Extraordinary opening of Forte Aurelia in Rome. The military garrison becomes a new space for culture

Apertura straordinaria del Forte Aurelia a Roma. Il presidio militare diventa nuovo spazio per la cultura

After ten years of restoration, the Forte Aurelia complex in Rome has reopened to the public as a cultural space, museum, and venue for events and exhibitions. Built between 1877 and 1881 as part of Rome's defensive ring, the fort was later used as a shelter, Red Cross hospital, and logistics center for the Guardia di Finanza. The official inauguration took place on the symbolic date of Rome's founding, attended by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, and Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, who framed the project within a broader strategy to enhance the city's historical heritage.

A Roma il popolare quartiere Quadraro ospita un festival d’arte diffuso. Il programma

The IPER Festival delle periferie returns to Rome's Quadraro neighborhood for its fifth edition, titled "Super Lieux (Super luoghi) Periferie. Storie e geografie." Running until May 31, the festival features conferences, roundtables, study days, talks, exhibitions, and performances. A highlight is "Überlagerungen," a diffuse art review curated by Spazio Y that animates the Quadraro Vecchio district on May 16 with actions, installations, and shows from 4 PM to 11 PM. Participating venues include Spazio Kina, vineria Moggio, and osteria Grandma, with works by artists such as Lucia Bricco, Giulio Cassanelli, Felice Levini, and many others.

In Romagna for over a century there is a "serious" spring carnival. The story of the plaster and thought floats

In Romagna da oltre un secolo c’è un Carnevale “serio” di primavera. La storia dei carri di gesso e di pensiero

A small town in Romagna, Casola Valsenio, has been hosting a unique spring festival for 125 years, featuring massive allegorical floats made of plaster and wood. Unlike traditional carnivals, this event—called the "serious carnival"—takes place in late April/early May and focuses on social and political themes. The floats, up to seven meters long and nine meters high, are built by local youth and paraded twice (day and night) with performers frozen in tableau vivant poses. A jury, this year chaired by Roberto Cantagalli, director of the MAR museum in Ravenna, awards a winner.

L’inquinamento acustico diventa un percorso sonoro. L’installazione di Continental a Milano

Continental, the premium tire manufacturer, has commissioned WOA Studio, a creative studio founded by Davide Carioni and Giuliana Pajola, to create an immersive sound installation titled "The Sound of Premium" for the Fuorisalone design festival in Milan. Presented at BASE Milano, the installation transforms urban noise pollution into a three-part sonic journey—chaos, harmony, and quiet—using seventeen audio-luminous elements that abstract the city soundscape. The experience is designed to show how noise can be mitigated rather than eliminated, with sound data derived from real urban recordings, particularly tire rolling noise.

A collective lunch is organized in Milan to discuss the problems of the cultural sector. Here is how to participate

A Milano si organizza un pranzo collettivo per discutere dei problemi del settore culturale. Ecco come partecipare

The nomadic assembly "OMTU – Organized Meals for Times of Uprising" is heading to Milan on April 19, 2026, coinciding with the miart art fair. Organized by a coalition of independent spaces including terzospazio, Osservatorio Futura, Parsec, and Arts of the Working Class, the event features a collective lunch followed by a public discussion at the Baséll space. The gathering aims to address the systemic precariousness of the cultural sector, focusing specifically on the scarcity of affordable social and cultural spaces in Milan.

Two spectacular libraries are under construction in Milan: photos of the construction sites

A Milano sono in costruzione due spettacolari biblioteche: le foto dei cantieri

Milan is currently undergoing a significant cultural transformation with the construction of two major public libraries: the European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) and the Lorenteggio Library. The BEIC, a massive 30,000-square-meter project designed by Onsitestudio and funded by the PNRR, is rising in the Porta Vittoria district as a national-level cultural hub. Meanwhile, the Lorenteggio Library, designed by a team led by Grau Magaña Urtzi, is taking shape in a strategic suburban area to provide essential community services and social integration.

Vulnerability Seen Through the Eyes of Two Artists on Display in Romagna

La vulnerabilità vista dallo sguardo di due artiste in mostra in Romagna

The Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea Vero Stoppioni in Santa Sofia is hosting "Corpi invisibili, fuori controllo" (Invisible Bodies, Out of Control), a dual exhibition featuring artists Claudia Amatruda and Carla Giaccio Darias. Part of the broader "Un Problema del Genere" festival, the show explores the concept of vulnerability through contrasting artistic methods. Amatruda utilizes photography, sculpture, and video to depict bodies in risky, natural environments that highlight relational dependency, while Giaccio Darias uses archival imagery and painting to present fragmented, anatomical forms that challenge the viewer's gaze.

Ethiopian Artist Tibeb Sirak Explores Heritage in Nairobi Debut

Ethiopian artist Tibeb Sirak presents her debut solo exhibition in Nairobi, exploring themes of heritage, identity, and cultural memory through her work. The show marks a significant milestone in her career, bringing her distinctive visual language to a new audience in East Africa.

Arts District Liberty Station unveils immersive open-air gallery and new public art installations

Arts District Liberty Station in San Diego has launched a new Open-Air Gallery, a self-guided tour featuring murals, sculptures, and public art installations. The tour is available in English and Spanish, with an interactive online StoryMap providing behind-the-scenes content. The organization also announced two local artists, Mischka Ippólita and Beliz Iristay, for its 2025 Installations at the Station program, which commissions site-specific works celebrating the San Diego-Baja region.

Studio 34 Announces Open Studio Weekend + Opening of Collective Pulse Art Exhibition in LIC

Studio 34 Gallery in Long Island City, New York, announces its annual Open Studio Weekend on May 16–17, 2026, from 12:00–6:00 PM, alongside the opening reception of a group exhibition titled 'Collective Pulse' on May 16 from 6:30–9:30 PM. The free event invites the public to explore working artist studios, meet the creators, and experience the artistic process, with live music by Sunshine Music. The exhibition, curated by Alice Lipping and Tina Glavan, features 14 Studio 34 artists and 11 guest artists, and runs through June 7, 2026.

Art on Main presents "Women in Art: Revealing Our Magnificence" opening reception

Art on Main in Dallas is presenting "Women in Art: Revealing Our Magnificence," a juried exhibition featuring bold, expressive works across mediums such as painting, drawing, photography, fiber art, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics. The opening reception includes live music by the East Dallas Uke-A-Ladies and a set by DJ MISO, along with a Best in Show award presentation, and the exhibit runs through May 30.

Art of the Vineyard Tasting Gallery Opens in Downtown Paso Robles

Art of the Vineyard Tasting Gallery has opened in downtown Paso Robles, California, at 840 13th Street. The 1,500-square-foot venue combines estate wine tasting from Carmody McKnight Wines with curated fine art exhibitions, live music, open mic nights, and hands-on creative activities like sip-and-paint sessions and artist-led workshops. The gallery features works by local, national, and international artists, including original pieces by Gary Conway, and offers a Collectors Club with wine shipments and limited-edition prints.

Movie-inspired art exhibition lets public explore one of Canada’s luxury hotels

Hotel Confidential is a new contemporary art exhibition hosted at the Royal Hotel in Picton, Ontario, featuring original projects by 16 artists. The show utilizes the hotel's Annex Building to display site-specific installations, such as a collection of vintage suitcases containing miniature dioramas and various architectural interventions. Co-curated by Stacey Sproule and Christina Zeidler, the event aims to bridge the gap between the region's luxury tourism industry and its dense local artist community.

What’s new at Springfield’s First Friday Art Walk this February

Springfield's February First Friday Art Walk is set to feature a diverse lineup of exhibitions and events across multiple downtown venues. Highlights include the Annual Foundations Exhibition at Brick City Gallery showcasing Missouri State University student work, a photography exhibition on English medieval architecture by Tom Russo at Drury Pool Arts Gallery, and a fifth-anniversary celebration for the artist collective Formed. Other participating locations include Hotel Vandivort, Obelisk Home, The Creamery Arts Center, and the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center, which will host a 40-year ceramic art retrospective by Keith Ekstam.

Open Exhibitions 2025 begin at Ferens Art Gallery

Two annual open exhibitions open this week at Ferens Art Gallery in Hull, UK. The main Open Exhibition features over 300 artworks by amateur and professional local artists across painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles, and film, with some pieces for sale. Alongside it, the Young Artist Open Exhibition showcases 559 submissions from artists aged 15 and under, submitted by individuals, schools, and community groups. Both exhibitions run from October 10, 2025 to January 11, 2026, with a public programme including artist talks.

月を射る @ KAG

KAG in Tokyo is presenting a group exhibition titled "月を射る" (Shooting the Moon), running from May 19 to August 16, 2026. The show takes its starting point from a prose poem of the same name by Korean poet Yun Dong-ju (1917–1945), who wrote it in 1939 under Japanese colonial rule and later died in a Fukuoka prison. The exhibition spans pre-war and wartime educational films, propaganda, performance, and contemporary fieldwork, featuring works by artists such as Inoue Kan (Lee Byung-woo), Choe Seung-hui, Kamei Fumio, Yoshimi Yasushi, Atsugi Taka, Fujii Hikaru, Yamamoto Seiko, T.T. Takemoto, Morita Reine, Gataro, and Shirakawa Masao. It examines the management models formed by the former empire and the spiritual structure of colonialism that underlies contemporary issues, centering on works that carry the "memory of censorship"—banned, deleted, or denied existence by national, administrative, or social norms.

AKKA Venice Project: Beyond the Exhibition

Lidija Khachatourian, founder of AKKA Project, discusses her gallery's evolution from Dubai to Venice, where it remains the only gallery dedicated to African and diasporic artists. In an interview with ART AFRICA, she explains her shift from a market-driven model toward a research-led, custodial approach that prioritizes long-term relationships and slowness over high-volume programming. The gallery, established in Venice in 2019, operates with a deliberate resistance to market pressures, focusing on care, continuity, and direct material support for its artists.

Double vandalism on the Place de la Concorde

Double vandalisme place de la Concorde

During the PSG Champions League semi-final victory celebrations last Wednesday, vandals destroyed an exhibition by Yann Arthus-Bertrand on the theme of 'Living Together' on the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The article describes this as a double vandalism: the physical destruction by rioters compounded what the author considers the original vandalism—the exhibition itself, which was supported by the French government, the Paris city hall, and several other entities.

‘In Mali, When Animals Dance’ – Inside the Pulse of Sogo Bò

Yoann Cormier curates 'In Mali, When Animals Dance' at the Musée des Confluences, an exhibition dedicated to sogo bò, a Malian performance tradition blending theater, dance, music, and community. Rejecting static displays, Cormier uses immersive scenography—light, sound, film footage from the early 2000s by Sonia and Albert Loeb, and reconstructed masks made with the Lyon Opera costume workshop—to evoke the festive atmosphere of sogo bò, moving visitors through a simulated Malian day from afternoon to night.

‘Out of Place’ : The Afterlives of Landscape.

The major retrospective ‘Out of Place’ at ART AFRICA showcases over 200 images by South African photographer Jo Ractliff, spanning four decades of her career. The exhibition traces Ractliff’s evolution from her early 1980s street photography to her mature, atmospheric landscapes that examine the scars of colonialism, apartheid, and regional conflicts in Southern Africa. By focusing on the 'afterlife' of violence rather than the events themselves, the collection highlights her unique ability to capture how history sediments within the physical terrain.

Sunkissed and the Poetics of Repetition.

Jeddah-based artist Ahaad Alamoudi presents 'Sunkissed' at the Sharjah Art Foundation, a solo exhibition curated by Amal Al Ali that explores the rapidly shifting cultural landscape of the Gulf. Through a series of newly commissioned and recent works, including looping videos and mechanical installations, Alamoudi utilizes repetition and pop-culture symbols like falcons and fly traps to examine how collective identity is negotiated amidst accelerated urban development and technological change.

parties jncquoi club comporta portugal

Cultured magazine hosted a dinner at Coco's private club in Manhattan to celebrate JNĉQuoi's forthcoming destination in Comporta, Portugal. The 164-hectare campus, designed by Vincent Van Duysen, will combine a beach club, residential community, and hotel, located an hour outside Lisbon. Founders Paula Amorim and Miguel Guedes de Sousa welcomed a crowd of collectors, gallerists, and art advisors, including Chad Leat, Ida Liu, Alexandra Stanton, Jason and Michelle Rubell, Seth Stolbun, Ellie Rines, Rob Teeters, and Sarah Ivory, with a performance by Portuguese soprano Leonor Vasconcelos.

Rocío Sáenz: Wild Order

ROCÍO SÁENZ: ORDEN SALVAJE

Mexican artist Rocío Sáenz presents "Orden salvaje" (Wild Order) at the Museo de las Artes de la Universidad de Guadalajara (MUSA), an exhibition featuring over 60 works created over three years. Spanning painting, ceramics, photography, and drawing, the collection explores the tension between beauty and horror, specifically addressing the harrowing reality of forced disappearances in Mexico. The exhibition is designed as an open studio, showcasing the artist's creative process alongside finished pieces that utilize black humor and satire to navigate themes of death and reconstruction.

Indah Gallery Art Exhibition: Mark Russell Jones “Hearing the Quiet”

Mark Russell Jones, a Central Coast native, presents his large-scale ethereal paintings in an exhibition titled "Hearing the Quiet" at Indah Gallery, located within the Roblar Winery vineyard in a converted hay barn in Santa Ynez Valley. The artist describes his work as exploring the space between abstraction and representation through layering and reduction, evoking memory and atmosphere rather than fixed depictions.

In the Studio with Harley Burns

Asheville-based artist Harley Burns discusses their transition from a career in public health to a full-time painting practice centered on trans and gender-nonconforming identity in the American South. The interview focuses on Burns's triptych "Buttoning Back Up" (2025), which translates a vulnerable public performance of chest-binding into a series of oil paintings that explore the hypervisibility and invisibility of non-binary bodies.

Face-to-Face: Nalini Sharma Talks MFA Boston’s “Divine Color” Exhibition and the Power of Indian Art

Nalini Sharma, an art patron and honorary member of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Board of Advisors, discusses the museum's exhibition "Divine Color: Hindu Prints from Modern Bengal" in an exclusive video interview. The show, supported by Nalini and Raj Sharma, features nearly 40 vibrant lithographs and over 100 objects including prints, paintings, sculptures, and textiles, exploring Hindu devotional prints from 19th-century Calcutta (now Kolkata). It is the first U.S. exhibition devoted to these works, which were mass-produced using lithographic technology and deeply embedded in daily life across India and the diaspora.

Elizabeth Hawes exhibition shows how forgotten designer influenced radical fashion

The Cincinnati Art Museum will host "Elizabeth Hawes: Radical American Fashion," the first major museum exhibition dedicated to the early 20th-century designer, running from April 24 to August 2. Curated by Cynthia Amnéus, the show features over 50 garments from the 1920s through the 1960s, drawn largely from the museum's collection of 23 Hawes pieces—the second-largest after the Met's Costume Institute. Hawes, a Vassar graduate who worked as a Paris copyist before becoming disillusioned with the fashion industry, advocated for comfort, personal identity, and gender-fluid clothing, and wrote nine books critiquing fashion's commercial cycle.

Cincinnati Art Museum opens new ‘radical fashion’-focused exhibit

The Cincinnati Art Museum is opening a new exhibition titled "Elizabeth Hawes: Radical American Fashion," the first-ever showcase dedicated to the groundbreaking American designer Elizabeth Hawes. The exhibit features over 50 garments from the 1920s to the 1960s, along with sketches, illustrations, and the first publication focused on her career. Hawes, who designed for icons like Lauren Bacall, championed gender-neutral clothing and quality mass manufacturing, ideas ahead of her time. The collection was largely donated by Dorette Kruse Fleischmann, a frequent client, and was curated by Megan Nauer, the museum's acting curator of fashion arts and textiles.

Houston’s Pioneering Artist-Owned Gallery — Archway Is Still a Creative Hub at 50

Archway Gallery, the longest-running artist-owned cooperative in Texas, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a landmark exhibition titled “Fifty Forward.” Founded in 1976 by 12 local artists seeking to bypass traditional gatekeeping, the gallery has survived five decades of economic shifts and environmental challenges through a robust cooperative structure. The anniversary programming includes a "Homecoming" show at its original location, the Jung Center, alongside concerts, poetry readings, and a juried exhibition.

Mapped by Tide and Time art exhibition in Mumbai

The solo exhibition "Mapped by Tide and Time" has opened in Mumbai, showcasing over three decades of work by Indian artist Vishakha Apte. Curated by Ina Puri, the show features a diverse range of mediums including painting, printmaking, paper constructions, and ceramics. The collection highlights Apte’s career-long investigation into tactile depth and material dialogue, moving away from artistic spectacle in favor of quiet, process-led inquiry.