Protest gegen eine Kunstausstellung in Dresden

An exhibition by Dresden-based artist Holger John at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste (HfBK) in Dresden has been met with protests from students. Before the opening on April 30, the exhibition banner was cut and a gate was repeatedly blocked with locks. Students are calling for the show to be closed, not because of John's artwork, but because of his association with musician Till Lindemann, who faced serious allegations in 2023 (later dropped by prosecutors). John denies any wrongdoing and says the protests are damaging his reputation. The university has filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons and increased security, while also attempting to open a dialogue with the student council.

Kingston’s Art After Dark showcases emerging artists, veterans alike

Kingston’s Art After Dark event took place on Friday, May 22, 2026, transforming downtown Kingston into an open gallery for three hours. Organized by the Downtown Kingston Business Improvement Area, the self-guided crawl featured over 30 venues including boutiques, studios, and improvised gallery spaces, showcasing painting, photography, sculpture, live demonstrations, and interactive art. Emerging artists and veterans alike participated, with painter David Gilmore demonstrating watercolour and body painter Cornelia Rose creating face art on patrons.

Northport Arts Association holds Photo Exhibit

The Northport Arts Association is hosting its ninth annual Northport Photo Exhibit, launching Memorial Day weekend with a free opening reception on May 23, 2026, at its gallery in Northport, Michigan. The exhibit runs through June 14 and features over 100 framed photographs from professional and emerging photographers across Michigan and beyond, with categories judged on impact, lighting, storytelling, and technical quality. Awards include Best of Show, a new anonymous donor award called 'Dem Der Eyes,' People's Choice, and four category prizes.

F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio welcome new exhibition by Shore Collective

The F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio in Northern Ireland has opened a new exhibition titled "Threads of Time: Industry, Ecology and the River Bann," presented by Shore Collective, an artist-led group based in Lurgan. The show features work from twenty local artists across painting, textiles, photography, and performance, exploring the River Bann's historical role in Irish linen production, its agricultural significance, and its evolving environmental story. The exhibition runs until July 2026 with free admission.

Un grand spectacle, un petit récit

The article reviews the latest immersive exhibition at the Atelier des Lumières in Paris, titled "Renaissance. De Vinci, Raphaël, Michel-Ange." Set in a former foundry, the show uses 360-degree projections, lasers, and artificial fog to create a technically impressive visual spectacle. However, the narrative focuses solely on three Renaissance masters—Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo—leaving the historical and artistic context underexplored. The critic notes that the 50-minute presentation includes long contemplative pauses without commentary, which weakens its educational potential.

Lié au musée Guimet, l’hôtel d’Heidelbach rouvre pour la Nuit des musées, sublimé par Constance Guisset

The Hôtel d'Heidelbach, now renamed 'Maison Guimet,' has reopened after months of renovation led by designer Constance Guisset. Located at 19 Avenue d'Iéna, just steps from the Musée Guimet in Paris, the early 20th-century mansion will welcome visitors for the Nuit des musées on May 23. The guided tour includes reception rooms, an impressive collection of Chinese ceremonial furniture, and a Japanese garden with a tea pavilion, ending with a tea tasting. The renovation was intentionally sober, reversible, and modular, aiming to enhance rather than overhaul the space.

Ieva Lygnugarytė “Carmen: Utopias of Belonging” at Oratorio dei Crociferi, Venice

Artist Ieva Lygnugarytė presents "Carmen: Utopias of Belonging," a video installation at Oratorio dei Crociferi in Venice. The work reactivates a little-known story from 1523, when poet Nicolaus Hussovianus wrote "Carmen de Statura, Feritate ac Venatione Bisontis" as a diplomatic gesture for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, intended to accompany a straw-stuffed European bison.

Ekow Nimako: Reimagining African Futures in Black LEGO

Ghanaian-Canadian artist Ekow Nimako presents 'Building Black Civilisations – The Nile 3025 CE' at Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, an exhibition of monumental sculptures constructed entirely from black LEGO elements. The works imagine a liberated Africa in the year 3025, merging ancient Nile civilizations with Afrofuturist visions of technological transcendence and ancestral memory. In an interview with ART AFRICA, Nimako discusses how his practice uses the cultural polarity of LEGO—a childhood toy—to build serious, Black-centered narratives that resist historical erasure and propose expansive futures for the African continent.

Anseong City to Host Vibrant Museum and Art Gallery Week Cultural Festival in the Last Week of May

Anseong City in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, will host a cultural festival for 'Museum and Art Gallery Week' during the last week of May 2026. Five registered museums and art galleries in the city will participate, offering special exhibitions, free admission, and multi-sensory experiences. Highlights include the reopening of the Anseong Matchum Museum with a small exhibition on traditional Korean hats, free admission at the Korea Culinary Museum and Jo Byunghwa Literature Museum, an outdoor cultural experience at the Anseong 3·1 Movement Memorial Hall, and a special exhibition at DIMA Art Center. The festival coincides with International Museum Day (May 18) and this year's theme is 'Museums Uniting a Divided World.'

Meet Three of the Artists in the Emmanuel Art Gallery’s 150th Anniversary Exhibition

The Emmanuel Art Gallery on Denver's Auraria Campus is celebrating its 150th anniversary with the exhibition “Come Together: 150 Years of the Emmanuel.” The gallery, originally built as an episcopal chapel in 1876, has served as a synagogue and an artist's studio before becoming a gallery in 1973. The article profiles three local artists featured in the show: Isabella Briganti, a former student worker at the gallery now showing her drawings; Carlos Frésquez, who had his first professional show there in 1976 and has since become an internationally exhibited artist; and Max Kauffman, a Denver-based painter whose work explores folk imagery and the history of the building.

Free curator’s tour of Expo 86 art at Surrey gallery Thursday

Curator Jordan Strom will lead a free tour of "In the Shadows of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art" at Surrey Art Gallery on Thursday, May 28, 2026, at 7 p.m. The group exhibition features original and archival work from 1986 by over 50 artists, including Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Debra Sparrow, and Paul Wong, spanning photography, painting, film, weavings, sculpture, video, performance, and installation art. The tour will be followed by a chiptune performance by Freaky DNA (Leonard J. Paul). Additional events include a beading workshop on May 30 and a closing event on June 7.

Inside the free exhibition bringing the art of the Expo '86 World's Fair back to life

Surrey Art Gallery in Bear Creek Park, Vancouver, has opened a free temporary exhibition titled "In The Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art." The show revisits the cultural legacy of Expo '86, the 1986 World's Fair that transformed Vancouver's urban and economic identity, through contemporary artworks in photography, video, installation, and archival materials. It highlights the many public artworks commissioned for the fair, the architecture of pavilions, and features an anonymous documentary slideshow of over 1,700 photographs by Michael de Courcy capturing visitors and everyday scenes.

Joy Machine’s Feel Free Examines Order, Change, and the Limits of Control

Joy Machine's exhibition 'Feel Free' explores themes of order, change, and the limits of control through a series of artworks. The show presents a visual dialogue between structured systems and the unpredictable forces that disrupt them, inviting viewers to reflect on the tension between stability and transformation.

Weekend for the arts: 'Untitled' exhibition, 'Lessons Of Silence' theatre

The article covers three events in Kuala Lumpur as part of the KL Festival and Borneo Native Festival 2026. The 'Untitled' group exhibition at GMBB creative mall features 127 artists and 329 works without labels or artist names, inviting viewers to write personal reflections. Proceeds from admission and 'gift letters' go directly to participating artists, offsetting typical financial burdens for emerging creators. The theatre piece 'Lessons Of Silence' by Indonesian artist Agnes Christina is a wordless performance exploring race, class, and parent-child dynamics during a turbulent period in Indonesian history. Additionally, the Borneo Native Festival 2026 at Central Market showcases Sabah and Sarawak's arts and culture, with a highlight being Pangrok Sulap, a woodcut collective from Ranau, presenting prints, books, and socially engaged art.

Arch Enemy Arts’ Common Waters Examines Ocean Life Through Contemporary Art

Arch Enemy Arts presents "Common Waters," a group exhibition that explores ocean life through contemporary art. The show features works by multiple artists who use diverse media to examine marine ecosystems, environmental concerns, and humanity's relationship with the sea.

Exhibition | Zhi Wei, 'Folly' at Beijing Commune, Beijing, China

Chinese artist Zhi Wei presents 'Folly', a solo exhibition at Beijing Commune in Beijing, China. The show features a new body of work that explores themes of absurdity and human folly through painting and sculpture.

Simone Venturini is the new mayor of Venice: here's what he wants to do for culture (and yes, the councilor will return)

Simone Venturini è il nuovo sindaco di Venezia ecco cosa vuole fare per la cultura (e sì, tornerà l’assessore)

Simone Venturini, a 38-year-old center-right candidate, has been elected mayor of Venice in a surprise first-round victory on May 25, 2026. Born and raised in Marghera, Venturini entered politics at 22 and is seen as the protégé of outgoing mayor Luigi Brugnaro. His campaign emphasized daily belonging and crisis management experience, from the pandemic to overtourism.

“Villa Borghese è perfetta e non si tocca”. Siamo andati a vedere se è proprio così perfetta

A private company donated a design competition to the Galleria Borghese in Rome, aiming to expand the museum's exhibition spaces and services. Before any winning project was selected, associations like Italia Nostra protested, claiming the initiative would desecrate Villa Borghese. The article's author visited the park to document its current state, finding decay: a wrecked Globe Theatre, neglected ponds, graffiti, trash, dilapidated buildings, and a degraded horse-riding track. The author argues that while the park is defended as "perfect and untouchable," it is actually suffering from real neglect that goes unaddressed by the same groups opposing development.

In my Auntieversum, everyone is free, there are no rules

"In meinem Auntieversum sind alle frei, es gibt keine Regeln"

Wenhui Lim, a Singapore-raised artist and former architecture designer, creates AI-generated images and videos featuring older Asian women she calls 'Aunties.' Her surreal 'Auntieversum' depicts these figures bathing in oversized ramen bowls, playing with pastel jellyfish, and driving sushi cars—a fantastical parallel universe where they are free from societal and familial expectations. Lim began the project in early 2023 as a personal exploration to reconcile her own feelings toward the aunties in her life, who often made blunt comments about her appearance while also plying her with food.

(Video) Kazakhstani artist bridges ancient and modern worlds with textile exhibition in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is hosting 'Dowry of the Soul,' a solo exhibition by Kazakhstani artist Gulnur Mukazhanova at the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT). The show blends ancient Central Asian textile traditions with contemporary abstraction, featuring large-scale felt works and a textile collage created during the artist's 2022 residency using fabrics sourced from local Hong Kong markets and Central Asia.

Isabelle d'Este's Ewer at the Louvre

L'aiguière d'Isabelle d'Este au Louvre

The Louvre has acquired a ewer (aiguière) that once belonged to Isabelle d'Este, as part of a broader campaign to secure 'national treasures' from the French branch of the Rothschild family collections. The acquisition follows a tense period that began in spring 2023, when Christie's prepared to disperse these collections across multiple sales in New York, sparking both hope and anxiety among heritage advocates. The ewer is the only Rothschild object whose entry into the Louvre was publicly announced, though other pieces—such as a BVRB commode and a plate by Léonard Limosin—are also part of the ongoing effort.

Arthurian manuscript could make magic at Christie's London

A rare medieval manuscript containing early versions of the King Arthur, Merlin, and Holy Grail myths will be auctioned at Christie’s London on 8 July with an estimate of £1.5m–£2m. Known as the Clermont-Tonnerre Grail, the vellum manuscript (circa 1290–1310) features gold leaf illumination and 126 miniature illustrations by the Master of the Liège Apocalypse. It includes texts from the Old French Lancelot-Grail cycle and has a distinguished provenance, having belonged to figures such as Sir Thomas Phillipps and the comte de Clermont-Tonnerre.

Long-Lost 17th-Century Altarpiece Paintings Recovered After Nearly 100 Years

Spanish police have recovered two long-lost 17th-century altarpiece paintings by Baroque painter Lucas Valdés, which disappeared after being shown at the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition of Seville. The works, depicting Old Testament scenes, were identified in an auction house catalog in September 2025, authenticated by the Spanish Historical Heritage Brigade, and returned to the Hospital of the Venerable Priests in Seville on May 20, 2026, after a mediation process with the consignors.

Martin Lister obituary

Martin Lister, a writer, teacher, and scholar of photography and new media, has died at age 78. He was a key figure in the study of how technology intersects with cultural ways of seeing, editing the influential book *The Photographic Image in Digital Culture* (1995) and co-authoring *New Media: A Critical Introduction* (2003). Lister served as head of the school of cultural studies at the University of the West of England (UWE) and taught at institutions including Cockpit Arts Workshop and Newport College of Art and Design.

Summer Shows and Events at the Long Beach Museum of Art

The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) is hosting a series of summer events and exhibitions through June 2025. Highlights include the ongoing show 'Fearless Depictions' featuring Robert Williams, 'Holding Time' with works by Elyse Pignolet and MyungJin Kim, and a landscape collection exhibition titled 'Why Paint a Landscape?'. A Plein Air art trip to Lake Arrowhead is scheduled for June 6, and the major fundraiser 'Uncorked' on June 13 will feature a live auction of works by over 30 artists, including Sarah C. Arnold, Charles Arnoldi, and Cynthia Minet. The museum also honors local high school students with the 'Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow' exhibition.

Siobhán McAuley Exhibition at The Shard

Siobhán McAuley, an Irish-born, London-based visual artist who works in broadcast media at Al Jazeera, is exhibiting her work at The Shard in London. Her art, which includes paintings, collages, and sculptures, draws on narrative traditions and explores memory, imagination, and experience through fragmented, surrealist-inspired forms. The exhibition is part of The Shard's initiative to showcase the creative talents of its building occupants, turning the commercial skyscraper into a cultural space.

Mattatuck Museum Presents Psychedelic Splendor: The Concert Art of AJ Masthay & Helen Kennedy

The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Connecticut, will present "Psychedelic Splendor: The Concert Art of AJ Masthay & Helen Kennedy" from June 13 to September 20, 2026. This is the first museum exhibition for both artists, featuring over seventy gig posters created for bands such as Dave Matthews Band, Dead & Company, Foo Fighters, Goose, The Grateful Dead, Pearl Jam, Phish, and Widespread Panic. The exhibition explores the psychedelic aesthetics and iconography of contemporary concert art, showcasing screenprints, lithographs, and linocuts. A benefit concert with the Mystic Dead will be held on June 11, and a limited-edition collaborative poster will be sold at the museum gift shop.

Cambodian-French Artist Luna Kol Explores Memory and Identity in Latest Exhibition

Cambodian-French artist Luna Kol is presenting a new exhibition exploring themes of memory and identity. The show features her latest works that delve into her bicultural heritage and personal history, blending Cambodian and French influences through mixed-media techniques.

Vintage Star Wars toys and posters coming to Beverley Art Gallery

Vintage Star Wars collectibles, including action figures, toys, and original cinema posters from a private collection, will be displayed at Beverley Art Gallery this summer. The exhibition, titled 'May The Toys Be With You,' runs from June 6 to August 29 and has already broken visitor records at other UK museums.

Resonating with the past: 3 Macau artists on ‘Jacone’s Polyphony’ at Venice Biennale

Three Macau artists—Fok Hoi Seng, O Chi Wai, and Lei Fung Ieng—are presenting works in the exhibition “Jacone’s Polyphony” at the 61st Venice Biennale. The show, curated by Feng Yan and Ng Sio Ieng, draws inspiration from the 17th-century Jesuit painter Wu Li (known in Portuguese as Jacone), whose unfulfilled journey to Rome mirrors Macau’s complex cultural identity. Fok contributes a large-scale screen tracing Wu Li’s intended route; O offers a multimedia installation linking past and present spiritual seeking; and Lei creates a sculpture exploring migration and emotional texture.