Tehran-born artist and human rights lawyer Sanam Ghandehari is presenting a new body of work in Paterson, New Jersey, against the backdrop of escalating military conflict in Iran. Her multi-layered pieces reflect the duality of the current crisis, juxtaposing the hope for democratic liberation with the immediate trauma of seeing her childhood home bombarded.
UNESCO has expressed serious concern over recent Russian attacks damaging cultural heritage sites in Ukrainian cities including Odesa, Lviv, and Kyiv. The winter bombardment has targeted power grids and infrastructure, complicating the work of museums and cultural institutions. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a World Heritage Site, suffered its first military damage since WWII, and the historic center of Odesa, already on UNESCO's endangered list, saw its Holy Dormition Monastery severely hit.
The article reports on the 'Ghosts of the Hunt' exhibition, a photography show hosted by Greyhound Welfare SA (GWA) in Cresta, Johannesburg. The exhibition features two photographic series: one by Dean Bush, founder of GWA, documenting greyhounds rescued from the Yat Yuen racetrack in Macau, China—a facility that killed 20,000 dogs over 54 years before closing in 2018—and another by professional photographer Warren Johnson, focusing on locally rescued greyhounds. The article also highlights ongoing controversies, including a recent auction in Bela Bela, Limpopo, where SA breeders paid R2.4 million for 65 greyhounds destined for international racing, and lobbying by the Amaphisi Hunters' Association to decriminalize dog hunting in South Africa.
Staatssekretär im Streit um Fördermittel entlassen
Berlin's culture administration has dismissed State Secretary Oliver Friederici, who was responsible for distributing funds for projects combating antisemitism. The move follows a prolonged controversy over the allocation of millions of euros in grants, with allegations of unclear criteria and potential political influence from the CDU party.
Les écoles d’art privées traversent une zone de turbulence
A wave of bankruptcies and judicial reorganizations is hitting the private art education sector in France. Following the closure of the École d’art de Montreuil, the Académie des arts appliqués (AAA) in Dijon and the École supérieure de design in Troyes have both entered receivership. These institutions are struggling with severe financial deficits, unpaid staff, and a sharp decline in student enrollment, with some schools seeing their student bodies shrink by two-thirds in just four years.
Art X Lagos, West Africa's leading international art fair, celebrates its 10th edition in November 2025 under the theme 'Imagining Otherwise, No Matter the Tide.' Founder Tokini Peterside-Schwebig reflects on the fair's resilience despite Nigeria's currency crisis, economic volatility, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a softening global art market. This year's streamlined edition features 15 exhibitors from Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Ghana, and the UK, hosted at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos. The fair coincides with the upcoming opening of the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City.
Dozens of arts and media professionals have set sail for Gaza aboard the Thousand Madleens flotilla, including Bangladeshi photographer and curator Shahidul Alam. The group departed Otranto, Italy on 1 October and is currently in international waters, expecting to be apprehended by Israeli forces. Alam is traveling on the Conscience, the largest private vessel attempting to break the siege since October 2023, carrying 92 civilians from 26 countries, mostly medics and arts workers. The flotilla aims to challenge the legality of the siege and demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian professionals, particularly journalists and medics who have been targeted.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a traveling exhibition titled "Gaza: Stories of Hope and Resilience," featuring over 40 paintings by Gazan artist Ahmed Muhanna. Muhanna created the works on WFP aid boxes and paper over three months under constant threat of bombings, often by candlelight, capturing themes of displacement, famine, and resilience. The exhibition opened on 15 September in Brussels and will tour nine European cities before closing on 23 October, with funding from the EU.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a traveling exhibition titled "Gaza: Stories of Hope and Resilience," featuring over 40 paintings by Gazan artist Ahmed Muhanna. Muhanna created the works on WFP aid boxes and paper over three intense months under constant threat of bombings, using the boxes as canvas due to a lack of art materials. The exhibition opened on 15 September in Brussels and will tour nine European cities before closing on 23 October, with funding from the EU.
Iranian-born artist Omid Asadi has been appointed as the new artist-in-residence at the University of Salford’s Energy House 2.0 research facility. Running from Spring 2026 through the end of the year, the residency will see Asadi collaborate with researchers at the world-leading climate laboratory, which features two massive chambers capable of simulating extreme global weather conditions. The artist plans to create new installations and sculptures in response to the facility's pioneering retrofit research, specifically focusing on a recreated 1930s-era house.
In Trentino una mostra immersiva affronta i temi della sicurezza sul lavoro per coinvolgere su questioni urgenti
The METS – Museo etnografico trentino San Michele is set to launch an immersive exhibition titled "Un lavoro a regola d’Arte" on April 17, 2026. Created by artists Paola Samoggia and Carlo Magrì, the project utilizes seven rooms featuring short films, video art, and multisensorial elements to explore themes of workplace dignity, health, and safety. The exhibition moves beyond mere statistics to address the human reality of labor, incorporating music, dance, and performance to create a reflective space on the risks and rights of workers.
Vedere il mondo con gli occhi dei ventenni. Alle Gallerie d’Italia di Torino le foto degli studenti IED raccontano le urgenze del nostro tempo
The Gallerie d’Italia in Turin is hosting "The Searchlights," a public portfolio review and exhibition featuring the work of 18 photography students from the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED). Part of the EXPOSED Torino Photo Festival, the event showcases photographic projects that tackle urgent contemporary issues including the climate crisis, mental health, and digital memory. Each student presents their work in custom-designed boxes on communal tables, facilitating direct dialogue between the young artists and the public.
ART AFRICA has announced an open call for the second edition of its NEW FUTURES ARTS COLLABORATIVE, scheduled for 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. The residency, titled "De-composition, Extraction and Regeneration," invites artists to collectively explore themes of extractivism, ecological crisis, and social justice, using artistic practice as a tool for transformation and regeneration.
Kirkby Gallery has announced the opening of "ECHO," a solo exhibition by environmental artist Julie Dodd featuring sculptural works crafted from recycled and reclaimed materials. The show marks Dodd's first solo exhibition in a decade and showcases her practice of transforming discarded books and everyday objects into intricate forms that mimic natural patterns. Alongside the main event, the Entrance Gallery will feature "Supporting Households in Crisis," a research-based exhibition by Patricia McDonald-Holmes exploring food insecurity and community resilience in Knowsley.
The London Jesuit Centre is hosting "Paintings of Prayer and Protest," an exhibition featuring the works of artists Helen Elwes and Martin Jarvis. The show coincides with a special Mass for the Care of Creation at Farm St Church in Mayfair, marking the anniversary of Pope Francis' death. Both artists, members of Christian Climate Action and the Laudato Si' Movement, present works that blend ecological activism with spiritual devotion, including painted banners used in climate marches and contemporary icons addressing rainforest devastation.
DON NADIE THE LATIN AMERICAN PROJECT AT MILANO DESIGN ART WEEK
The design collective DON NADIE, founded by Ecuadorian industrial designers Lisandro Carrasco and Mono Alvarado, is presenting its project "1 m² / 1 second" at Milano Design Week. The installation, part of the IN BETWEEN collective at the Fuorisalone circuit, consists of sixteen folded-paper pieces within a cubic meter, each referencing native plant morphology. It translates the rate of deforestation into a tangible measure of time, representing one square meter of forest lost every second.
A REINTERPRETATION OF THE FUENTES ANGARITA COLLECTION AT LA NEOMUDEJAR
Museo La Neomudéjar in Madrid is presenting a major exhibition titled '30 Years of Irreverence and Vision in the Fuentes Angarita Collection.' The show features over 130 works from the collection of Venezuelan artist and collector Andreína Fuentes Angarita, curated by Néstor Prieto and Omar Castañeda. It is structured as a living archive, mapping three decades of Latin American political art through four thematic stations: the collective self, diaspora, identity and gender, and the memory of the body.
The Herndon Gallery at Antioch College is opening a group exhibition titled 'Rightstarter: Resistance, Rap and the Golden Era,' curated by artist Joshua Whitaker. The show, launching with a reception on May 9, explores the rap counterculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s, featuring works by artists from Dayton and beyond. It includes drawings, paintings, sculpture, installations, video, and performance, with a live jazz performance by G. Scott Jones and the Freedom Ensemble. The exhibition highlights how hip-hop served as a platform for social commentary against the backdrop of Reaganomics, the crack epidemic, the war on drugs, and the AIDS crisis.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents "Marianne Vitale: On Liberty: A Summoning," an exhibition and performance project at SPACE gallery in downtown Pittsburgh, running from May 1 to October 11, 2026. Guest curated by Benjamin Tischer of New Discretions, the project explores the layered social and cultural history of the 818 Liberty Avenue building, a former hub of nightlife, performance, and queer gathering. Vitale's work incorporates sculpture, painting, film, and live activations, using decommissioned locomotive parts and industrial debris to engage with post-industrial America. The exhibition transforms into a functioning club during select Final Fridays, drawing on the site's history as home to venues like Pegasus Lounge, a key LGBTQ+ space during the AIDS crisis.
Neon, a major Greek contemporary art non-profit founded by businessman and patron Dimitris Daskalopoulos, is closing after 14 years, stating it has fulfilled its cultural and social mission. Between 2012 and 2026, the organization presented 44 exhibitions across museums, historical sites, and public spaces, commissioning 105 works by Greek and international artists. Notable projects include donating Antony Gormley's sculpture 'RULE II' (2019) to the island of Delos—the first contemporary work permanently installed at an ancient site—and funding the €1.4m renovation of the Lenorman Street Tobacco Factory in Athens into a cultural center. Neon will present its final exhibition, the third installment of 'Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures,' later this year at the Old Acropolis Museum.
Ci sono 21 artisti a sostegno del nuovo viaggio della Global Sumud Flotilla salpata dalla Sicilia con vele dipinte
A new humanitarian mission by the Global Sumud Flotilla set sail on April 26 from Augusta, Sicily, with 59 Italian and Spanish boats heading toward Gaza. The flotilla, which follows a first attempt in September 2025 that ended with activists arrested by the Israeli military, aims to deliver humanitarian aid by early May. Twenty-one artists have joined the initiative, called Vele d'Arte, painting the sails of the boats with symbolic artworks. Among the participating artists are Gio Pistone, Antonio Curcio, Escif, Lydia Giordano, Glenda Costa, Millo, Elia Novecento, MP5, Matteo Todeschini, Alleg, Sam3, Okuda, Antonella Santonocito, Fabrizio Foti, Igor Scalisi Palmiteri, Andrea Sposari, and Salvo Ligama. The project was conceived by Carlo Alberto Giardina, who hopes the energy painted on the sails will transform into positive forces.
The Vancouver Art Gallery, in partnership with Canada's National Observer, will open "Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change" on May 10, 2026. The exhibition, co-created by publisher Linda Solomon Wood and curator Eva Respini, features over 35 international artists including Ed Burtynsky, Huma Bhabha, Jean Shin, Clarissa Tossin, and Josh Kline. Works explore climate change through photography, sculpture, installation, and film, avoiding a doom-and-gloom tone in favor of poetic and thought-provoking approaches.
The article reviews "Shifting Crossroads. Beirut Contemporary," an exhibition at Circolo in Milan that surveys the contemporary Lebanese art scene. It features internationally recognized artists like Mona Hatoum and Simone Fattal alongside emerging talents, including works from the Saikalis Bay Foundation, founded in 2024 by Nicole Saikalis and Matteo Bay. The show spans historical-archival investigation, photography, installation, painting, and sculpture, with pieces such as Stéphanie Saadé's "Stage of Life" (2021), Catherine Cattaruzza's "I am Folding the Land" (2022), and Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige's "Waiting for the Barbarians" (2013) exploring themes of memory, fragility, and geopolitical instability.
The 21st edition of Artbo, Colombia's premier art fair, opened in Bogotá with 46 galleries, down from its peak a decade ago. The fair is framed by the inaugural Bogotá Biennial, which adds international draw, and a leadership change: Jaime A. Martínez, an art historian and former gallerist, takes over from María Paz Gaviria. Early sales include works by Tania Candiani, Marcelo Moscheta, and Ximena Garrido-Lecca, with galleries reporting cautious but engaged Colombian collectors.
Artists from Good Bank Gallery in McLaren Vale are collaborating with The Wild South on a series of events called TOXIC SURF (Mid Coast) as part of South Australia's Nature Festival. The program includes workshops, exhibitions, a lantern parade, film screenings, and a choir performance, all aimed at addressing the ecological crisis caused by the harmful algal bloom Karenia Mikimotoi along the state's coastline. Community members can participate in ocean lantern-making workshops, a roving lantern performance, a community art exhibition, and an art and eco-resilience workshop, with contributions from local artists, Ngarrindjeri elders, and environmental groups.
A new exhibition titled "Mindscapes" has opened in St Helier, featuring the work of two local neurodivergent artists, Emilie Knight and Chris Addy. Knight explores identity, crisis, and transformation through mixed media paintings following her recent autism diagnosis, while Addy uses etching, woodcut, and acrylic to depict a darker, disorientating inner world. The exhibition is held in a multi-sensory space at the Connect With Art gallery (formerly Studio 18), owned by multidisciplinary artist Yulia Makeyeva, and runs until 2 October.
Museums across the West are facing a severe funding crisis as governments slash public support. In the U.S., President Donald Trump’s deep cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost funding, while stock market volatility and increased endowment taxes further strain budgets. In Europe, Berlin cut €130 million from cultural funding in December 2024, and other countries face similar pressures, forcing museums to confront dwindling subsidies and shifting philanthropy.
A group of British artists, frustrated by the Great Depression and inspired by socialist ideologies, founded the Artists International Association (AIA) in the early 1930s. Initially a Communist-inflected agit-prop group, it rebranded in 1935 to broaden its anti-fascist coalition, a move that sparked internal debates about ideological purity. The article, reviewing Andy Friend's book *Comrades in Art: Artists Against Fascism, 1933–1943*, highlights key episodes such as the AIA's 1940 exhibition 'The Face of Britain,' which opened amid the Blitz after bombs damaged the gallery.
Superchief Gallery, a longtime hub for LA’s underground art and photography scene, is fighting to stay open amid mounting financial challenges. Founder Bill Dunleavy is exploring alternative revenue models like crowdfunding to save the space, which has operated since 2014 in downtown LA and later moved to a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in South LA. The gallery has faced setbacks including a fire in 2020 and declining art sales and corporate sponsorships, despite its popularity for anti-elitist, community-focused programming.
Donald Moffett's latest exhibition, "Snowflake," opened at Alexander Gray Associates in New York, marking his first solo show in the city since 2019. The exhibition features extruded oil paintings created with cake-decorating tools, including works like "Lot 052525 (nature cult, melt 1)" and "Lot 061625 (nature cult, melt A)," which depict melting snow as a metaphor for the climate crisis. Moffett draws a parallel between this show and his 1989 exhibition "I Love It When You Call Me Names" at Wessel O’Connor Gallery, both titles reclaiming derogatory terms—"homo art" then, "snowflake" now—as acts of defiance. The palette is predominantly black and white, reflecting what Moffett describes as "dark times" and the stark choices of the current political climate.