Shiva Zahed's Istanbul gallery opens new platform for Iranian contemporary art

Shiva Zahed, an Iranian collector and former physician, has opened a new gallery in Istanbul's Pera district dedicated to Iranian contemporary art. The gallery launched with the exhibition "echos," featuring works by Shaqayeq Arabi and Fereydoun Ave, which was extended through May 10 due to strong interest. Zahed frames the space as an active platform to reposition Iranian artists within a global context, rather than a conventional exhibition venue.

Indian art is having its breakout moment. Here's who's driving it

Three record-breaking auctions in New York and Mumbai have vaulted Indian modern art into global headlines. At Christie’s New York, M.F. Husain’s *Gram Yatra* sold for ₹118 crore, the highest price ever for an Indian artwork. Tyeb Mehta’s *Trussed Bull* fetched ₹61.8 crore at Saffronart’s Mumbai sale, nearly nine times its high estimate, while Jagdish Swaminathan’s *Homage to Solzhenitsyn* crossed ₹39 crore at Sotheby’s New York. Together, these sales raked in over ₹220 crore.

literature book cover design

CULTURED magazine gathered three leading book cover designers—Sandra Chiu, Chip Kidd, and Rodrigo Corral—for a roundtable discussion on the challenges and thrills of their profession. The conversation covers the shift to online retail, budget cuts, and a growing homogeneity in cover design, exemplified by the so-called "book blob" trend. Chiu, known for bestselling romance covers, Kidd, a legendary figure at Knopf Doubleday, and Corral, now VP of Creative at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, share insights on their creative processes and the evolution of the industry since Kidd's early days.

Despite years of political and economic turmoil, Iran’s art market is thriving

Tehran Auction, Iran's premier auction house, held a $1.5 million art sale at the Azadi Hotel in October, selling 120 works by top Iranian Modern and contemporary artists. This strong domestic performance contrasts sharply with the weak showing of Iranian art at Sotheby's and Christie's in London, where prices have slowed amid sanctions and geopolitical isolation.

‘Is it possible to come back from this?’: Tehran’s art community on recovering from the 12-day war

Tehran's art community is grappling with the aftermath of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025, which has battered the economy, driven up inflation, and slowed art sales as collectors tighten spending. Despite these challenges, galleries like 8Cube and O Gallery are showing resilience: 8Cube's group show "Expectant," curated by sculptor Bita Fayyazi and featuring 28 emerging artists, drew 1,500 visitors on its opening night in August, signaling a tentative return to cultural life. Gallery founders report that sales have plummeted, with collectors shifting to gold or foreign currency, and that rising costs, electricity outages, and water shortages add pressure.

Amid a wave of global crises, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s Ship of Tolerance sets sail again—with added potency

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov's participatory art project *Ship of Tolerance* (2005–present) has been reinstalled at Oakville Galleries on Lake Ontario, near Toronto, opening on 31 May as part of the exhibition *Between Heaven and Earth* (through 20 September). The project, which involves children from diverse backgrounds creating painted sails for a 60-foot wooden boat, has previously traveled to locations including Siwa, Egypt; the Venice Biennale; Sharjah; Brooklyn; Miami; Moscow; and London. Emilia Kabakov continues to lead the project after Ilya Kabakov's death in 2023, and the latest iteration arrives amid global crises including wars, migrant displacement, and US President Donald Trump's threats to annex Canada.

Print Quarterly Volume XLIII - Number 1 - March 2026

The March 2026 issue of the academic journal *Print Quarterly* has been published, featuring a collection of scholarly articles and reviews focused on the history of prints and printmaking. The contents include new research on artists ranging from Hans Burgkmair and Paul Gauguin to Hiroshige and Aubrey Beardsley, along with obituaries for notable scholars and reviews of recent publications and exhibitions.

A Persian Garden Blooms on Governors Island

Artist Bahar Behbahani organized a four-hour event called "Damask Rose: A Gathering" on Governors Island, transforming three shallow fountains with handwoven carpets and crocheted canopies. The gathering featured West African musical improvisation, Kurdish poetry, a cyanotype workshop, and communal activities like hair braiding and tea ceremonies, involving over two dozen community groups including the Asia Contemporary Art Forum and Eat Offbeat. The event was part of Governors Island Arts's annual Interventions series, curated with associate curator Juan Pablo Siles.

From Eurovision to the Venice Biennale, culture contests are being overshadowed by politics

The Venice Biennale and Eurovision Song Contest are being overshadowed by political controversies rather than artistic merit. At the Venice Biennale, the Russian pavilion opened for press previews for the first time since the Ukraine invasion, a decision that may cost the festival €2m in EU funds. The Israeli pavilion will open despite protests from 200 artists and curators, while the South African pavilion will remain empty after its government blocked an artist's tribute to a Palestinian poet. The Iranian pavilion is also shut, and the awarding jury has resigned en masse, meaning no Golden or Silver Lion awards will be given for the first time in 40 years. Similarly, Eurovision's 70th anniversary is dominated by five countries boycotting over Israel's participation, with little focus on the music.

Iran Abruptly Drops Out of Venice Biennale as US and Israel’s War Continues

Iran has abruptly withdrawn from the 61st Venice Biennale, scheduled for May 9–November 22, 2026, reducing the number of participating nations from 101 to 100. The Biennale confirmed the withdrawal in a statement but did not provide a reason; Iran is now the only country listed without any artist representatives, though Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani remains listed as the pavilion's commissioner. The announcement comes as the Biennale opens to press amid ongoing controversy over the participation of Israel and Russia, whose pavilions have drawn protests from artists and politicians.

Births, deaths and a first kiss: life near the frontline in Ukraine – in pictures

British-Iranian artist Aria Shahrokhshahi's long-term photographic project "Wet Ground" captures daily life in Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion, focusing on moments of youth, subculture, and fragile continuity rather than traditional war imagery. The series, developed through repeated stays and volunteering since 2019, includes scenes from teenage discos, hospital wards, a birth during a missile attack, and a first kiss near the frontline, all shot in stark black and white.

‘It’s a huge, futuristic space with massive skylights’: Ali Zolghadri’s best phone picture

Ali Zolghadri, a Tehran-born fine art photographer, captured a composite image of the central atrium of the Iran Mall in Tehran—the world's largest shopping mall—which was shortlisted in the creative category of the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. The photograph, taken four months before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, depicts the mall's futuristic architecture with sweeping curved lines, metallic surfaces, and massive skylights, and includes a lone passerby to emphasize scale. Zolghadri emphasizes that his process involves manual editing in Photoshop without AI, blending three frames and removing unnecessary elements to construct meaning.

iranian artists killed in anti government protests advocacy groups report

At least four Iranian artists have been killed by police and militias during anti-government protests that began in December, according to Artists at Risk Connection (ARC). The victims include sculptor Mehdi Salahshour, filmmaker Javad Ganji, fashion designer Rubina Aminian, and hip-hop artist Soroush Soleimani. ARC condemned the extrajudicial killings, internet blackouts, and suppression of dissent, while the Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA) reported over 2,000 civilian deaths and called for international intervention.

burmese curator flees bangkok china censors art exhibition

The curator of an exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre (BACC) fled Thailand two days after its opening, fearing arrest and deportation. The show, titled “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machine of Authoritarian Solidarity,” featured exiled artists from China, Russia, Iran, and Myanmar and was curated by an artist from Myanmar known as Sai. After receiving warnings from BACC directors that Thai police were seeking his contact information, Sai learned that the Chinese embassy, Thai Foreign Ministry, and Bangkok city officials had pressured the museum over potential diplomatic tensions. The exhibition was censored: black paint covered artists' names and descriptions of Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang; a multimedia piece by Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron was nearly entirely removed; and flags representing Tibet and the Uyghur people were taken down. Sai immediately flew to London and plans to restage the exhibition elsewhere without censorship.

india venice biennale pavilion 2026 seven years

India has announced that emerging artists from its Indigenous tribes will represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale, marking the nation's first national pavilion since 2019. The news was delivered by Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat at a conference on conservation and tribal arts, highlighting a renewed government focus on Indigenous artistic heritage.

france returns colonial era human remains to madagascar

France has returned three colonial-era human skulls to Madagascar, including one believed to belong to King Toera, a Malagasy king executed by French troops in 1897. The skulls were handed over to Malagasy representatives at the French Culture Ministry on Monday, after being held in Paris’s National Museum of Natural History. French Culture Minister Rachida Dati called the return “historic,” while her Malagasy counterpart Volamiranty Donna Mara described it as healing an “open wound” after 128 years.

burmese artist sai exhibition bangkok arts cultural center

An art exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre titled “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machine of Authoritarian Solidarity” was censored after repeated visits by Chinese embassy representatives. The show, featuring exiled artists from China, Russia, Iran, and Burma, had black paint applied over artists' names and descriptions of homelands such as Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang. Works by Tibetan artist Tenzin Mingyur Paldron were particularly affected, with television screens showing her films switched off and Tibetan and Uyghur flags removed. Burmese artist Sai told BBC News that since the censorship, he and his wife fled to the UK to seek asylum.

galerie les bois offline

Gallery Les Bois has opened its inaugural exhibition, “Offline,” in London’s Chelsea neighborhood, running through July 22, 2025. The show explores digital saturation, online engagement pressures, and the environmental and human costs of the digital ecosystem. It features work by the artist duo Volcan, including their “Offline Series” (shown at the 60th Venice Biennale) and “Roadworks Series,” alongside contributions from Steve Foster, Oliver Tanay, Miranda Carter, and Jasmine Pradissitto. The gallery, founded by Claire-Julia Hill in 2024, aims to integrate sustainability with contemporary art.

gallery les bois claire julia hill

London-based Gallery Les Bois, founded in late 2024 by Claire-Julia Hill, is establishing itself as a pioneering force in sustainable contemporary art. The gallery features a diverse roster of artists who work with eco-conscious materials and techniques, such as transforming natural resources from impacted waterways into pigments and repurposing textile waste. In an interview, Hill discusses her background studying art history at Cambridge University, her inspiration to integrate sustainability into the art world, and the gallery's mission to champion artists who combine ecological responsibility with aesthetic excellence and conceptual rigor.

The Formal Consistency of Marcos López

LA CONSISTENCIA FORMAL DE MARCOS LÓPEZ

The Fundación Larivière in Buenos Aires is hosting a major retrospective of Argentine photographer Marcos López, featuring over 200 works spanning from 1975 to 2025. The exhibition highlights López’s distinct visual language, characterized by the high-saturation color palette of his 'Pop Latino' series and his rejection of traditional black-and-white documentary photography. His work is defined by deliberate staging, using artificial backdrops and theatrical props to create images that function as allegorical documents of Latin American identity.

It is Naive to Believe that Bombs Bring Freedom

"Es ist naiv zu glauben, dass Bomben Freiheit bringen"

Iranian-born artist Peyman Rahimi discusses the profound impact of his childhood experiences during the Iran-Iraq War and his subsequent mandatory military service on his creative practice. Breaking a long-held silence, Rahimi argues against the naivety of believing that military interventions or foreign bombings can bring true freedom to Iran, emphasizing that war only generates new trauma and suffering. He highlights the central role of Iranian women in the struggle for change, noting that their resilience remains the most potent threat to the current regime.

The Ten Best Books to Complement Your Viewing of This Year’s Oscar-Nominated Movies

Smithsonian magazine has curated a list of ten books to enhance the viewing experience of this year's Oscar-nominated films, published ahead of the 2026 Academy Awards. The selections include direct source material for nominated adaptations, such as Thomas Pynchon's *Vineland* for Paul Thomas Anderson's *One Battle After Another*, as well as thematic companions like *Frankenstein* and *The Vegetarian* for other recognized movies.

Rockefeller Center Unveils Sculpture by German Iranian Artist Bettina Pousttchi.

Rockefeller Center in New York has installed a new public sculpture, 'Vertical Highways V03 (2025)', by German Iranian artist Bettina Pousttchi. The work, composed of bent and battered red guardrails arranged in a tangle, will be on view in the Channel Gardens through April 17th.

Roksana Pirouzmand’s Dual‑Site Meditation on Loss

Roksana Pirouzmand’s dual-site exhibition in Los Angeles, hosted at OXY ARTS and JOAN, features performance-based sculptures and installations that utilize literal erosion to explore themes of loss and displacement. The works include anatomical clay casts of the artist and her mother, which are subjected to water, vibration, and physical interaction, causing them to crack and deteriorate over the course of the show. At OXY ARTS, a kinetic metal floor involves the viewer directly, as their footsteps cause clay hands to collide and break, illustrating the physical impact of movement and presence.

New Pioneer Square art gallery focuses on immigrant art

Saina Heshmati and Amir Amini have opened ANTiPODE Art Gallery in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, a new space dedicated to showcasing the work of immigrant artists. Located in a basement shared with the Seattle Jazz Fellowship, the gallery functions as a multi-modal hub for cultural exchange, hosting art exhibitions alongside film screenings, tea ceremonies, and experimental music. The founders, both Tehran natives, aim to bridge the gap between Seattle and distant global cities through diverse programming that emphasizes the intersection of different artistic disciplines.

More UNESCO-Listed Sites Damaged by Airstrikes in Iran

Multiple UNESCO World Heritage sites in Iran, including the 17th-century Chehel Sotoun palace in Isfahan, have sustained significant damage from recent US-Israeli airstrikes. The attacks shattered historic windows, doors, and decorative tiles at several monuments in Isfahan's historic center, and also damaged the third-century Falak-ol-Aflak Citadel, despite the display of protective Blue Shield emblems.

Shahin Norouzi : Paintings

Shahin Norouzi's solo exhibition of paintings is on view at Negar Art Gallery in Tehran from October 20 to November 6, 2023, presented by Arena Fine Art Gallery. The show features 13 recent works, all titled "Untitled" and dated 2022, with prices ranging from $800 to $3,500, exploring gesture, rhythm, and repetition as performative and time-based practices.

This art exhibition in Delhi evokes nostalgia around the houses we once lived in

An exhibition titled 'Houses I Almost Lived In' is currently on view at Latitude 28 gallery in Delhi's Defence Colony, running until May 25. The show brings together works by five artists—Shalina Vichitra, Pooja Iranna, Raj Jariwala, Samit Das, and Mahen Perera—who explore how architecture, memory, and belonging intertwine. Through layered cartographies, cement grids, stitched forms, and material fragments, the artists evoke nostalgia for the houses and spaces we once inhabited, examining how physical structures persist in personal and collective memory long after they vanish.

This is BC: Renowned artists open Enderby gallery

Renowned artists have opened a new gallery in Enderby, British Columbia, as reported in a segment titled 'This is BC' by Global News. The video feature, published on June 10, 2025, highlights the establishment of this gallery by well-known visual artists in the small community of Enderby, located in the North Okanagan region. The artists are bringing their expertise and creative works to a local venue, aiming to enrich the area's cultural landscape.

Holy ground: why Persian carpets played an important symbolic role in the funeral of Pope Francis

Persian carpets from northwest Iran were used in the funeral proceedings of Pope Francis, placed beneath his casket in St. Peter's Basilica and later in St. Peter's Square. The article traces this tradition back over 600 years, explaining how carpets from Islamic lands—first Anatolia, then Iran, Egypt, and the Levant—were depicted in Renaissance religious paintings as markers of sacred space, appearing at the feet of the Virgin Mary and other holy figures.