 2021 and has championed free admission and expanded access. The museum is set to open a major expansion in May, doubling its public space and celebrating its 15th anniversary alongside America's 250th birthday.

art selma selman young artist

Selma Selman, a 34-year-old artist based in New York, Berlin, and Amsterdam, is featured in Cultured's 2025 Young Artists list. Growing up in a Roma community in Bosnia, she helped her family strip precious metals from discarded items at their scrapyard—a ritual she now performs at venues like MoMA PS1 and the Venice Biennale, melting down the metal to create sculptures that explore value, labor, and exchange. She has participated in Manifesta 14, Documenta 15, and the 2025 Istanbul Biennial. In the interview, she discusses her professor Veso Sovilj, her foundation Get the Heck to School that supports Roma girls' education, and an upcoming performance destroying a Mercedes-Benz as a tribute to her late father.

Director of Poland Jewish Museum Reinstated

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Dariusz Stola has been reinstated as the director of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, seven years after being forced out by Poland’s former nationalist government. Stola, a respected historian who led the museum from its 2014 opening, was blocked from reappointment in 2019 by the Law and Justice party despite winning a competitive selection process. His return follows the 2023 election of a centrist coalition led by Donald Tusk and a subsequent move by Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska to reverse the previous administration's ideological purges.

Bard President Leon Botstein (Finally) Resigns, Following Epstein Revelations

Leon Botstein, president of Bard College since 1975, announced his retirement on Friday following the release of an independent report by the law firm WilmerHale, commissioned by Bard's board of trustees. The report found that Botstein had not been "fully accurate" in his public accounts of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, revealing visits to Epstein's private island, personal messages, a joint watch purchase worth $56,000, and invitations to campus. While no illegal conduct was identified, the report raised serious concerns about Botstein's leadership and judgment. Botstein will step down on June 30 but remain at Bard as a professor.

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The Ford Foundation has appointed Heather Gerken, dean of Yale Law School, as its next president. She will succeed Darren Walker and become the 11th president of the foundation, as well as the second woman to lead the organization in its nearly 90-year history. Gerken will officially assume the role on November 1, following a national search launched after Walker announced his departure after 12 years.

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Former French culture minister Jack Lang and his daughter, film producer Caroline Lang, have been named in newly released U.S. Department of Justice documents as having had ties with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The correspondence reveals Caroline Lang co-founded a company, Prytanee LLC, with Epstein in 2016, and that Jack Lang requested personal favors like the use of Epstein's car or plane.

Tonika Lewis Johnson: Segregation and How to Disrupt It

Hyperallergic is hosting an online member event on April 15 featuring a conversation with social justice artist and 2025 MacArthur Fellow Tonika Lewis Johnson. The event will focus on her community-driven projects, including the "Folded Map Project," and will include readings from her 2024 book, *Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It*.