How Art Libraries Make Art Accessible

Wie Artotheken Kunst zugänglich machen

Artotheken, or art libraries, are public institutions that lend artworks to anyone with a library card, making art accessible beyond the traditional museum or gallery system. In Germany, over 100 such artotheken exist, often housed in public libraries, art associations, or museums. The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Berlin, for example, has a collection of 2,000 works, with around 300 currently on loan to homes, doctors' offices, and law firms. The lending process is informal: borrowers can eat, drink, and even touch the works, and transport by bus or bike is encouraged. A jury selects up to 15 new works annually, and the collection includes major names like Roy Lichtenstein and Niki de Saint Phalle, though most users choose pieces based on personal connection rather than prestige.

Monopol verlost 5 × 2 Tickets für Graciela Iturbide bei C/O Berlin

German art magazine Monopol is giving away 5 × 2 tickets for the retrospective exhibition "Graciela Iturbide: Eyes to Fly With" at C/O Berlin. The article describes Iturbide's career, including her iconic photograph "Mujer ángel" (Angel Woman) taken in the Sonora Desert while living with the Seri people, and her long-term documentary projects on Mexican cultural practices, such as the Zapotec community in Oaxaca and images like "Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas." Iturbide, born in Mexico City in 1942, began her photography career in the late 1960s as an assistant to Manuel Álvarez Bravo.

The Future Will Be Neither Good Nor Bad, But Strange

"Die Zukunft wird nicht gut oder schlecht, sondern seltsam"

Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, has brought his "Regular Animals" series to the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. The works feature digital creatures that blend pop-culture figures like Mark Zuckerberg with art-historical references such as Picasso, continuing Beeple's signature style of satirical, software-generated imagery. The exhibition marks a significant institutional debut for the artist, who rose to fame by selling the most expensive NFT ever and posting daily digital art online.

Ballets of Repetition

Ballette der Wiederholung

Vivien Zhang, a painter whose work blends botany, mathematics, and migration, is now exhibiting in Berlin. Her paintings feature tongue-like petals, crystalline butterflies, dewdrops, seed capsules, chromosomes, and frozen brushstrokes, all arranged in grid-like patterns that create a ballet of repetition. The forms are technoid-organic and three-dimensional, presenting enigmatic visual puzzles that explore how shapes, identities, and systems emerge anew.

Julia Stoschek Foundation Closes Berlin Location

Julia Stoschek Foundation schließt Berliner Standort

The Julia Stoschek Foundation is closing its Berlin exhibition space at the end of October. The foundation, which specializes in video art, opened the venue in 2016 in a former Czech cultural center on Leipziger Straße, quickly becoming a key destination for time-based art in the city. Over its run, it presented 22 solo and group shows featuring artists such as Arthur Jafa, Ian Cheng, and Mark Leckey, attracting more than 450,000 visitors. The closure is part of a strategic reorientation: the foundation will now focus on its headquarters in Düsseldorf and temporary international projects, building on recent presentations abroad like a show in Los Angeles that drew over 30,000 visitors in early 2026.

Berlin Museum of Prints and Drawings Wins Award in New York

Berliner Kupferstichkabinett gewinnt Auszeichnung in New York

The Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) in Berlin has acquired two new works from the IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair in New York. The purchases were funded by the museum winning the Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize, which provided a $10,000 grant specifically for acquisitions at the fair. The new additions are a 2005 paper work titled "Europa" by German-American artist Kiki Smith and a 2001 lithograph titled "Pregnant Caryatid" by Louise Bourgeois.

"We are among those in the crowd who are overjoyed"

"Wir gehören zu denjenigen in der Menge, die überglücklich sind"

The Hungarian art scene is celebrating a major political shift following Péter Magyar’s electoral victory over Viktor Orbán, ending 16 years of restrictive cultural policies. Local figures, including gallerist Margit Valkó and artist János Sugár, express immense relief and hope for a future defined by institutional autonomy and international engagement after years of state-led hostility toward contemporary art.

Kunsthalle Mainz Facing the End?

Kunsthalle Mainz vor dem Aus?

The Kunsthalle Mainz is facing potential closure by the end of the year following the withdrawal of funding by the Mainzer Stadtwerke. The crisis is compounded by the departure of director Stefanie Böttcher, who is moving to the Kunsthalle Kiel, and the fact that her position has not been advertised for replacement. Despite its international reputation and successful recent exhibitions, such as the current Britta Marakatt-Labba retrospective, the institution lacks a secured financial future and a leadership succession plan.

How Much Change Can Society Endure?

Wie viel Veränderung hält die Gesellschaft aus?

Artist Julius von Bismarck and SPD politician Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter engaged in a deep dialogue about the societal transition from a fossil-fuel-based to a post-fossil society. During a live podcast hosted by Monopol editor-in-chief Elke Buhr at the BMW Foundation in Berlin, von Bismarck challenged traditional notions of environmental protection, arguing that the very concept of "nature" should be abolished to foster a new relationship with the world. The discussion bridged the gap between artistic radicalism and political pragmatism, touching on existential threats, global inequality, and the role of technology like AI.

What is Art Allowed to Do?

Was darf die Kunst?

German Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer has sparked a heated debate over artistic freedom after excluding three bookstores from the German Bookstore Prize due to undisclosed intelligence reports. The controversy has escalated into a broader confrontation with cultural institutions, highlighted by the Berlin Volksbühne's public criticism and Weimer's subsequent refusal to participate in a scheduled panel discussion. This incident follows a string of high-profile disputes regarding political expression in the arts, particularly concerning the Berlinale and documenta fifteen.

Valie Export en 2 minutes

Valie Export (1940–2026), the Austrian avant-garde artist known for radical feminist body art and video, has died at age 85. Born Waltraud Lehner in Linz, she studied design in Vienna before adopting her iconic pseudonym from a Canadian cigarette brand in 1967. Export rose to prominence with her 1969 performance *Genitalpanik*, which critiqued the male gaze and women's societal roles. She became a key figure in body art alongside the Vienna Actionists, later expanding into film and photography. Her first feature *Unsichtbare Gegner* (1976) screened at the Berlinale, and she won the Golden Bear in 1985 for *Die Praxis der Liebe*. She taught in Cologne from 1995 and participated in Documenta 6.

Rewiring the System: Jean Katambayi Mukendi.

Congolese artist Jean Katambayi Mukendi presents his first solo exhibition in Germany, 'Ratio,' at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. The exhibition features drawings, sculptural installations, and works made from recycled materials that examine technological systems, energy infrastructures, and mineral extraction.

Marieta Chirulescu, Fred Sandback at Galerie Thomas Schulte

Galerie Thomas Schulte in Berlin is presenting a two-person exhibition featuring works by Marieta Chirulescu and Fred Sandback. The show, titled "Phase," runs from February 28 to April 18, 2026, and includes 17 documented images of the installation.

film nadav lapid yes israel palestine

Nadav Lapid's fifth feature film, *Yes*, follows an Israeli musician and his artist wife who adopt a hedonistic lifestyle of parties, orgies, and drug use alongside war ministers and Russian oligarchs in the wake of the October 7 attacks and the Gaza conflict. The film, which premiered out of competition at Cannes, faced production challenges including crew walkouts and actor dropouts, and struggled to find US distribution before being picked up by Kino Lorber for a March 27 release in New York and April 3 in Los Angeles.

Matt Mullican at Galerie Thomas Schulte

Artist Matt Mullican has opened a solo exhibition titled "Above and Below the Three Worlds" at Galerie Thomas Schulte in Berlin. The show, which runs from February 14 to April 18, 2026, features new work documented by 41 images on the gallery's site.

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.

art jota mombaca aspen air festival

Jota Mombaça, a Brazilian multidisciplinary artist known for fusing critical theory with drawing, poetry, installation, and performance, has created a new three-act opera titled "The Muted Saints" commissioned for the Aspen Art Museum's AIR Festival. The work will premiere on July 29 at the Hallam Lake Nature Preserve in Aspen, Colorado. Inspired by Mombaça's 2023 short story about a protagonist transitioning from human to geological form, the opera explores themes of planetary interconnectedness, environmental catastrophe, and the transformation of beings into rocks, ghosts, or wind. Mombaça discusses their creative process, the influence of the local Colorado environment, and the importance of site-responsive work in an interview with CULTURED.

A Visit to Tomás Saraceno’s Berlin Studio Delves into a Deeply Empathetic Practice

A Visit to Tomás Saraceno’s Berlin Studio Delves into a Deeply Empathetic Practice

A new documentary from Art21 offers an inside look into artist Tomás Saraceno's Berlin studio, highlighting his collaborative and interdisciplinary practice. The film explores several of his projects, from large-scale suspended installations to community-focused works, all centered on how humans inhabit space and relate to other species.

The Founders of Open Restitution Africa (ORA) on Their New Open Data Platform

On March 31, the research initiative Open Restitution Africa (ORA) launched the ORA Open Data Platform, a database providing information on the restitution of African artifacts and ancestral remains. Developed over six years by ORA’s all-woman, pan-African team, the site uses case histories and AI-powered tools to offer practical insights into the return process, available in French and English. It presents 25 case histories spanning 200 years, using data visualizations, essays, and interactive tools to help individuals and communities develop their own restitution strategies. ARTnews interviewed founders Chao Tayiana Maina and Molemo Moiloa about the project's origins and goals.

Trippy Film by British-Ethiopian Artist Theo Eshetu Hits the Venice Biennale

British-Ethiopian artist Theo Eshetu is presenting a new installation, *The Garden of the Broken-Hearted* (2026), at the Venice Biennale. The work features a live olive tree mounted on a rotating dais, with a video of the tree projected onto itself, marking a shift from his decades-long practice of multi-screen video installations. Eshetu discusses the project's origins in conversations with the late Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh, framing the tree as a space for mourning, human consciousness, and elemental storytelling.

Read a book, flip off a Nazi: when reading meant resistance – in pictures

A new exhibition at Poster House in New York, titled "Reading Under Fire: Arming Minds & Hearts During Wartime," showcases vintage posters from World War I and World War II that promoted reading and book donations to support troops. The posters, drawn from the collections of the American Library Association, the YMCA, and other organizations, encouraged the public to supply soldiers with reading material as a form of morale-boosting and education. The exhibition runs until 1 November and is curated by Molly Guptill Manning.

Artnet Makes Significant Layoffs Following Consolidation with Artsy

Artnet has implemented sweeping layoffs following its consolidation with Artsy under a single leadership team led by CEO Jeffrey Yin. The cuts have severely impacted Artnet News, resulting in the departure of veteran senior reporters Sarah Cascone and Eileen Kinsella, while Andrew Russeth has been named interim editor. Additionally, Artnet’s German entity is being wound down, affecting the Berlin-based team responsible for the platform's online sales operations.

Henrike Naumann, Sculptor Set to Represent Germany at Venice Biennale, Dies at 41

henrike naumann sculptor dead germany venice biennale

The German art world is mourning the death of sculptor Henrike Naumann, who passed away in Berlin at age 41 following a brief battle with cancer. Naumann was a rising star known for her immersive installations that utilized furniture and domestic objects to explore the complex sociopolitical legacy of East Germany and the psychological tensions of reunification. Her death comes just months before she was scheduled to represent Germany at the 2024 Venice Biennale.

sung tieu new board member kw institute

Artist Sung Tieu has sold her 2025 work *Declaration of Donation* for €25,000, with proceeds funding a five-year term for a new board member at KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin. The work, created for her exhibition “1992, 2025” at KW, consists of a contract engraved on four mirrors that criticizes the institution’s €5,000 yearly board member fee, arguing it limits board diversity. Tieu nominated curator Mi You for the position, and KW director Emma Enderby expressed gratitude for the provocation.

brueghel mayken verhulst

Recent evidence suggests that Mayken Verhulst (ca. 1518–1599), the mother-in-law of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, authored works long attributed to the anonymous Brunswick Monogrammist. A key painting, *Ecce Homo* from the National Museum in Gdańsk, bears a unique double signature combining the initials of her husband, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, with her family name “Bessemer,” indicating her authorial role within the workshop. This discovery, detailed in an essay from the exhibition *The Woman Question 1550–2025* at the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, challenges centuries of art-historical attribution.

sean monahan

Trend forecaster and writer Sean Monahan, known for coining the term "vibe shift" and popularizing "normcore" through the collective K-HOLE, reflects on cultural trends, platform fatigue, and the possibility of a long-awaited cultural shift. In an interview with Artnet News, Monahan discusses his journey from art school to brand consulting, the legacy of post-internet art, institutional decay, and why the 2020s may finally be congealing into a definable decade. He currently runs the Substack newsletter 8Ball, which decodes contemporary aesthetics and social dynamics.

as seen on goodfellas

Martin Scorsese's 1990 film *Goodfellas* features a brief but memorable scene where mobsters Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) visit Tommy's mother, played by Scorsese's own mother Catherine. She shows them a small painting of a man in a boat with two dogs facing opposite directions, prompting an improvised, humorous exchange of amateur art criticism that ties into the film's dark plot. The painting was actually based on a photograph by Adam Woolfitt from the November 1978 issue of *National Geographic*, depicting Irish river advocate John Weaving and his dogs Brocky and Twiggy; the on-screen version was created by Pileggi's mother.

koyo kouoh curating venice biennale died

Curator Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman appointed to curate the Venice Biennale, has died suddenly. Her death was confirmed by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, where she served as executive director and chief curator. The Venice Biennale issued a statement mourning her loss, noting she had been working on the conception and development of the Biennale Arte 2026. Kouoh, born in Cameroon in 1967, was a prominent figure in contemporary African art, having curated for documenta 12 and 13, co-founded the Raw Material Company art center in Dakar, and organized the landmark exhibition "When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting" at Zeitz MOCAA.

germany settles century long restitution over royal artifacts

Germany’s federal government, along with the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, has reached a settlement with the descendants of the House of Hohenzollern, ending a nearly century-long legal dispute over ownership of 27,000 artworks. The collection includes a portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder and an 18th-century table service commissioned by Emperor Frederick II. Wolfram Weimer, Germany’s new Minister of State for Culture, announced the deal in Berlin, confirming the works will remain in public museums such as the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the German Historical Museum.

ORDINARY MIRACLES. A Conversation with Rene Matić by Bianca Stoppani

Artist Rene Matić discusses their multidisciplinary practice and the personal history that informs their exploration of British identity, race, and subculture. The conversation highlights Matić’s deep connection to skinhead culture—inherited from their father—and their use of an "ethnographic methodology of the Self" to document queer BIPOC communities and personal memories.