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More than 150 US arts organisations pledge to resist political pressure

More than 150 US arts organizations and over 320 artists and cultural workers have signed a public statement affirming their commitment to resisting political pressure. Organized by the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics (VLC) at the New School, the statement does not explicitly name President Donald Trump or his administration's actions, but was precipitated by Trump's pressure campaigns against the Smithsonian Institution and the Kennedy Center, as well as deep cuts to the NEA, NEH, and IMLS. Signatories include institutions from both Democratic- and Republican-controlled states, such as the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in New York and Diverseworks in Houston, Texas.

Guest Artist Exhibition Opens at Center for the Visual Arts

The University of Toledo Department of Art will host a free public exhibition of photographs and installation works by guest artist Margaret LeJeune, opening August 25 at the Center for the Visual Arts. Titled "Drawn from Memory: Mapping Salt and Time," the exhibition examines ecological shifts in Dare County, North Carolina, including the transformation of coastal forests into ghost forests due to saltwater intrusion and rising sea levels, while also addressing histories of colonialism, enslaved Africans and their descendants, and Indigenous displacement. LeJeune will give an artist talk on September 24, and the show runs through October 10.

metropolitan museum of art's new rockefeller wing to open this weekend with public party

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will reopen its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing on May 31, 2025, after a four-year renovation led by Kulapat Yantrasast and WHY Architecture. The redesigned wing houses the museum's collections of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Ancient Americas in distinct galleries with improved sight-lines, filtered daylight, and a more navigable layout. A day-long public festival featuring a ribbon-cutting, live performances, workshops, artist talks, and food will celebrate the opening.

3rd Annual Envisioning A Just Pittsburgh Call for Art

The 3rd Annual Envisioning A Just Pittsburgh Call for Art has closed its 2025 submissions as of November 2. The theme asks artists to explore how libraries, archives, and storytelling can serve as conduits for education, activism, and a more equitable Pittsburgh. Categories include writing, visual art, performance, video/interdisciplinary work, and youth arts. Juried winners will be announced in December 2025, with exhibitions and performances held at venues such as Carnegie Museums, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh, 1Hood Media, and the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in February 2026. Monetary awards range from $50 to $2,000.

From DJing club nights to gallery walls, Scots artist returns home for major show

Francis Dosoo, a self-taught Scottish artist now based in Vienna, is mounting his first solo show at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) titled "Portrait Of Dorothy Gale." Dosoo began his career in nightlife, running club nights and DJ sets that blended into performance and installation art. His practice spans sound, film, and visual art, with past collaborations including Joanne Dawson, Aniela Piasecka, and Alberta Whittle, and commissions from the Glasgow Film Festival and Edinburgh Art Festival. The DCA exhibition draws on the 1978 film *The Wiz*, reimagining *The Wizard of Oz* with an African-American cast, focusing on star Diana Ross's career and personal life at the time.

WORDS WORDS WORDS at Everard Read shows the power of words in contemporary art

The article reviews 'WORDS, WORDS, WORDS,' an exhibition at Everard Read Gallery's CIRCA space in South Africa, which explores the role of language in contemporary visual art. Curated with a focus on how words are bent, repeated, fragmented, and reassembled, the show features works by South African artists including Willem Boshoff and Luca Evans, who engage with conceptual art traditions from Dada to Barbara Kruger. Boshoff's braille-inset wooden piece 'Planet of Echinus' questions inclusion and exclusion in language, while Evans' work riffs on Joseph Kosuth's iconic text pieces using ancient wood-inlay techniques.

Southern Guild Stakes Its Claim in Tribeca

Southern Guild, a South African gallery founded by Trevyn and Julian McGowan in 2008, has opened a new outpost in Tribeca, New York, after closing its Los Angeles location. The gallery, which began in Cape Town and expanded to a 32,000-square-foot campus, now occupies a 19th-century heritage building with 17-foot ceilings and cast-iron columns. Its inaugural exhibitions feature South African artists Usha Seejarim and Mmangaliso Nzuza, showcasing large-scale works that take advantage of the dramatic vertical space.

New Exhibit Gives You the Chance to Support SA Artists and Own Original Prints!

Johannesburg’s Artist Proof Studio (APS) is celebrating its 35th anniversary with a benefit exhibition and online auction hosted in partnership with Strauss & Co. Running through April 17, 2026, the event features original prints from a diverse roster of talent, ranging from world-renowned figures like William Kentridge to emerging students currently enrolled in the studio’s programs. The initiative includes a physical showcase at Strauss & Co’s Houghton gallery and a digital sale designed to engage both seasoned and first-time collectors.

Picasso’s most radical work returns through Bedri Baykam’s Istanbul exhibition

Turkish artist Bedri Baykam has launched a major solo exhibition titled “Baykam on Picasso: Les Demoiselles Revisited” at Piramid Sanat in Istanbul. Following its debut at Galerie S/Beaubourg in Paris, the show centers on a multi-layered reinterpretation of Pablo Picasso’s 1907 masterpiece, "Les Demoiselles d’Avignon." The exhibition features a mix of paintings and immersive installations, including a conceptual Turkish bath and historical recreations of brothels in Paris and Istanbul, all designed to bridge the gap between Western modernism and Eastern influences.

Rwanda boosts culture infrastructure with new non-profit contemporary art centre

The Gihanga Institute of Contemporary Art (GICA) opened this week in Kigali, Rwanda, as the country's first non-profit centre dedicated to promoting Rwandan art, culture, and history while fostering local and Pan-African artistic exchange. Founded by curator Kami Gahiga and artist-educator Kaneza Schaal, the institute was designed by Rwandan architect Amin Gafaranga and features an exhibition space, reference library, screening room, and residency studios. Its inaugural exhibition, "Inuma: A Bird Shall Carry the Voice," includes works by Rwandan artists and explores themes of faith and subtle expression. The Mellon Foundation provided crucial development support.

Tyler’s reimagined Pyramid Club gallery enters final exhibition month

Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University opened an archive exhibition at the Tyler Contemporary Art Gallery on September 5, reimagining the historic Pyramid Club, a cultural hub for Black professionals in North Philadelphia from 1937 to 1963. Curated by Matthew Jordan-Miller Kenyatta, the show features 34 paintings and 35 photographs by John Mosely, alongside works by contemporary artists like Shawn Theodore, and draws from archives by William Dodd, Leslie Willis-Lowry, and the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection. The exhibition runs through its final month, with events drawing over 200 attendees.

The Big Review | 36th Bienal de São Paulo ★★★★

The 36th Bienal de São Paulo has opened with a site-specific installation by Nigerian-American artist Precious Okoyomon, titled "Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me" (2025), which features a spiraling path of moss-covered earth and waterfalls evoking Brazil's deforested Cerrado region. The biennial, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with an international team, includes 125 artists—97 international and 28 Brazilian—with more than half of the works commissioned for the exhibition. Notable presentations include a career-spanning display of over 20 paintings by British artist Frank Bowling, alongside works by Brazilian artist Gervane de Paula, who has the largest presence in the show.

New London venue to focus on global majority arts—and host ‘necessary conversations’

A new cultural centre called Ibraaz is opening on 15 October in a historic Grade II-listed mansion at 93 Mortimer Street in London’s Fitzrovia. The inaugural exhibition is Ibrahim Mahama’s installation *Parliament of Ghosts*, which fills the ballroom with colonial furniture and plinths evoking Ghana’s past. The multi-disciplinary art space is entirely funded by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation and led by Lina Lazaar, who previously founded Jeddah Art Week and worked at Sotheby’s. Ibraaz will host talks, performances, film screenings, and exhibitions, and includes a bookshop, café, screening room, and a library-in-residence by the Otolith Group.

Torggler Celebrates African American Artists And Their Stories

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center in Virginia will present two new exhibitions this fall: "Gateways: African American Art from the Key Collection" and "Transcendence" featuring works by Norfolk artist Luisa Adelfio. "Gateways" showcases ninety works from the collection of Eric Key, a Smithfield native who began collecting African American art in the 1990s as a means of exploring his identity and supporting Black artists, including pieces by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Jacob Lawrence, and Elizabeth Catlett. "Transcendence" presents Adelfio's paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the last five years, blending Classical architecture, Renaissance panel painting, and Surrealism, with a series titled "Corona Chronicles" that juxtaposes domestic objects with pandemic-era headlines.

Exploring environment, humanity at core of new art exhibition opening in Flint

A new art exhibition titled “This Bitter Earth: Living in Harmony with Nature” opens on September 12 at MW Gallery in downtown Flint, Michigan. The show features artworks from the Mott-Warsh Collection by artists including Ron Adams, Bisa Butler, Nick Cave, Maren Hassinger, Pope.L, and Howardena Pindell, exploring humanity's complex relationship with the natural world and the four classical elements. A featured video installation, “Zion” by South African artist Mohau Modisakeng, addresses themes of displacement and belonging. The exhibition runs through January 24, 2026, with free admission.

Art and Soul: Inside Madagascar’s Burgeoning Creative Scene

The article explores Madagascar's burgeoning contemporary art scene, centered on Hakanto Contemporary, a non-profit art space in Antananarivo founded by artist Joël Andrianomearisoa. It highlights the group exhibition "Lamba Forever Mandrakizay," featuring 21 Malagasy artists reflecting on the traditional lamba textile, and the innovative culinary-art fusion by chef Lalaina Ravelomanana. The piece also mentions the Musée de la Photo, founded in 2018, which preserves Malagasy photographic heritage.

Everything to Know About Christie’s Modern Middle Eastern Art Auction

Christie’s has opened an online auction of Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, running through May 8th and featuring 69 works from across the Gulf, Levant, North Africa, Iraq, and Iran. The sale is led by pioneering artist Samia Halaby’s 2013 painting 'Water Lilies', estimated at $100,000–$150,000, and includes a dedicated 'Saudi Now!' section with 12 pieces by Saudi artists such as Ahmed Mater and Manal AlDowayan. Over a third of the lots are by women artists, including Etel Adnan, Helen Khal, Huguette Caland, Tala Madani, and Tagreed Darghouth, alongside North African figures like Mohamed Melehi and Hassan Hajjaj.

New Sandton art space celebrates African creativity

Standard Bank has launched The Standard Bank Art Lab, a new visual arts space at Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton City, South Africa, on June 5. The inaugural exhibition, titled "Follow the Blue Thread: It’s Woven Into Who We Are," features works by artists including Penny Siopis, Judith Mason, Sam Nhlengethwa, William Kentridge, and Miriam Ndebele, focusing on tapestry and African creativity.

The rise of contemporary African art in a global market

The article reports on the rapid growth of the contemporary African art market, which has more than doubled in value since 2016 to an estimated annual combined value of $72 million. Sales of ultra-contemporary works by African-born artists under 45 surged from $16.2 million in 2020 to $40.6 million in 2021, and the market could reach $1.5 billion this year. Aspire Art, a South African auction house, has set records for artists like Joseph Ntensibe, whose painting *Forest Scene* sold for R924,200, and Nicholas Hlobo, whose work *Intlambo yochulumanco* fetched R1,479,400.

May Exhibitions

The article lists May art exhibitions and events in Charlottesville, Virginia, including the grand opening of Milkweed Clay Studio, a new creative space offering pottery demonstrations and workshops. Other highlights include "Spring Bouquets in Oils" at Atlas Coffee, "Artful Gardens Bouquet Display" at The Center at Belvedere, and shows at Chroma Projects, Create Gallery, Crozet Artisan Depot, C’ville Arts Cooperative Gallery, and Fairhaven Guesthouse. The Fralin Museum of Art at UVA presents multiple exhibitions featuring works by Joan Mitchell, Jody Folwell, and African American artists, among others.

birmingham museum corietta mitchell missing artworks 1234774982

The Birmingham Museum of Art has launched a public appeal to locate missing artworks by Corietta Mitchell, the first Black artist to receive a solo exhibition at the institution during the Jim Crow era. Staged quietly in March 1963 just months before the repeal of local segregation ordinances, the exhibition is documented only by a checklist and a single grainy photograph. As the museum celebrates its 75th anniversary, officials are seeking to recover these works to address a significant gap in their institutional archives.

british museum tobacco deal health pact 1234762318

The British Museum has ended a 15-year sponsorship deal with Japan Tobacco International (JTI) after concerns that the partnership violated the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which the UK signed in 2004. The decision followed pressure from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which provides the museum with around £75 million annually. The sponsorship had funded acquisitions of over 2,400 Japanese objects, a curatorial post, an African heritage tour, and diversity training, while giving JTI access to museum galleries for private events and filming, which critics said allowed the tobacco company to launder its reputation and meet policymakers.

mowaa archeological project findings benin city nigeria 1234760131

The Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Benin City, Nigeria, will open its MOWAA Institute next week, the first completed building of a planned 15-acre campus that will also include the Rainforest gallery and other facilities by 2028. In advance of the opening, Antiquity magazine published an updated report on the MOWAA Archeological Project (2022–2024), a collaboration among MOWAA, the British Museum, and Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, with Cambridge Archaeological Unit and Wessex Archaeology as delivery partners. The excavations, the first at the royal palace complex since the 1960s, used both digs and ground-penetrating radar, with radiocarbon dating revealing artifacts spanning from before the Benin Kingdom through its collapse and colonial and postcolonial eras.

harvard cedes early images of enslaved americans legal settlement 1234743708

Harvard University has transferred ownership of fifteen daguerreotypes from around 1850, considered the earliest surviving photographs of enslaved African Americans, to the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. The settlement ends an eight-year legal dispute with Tamara Lanier, who claimed the images depict her ancestors, Renty and Delia, and argued they were taken without consent for the discredited biologist Louis Agassiz. The Massachusetts courts had previously ruled that ownership remained with the photographer, but allowed Lanier to pursue emotional distress claims over Harvard's continued use of the images in marketing materials.

Hong Kong gains new foundation for global majority

The Cheng-Lan Foundation, a new independent arts initiative, has launched in Hong Kong during the city's major art week. Founded by Brian Yue, it supports artists, curators, and writers from African, Asian, Indigenous, and Latin American backgrounds through exhibitions, residencies, and commissions, with an inaugural solo show by Manila-based artist Cian Dayrit.

ancient olive oil complex tunisia 2717795

Archaeologists have unearthed the Roman Empire's second-largest olive oil processing complex in the Kasserine region of Tunisia, near the Algerian border. Co-directed by Ca' Foscari University of Venice, the excavation at the 33-hectare site called Henchir el Begar revealed a monumental torcularium with twelve beam presses, a second eight-press facility, oil mills, cisterns, and a water collection basin. The team also found artifacts including a copper-and-brass bracelet, a limestone projectile, and architectural elements dating from the modern to Byzantine periods. A Latin inscription confirms senatorial approval for a bimonthly market on the land in 138 AD, indicating the site was a hub for social, political, and religious life.

Jewelry artist Douriean Fletcher’s exhibition opens at Walters Art Museum this weekend

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore is set to open "Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture," a major exhibition featuring over 100 works by the renowned jewelry artist. Fletcher, who gained international acclaim for her costume design work on Marvel’s "Black Panther" franchise, will see her contemporary Afrofuturistic pieces displayed alongside ancient artifacts from the museum's permanent collection, including items from Ancient Egypt and Ethiopia.

BmoreArt’s Picks: April 14-20

Baltimore’s art scene is hosting a dense schedule of events from April 14–20, 2026, featuring major lectures, exhibition openings, and multimedia performances. Highlights include a talk by Dr. Denise Murrell at the Baltimore Museum of Art regarding Matisse’s time in Martinique, a lecture on Afrofuturism by Dr. Myers Perry at Goucher College, and the opening of Douriean Fletcher’s jewelry exhibition at the Walters Art Museum. Other notable events include the "More Than Trust" group show at Design Distillery and the Baker Artist Award Finalist Showcase at Current Space.

Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation Releases First Posthumous Artist's CV

The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation has released the first comprehensive posthumous CV for the pioneering American sculptor Richard Hunt. Drawing from digital archives and research, the document reveals a career far more expansive than previously recorded, documenting 193 solo exhibitions and over 350 group shows across seven decades. This release follows the 2022 acquisition of Hunt’s massive physical archive by the Getty Research Institute, which continues to process over 1,000 linear feet of historical material.

Museum exhibit on L.V. Hull’s art and life is a visual ‘sensation’

The Mississippi Museum of Art has launched "L.V. Hull: Love Is a Sensation," the first major museum retrospective dedicated to the late self-taught African American artist L.V. Hull. The exhibition showcases Hull’s vibrant, immersive practice of transforming her Kosciusko home and everyday found objects—ranging from sneakers and fan blades to television sets—into a dense, kaleidoscopic art environment. The show is presented in partnership with the L.V. Hull Legacy Center and features individual artworks, archival ephemera, and documentary footage.