Body as Device. Guide and Reflection on the Performances of the Venice Biennale

Corpo come dispositivo. Guida e riflessione sulle performance della Biennale di Venezia

The article analyzes the role of performance art at the 2026 Venice Biennale, arguing that performance is no longer a rediscovered genre but a structurally institutionalized primary form of experience production. It examines how the body reemerges not as an alternative to image-based works but as an internal interruption of the artwork system, preventing closure and reintroducing instability. Key pavilions are discussed: Austria's Florentina Holzinger with "Sancta" draws on 1970s radical performance and feminist body art, creating an immersive environment of continuous movement; Belgium's Miet Warlop with "IT NEVER SSST" engages post-dramatic theater and postmodern dance repetition; Japan's Ei Arakawa-Nash with "Grass Babies, Moon Babies" activates Gutai avant-garde legacies through viewer interaction with soft dolls.

The ironic and intellectual painting of Renato Varese. The exhibition in Conegliano

La pittura ironica e intellettuale di Renato Varese. La mostra a Conegliano

Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano is hosting a retrospective exhibition dedicated to Renato Varese (1926–2024), a versatile Italian painter, graphic artist, engraver, sculptor, and ceramist. Curated by Lorena Gava, the show marks the centenary of Varese's birth and features around fifty works spanning painting and graphic art, highlighting his ironic, intellectual, and visionary style often described as "Gothic." Concurrently, the artist's heirs have donated thirteen works to the city's civic collections, including the large canvas "Beati gli ultimi" (1997), now housed in a dedicated room named Sala L.R. Varese.

Fellow Painters and Also Friends. Zandomeneghi and Degas Are on Show in Rovigo

Colleghi pittori e anche amici. Zandomeneghi e Degas sono in mostra a Rovigo

Palazzo Roverella in Rovigo is hosting the exhibition "Zandomeneghi e Degas. Impressionismo tra Firenze e Parigi," curated by Francesca Dini. The show brings together works by Italian 19th-century painter Federico Zandomeneghi and French Impressionist Edgar Degas, featuring about fifteen paintings and sculptures by Degas alongside works by Zandomeneghi. It explores their friendship, mutual artistic influence, and shared commitment to realism, tracing their connections from Florence's Caffè Michelangiolo to Paris, where their paths fully converged. Themes such as dance and the nude are highlighted, with works like Degas's "Classe de ballet" (1888) and Zandomeneghi's "Visita in camerino" and "Donna che si asciuga" on view.

What does a technology fair have to do with the art world? A report from MIR in Rimini

Cosa c’entra una fiera della tecnologia con il mondo dell’arte? Un report dal MIR di Rimini

The article reports from the MIR (Live Entertainment Expo) technology trade fair in Rimini, an event focused on professional audio/video equipment and systems integration. While dominated by corporate stands and live sound demonstrations, the fair also hosted discussions on the precarious working conditions and pension system for cultural and entertainment workers, revealing underlying anxieties in the creative industries.

Monuments & Weapons: How Public Space Prepares Us for War Without Us Even Realizing It

Monumenti&armi. Così lo spazio pubblico ci prepara alla guerra senza che neppure ce ne rendiamo conto

Public squares and urban spaces are densely populated with war-related monuments that condition society to accept conflict as a historical inevitability. A study by Philadelphia’s Monument Lab reveals that nearly 60% of U.S. monuments focus on war themes, outnumbering themes of peace thirteen-fold, while Italy maintains over 12,000 memorials dedicated solely to World War I. These structures often prioritize military hierarchy and territorial conquest over themes of care, gender equality, or social diversity.

Near Parma, the Timeless Elegance of Erté is on Display at Labirinto della Masone

Vicino a Parma c’è l’intramontabile eleganza di Erté in mostra al Labirinto della Masone

The Labirinto della Masone near Parma is hosting a comprehensive exhibition titled "Erté. Lo stile è tutto," showcasing the work of the Russian-born Art Déco master Romain de Tirtoff, known as Erté. The display features a diverse array of drawings, gouaches, models, and sketches, many of which were originally acquired by the late publisher Franco Maria Ricci. The exhibition traces Erté's journey from his aristocratic Russian roots to his rise in Paris as a collaborator of Paul Poiret and a visionary of theatrical and couture design.

April 2026 at the Theater: A Guide to Must-See Events in Italy (Including Dance)

Aprile 2026 a teatro: guida agli appuntamenti da non perdere in Italia (anche sulla danza)

Italy’s April 2026 performing arts season features a diverse lineup of major theatrical premieres and experimental adaptations. Highlights include the Italian debut of Annie Baker’s Pulitzer-winning 'Circle Mirror Transformation' directed by Valerio Binasco, and a dark comedy by Ariel Dorfman titled 'The Other Side' exploring the absurdity of war. Other notable productions include Armando Punzo’s non-traditional 'Cenerentola' (Cinderella) moving from a high-security prison setting to the Teatro della Pergola, and a dedicated retrospective for Daria Deflorian at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro.

Clouds and Their Multiple Meanings Take Center Stage at an Exhibition in Piacenza

Le nuvole e i suoi molteplici significati finiscono al centro di una mostra a Piacenza

The XNL Piacenza contemporary art center has launched "Oltre le nuvole. Beyond the Clouds," a multidisciplinary exhibition running through July 5, 2026. Curated by Chiara Gatti, Paola Pedrazzini, and Gianmarco Romiti, the project explores the cloud as a symbolic and shifting element across art history, literature, cinema, and music. Featuring works by twenty contemporary artists including Piero Manzoni, Mario Schifano, and Leandro Erlich, the show integrates site-specific installations with a 3D auditory landscape and theatrical performances.

The Top 5 Exhibitions to see before the end of 2025

Art critic Tabish Khan selects five must-see exhibitions closing before the end of 2025. Highlights include "Paradigm Shift" at 180 Studios, featuring video works by Pipilotti Rist, Gillian Wearing, Arthur Jafa, and Cao Fei; Alison Wing Yin Poon's "A Constructed Home" at Tache, exploring Malayan-Chinese heritage through lacquered vases and ceramics; Noemie Goudal's "The Story of Fixity" at Borough Yards, a layered projection installation by Artangel; Mircea Teleaga's "Paradise" at LBF Contemporary, with glowing surreal landscapes; and Arch Hades' "We're all just passing through" at 8 Berkeley Square, blending poetry and sculpture.

FLESH, FREQUENCY, FLIGHT: Acra’s Angels descend on the ICA

The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London is hosting 'Angels', a new exhibition of paintings by the multidisciplinary Venezuelan artist Arca. Returning to the venue where she gave her first live vocal performance over a decade ago, Arca presents a series of works created with paint, marker, and mixed media. These pieces explore themes of instability and transformation, featuring fluid forms that hover between figuration and abstraction.

ON THE IM-POSSIBILITY OF COMMUNICATING. “DICHO A MANO”, BY FELIPE PINEDA

SOBRE LA IM-POSIBILIDAD DE COMUNICARSE. “DICHO A MANO”, DE FELIPE PINEDA

The exhibition "Dicho a mano" by Chilean artist Felipe Pineda, curated by Ayelén Ruiz at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago, explores the difficulty of communication when words fail, turning to the body and hands as alternative languages. Pineda draws on his migratory experience in London and references mutilated classical sculptures from the British Museum, while a recent theft of one piece adds an unexpected dimension. The show reflects on barriers in art and human connection, proposing that even failed communication carries a desire to be understood.

Between Ritual and Institution: Andrea Canepa's Interventions in Spain

ENTRE EL RITO Y LA INSTITUCIÓN: LAS INTERVENCIONES DE ANDREA CANEPA EN ESPAÑA

Andrea Canepa, a Peruvian artist born in 1980, has installed "Fardo" at the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid's Parque del Retiro, running from January 13, 2026 to January 1, 2027. The work wraps the building's perimeter in a printed fabric bearing patterns from Paracas funerary textiles, a pre-Columbian culture from southern Peru. Created during the palace's ongoing restoration (which began in 2023), the installation challenges the building's colonial history—it was built for the 1887 Exhibition of the Philippine Islands—by introducing indigenous visual and ritual references. Canepa also presented "Entre lo profundo y lo distante" at the IVAM in Valencia until April 12, 2026, which uses Andean huacas (sacred spaces) to propose a non-linear relationship between time, body, and space. Both works transform passive contemplation into active, bodily participation, using ritual as a means to reorganize the exhibition experience.

The Procession as a Form of World: Latin American Artists at the Diriyah Biennale

LA PROCESIÓN COMO FORMA DE MUNDO: ARTISTAS LATINOAMERICANOS EN LA BIENAL DE DIRIYAH

The third Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, titled 'In Interludes and Transitions,' is open until May 2nd in Saudi Arabia's historic Diriyah district. Curated by Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed, the exhibition features 68 artists from over 37 countries and frames the world as a multitude of processions, using movement as its central theme and methodology. The exhibition design by Formafantasma encourages a fluid, nomadic journey through four thematic movements and site-specific 'arenas' within the repurposed industrial halls of the JAX creative district.

Exhibition | Jens FÄNGE, 'Antechamber' at Perrotin, New York, United States

Perrotin New York presents 'Antechamber,' an exhibition of over twenty new paintings by Swedish artist Jens Fänge. The works feature distorted, labyrinthine interiors populated by people, animals, and mannequins, using layered materials like oil, vinyl, linen, and burlap to create compositions that blur the line between figuration and abstraction. Recurring motifs such as doors, windows, halos, and locusts shift meaning across the show, which draws inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales and Nathanael West's surrealist novels.

‘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.

Venice Biennale Opens Amid Strikes, Protests and Institutional Rupture.

The 61st Venice Biennale opened in May 2026 amid strikes, protests, and political unrest, rather than celebration. Coordinated by Italian labor groups and transnational coalitions, demonstrators targeted the Biennale's decision to allow participation by Israel and Russia during the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) led protests against Israel's participation, while Pussy Riot and FEMEN activists staged a protest outside the Russian pavilion. The Israeli pavilion's relocation from the Giardini to the Arsenale added symbolic weight, with critics viewing it as institutional endorsement. The late curator Koyo Kouoh's vision for the exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys," emphasized tenderness and complexity, contrasting with the volatile atmosphere.

Manhattan D.A.’s Office Returns More Than 650 Looted Artifacts to India

On April 28, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the return of 657 trafficked antiquities valued at nearly $14 million to India. The items were recovered by the D.A.'s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and Homeland Security Investigations, and formally returned at a ceremony in New York. Among the repatriated pieces are a bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara (valued at $2 million), stolen from the Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum in Raipur in 1982; a red sandstone Buddha statue (valued at $7.5 million) smuggled by convicted dealer Subhash Kapoor; and a sandstone Ganesha sculpture looted by trafficker Vaman Ghiya and sold through Christie's by Nancy Wiener, who was later convicted of antiquities trafficking.

US Border Wall Construction Damages 1,000-Year-Old Indigenous Land Art in Arizona

Construction crews building a barrier between the United States and Mexico have damaged a 200-foot-long etching of a fish embedded in the land in Arizona, known as the Las Playas Intaglio, which is thought to be 1,000 years old. According to a report in the Washington Post, workers destroyed a 60-to-70-foot portion of the ancient Indigenous land art as part of President Donald Trump’s $46.5 billion border-wall project. Satellite imagery confirmed the destruction, showing bulldozer marks running through about a third of the fish formation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged the incident, stating that a contractor inadvertently disturbed the cultural site on April 23, 2026, and that the remaining portion has been secured.

Lack of accountability after crush of crowds at Haiti’s Citadelle Laferrière kills 25

A crowd crush at Haiti's historic Citadelle Laferrière fortress on April 11 resulted in at least 25 deaths, including a pregnant woman and children. The tragedy occurred during an unauthorized event promoted by TikTok influencers, which drew over 3,000 people to the site. Heavy rain and a stampede at the narrow entrance exacerbated the overcrowding.

Lebanon appeals to Unesco to intervene amid fears protected citadel has been destroyed

Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture has filed an urgent complaint with Unesco following reports that Israeli military forces destroyed the 12th-century Chama’ Citadel in southern Lebanon. The site, a Crusader-era fortress, had recently been granted "enhanced protection" status under the 1954 Hague Convention, a designation intended to shield it from military targeting. Lebanese authorities are currently unable to access the site due to ongoing military occupation and have requested that Unesco utilize satellite imagery to verify the extent of the demolition.

How to Extract the Story of Appalachia

The artist collective GRIT has issued a sharp critique of Fia Backström’s exhibition, "The Great Society," currently on view at the Queens Museum. The authors argue that Backström, a European artist, engages in "extractive" storytelling by focusing exclusively on trauma, environmental disaster, and poverty in West Virginia. They contend that the exhibition’s aesthetic choices—such as inverting landscape photographs and omitting human subjects—flatten the region's complexity into a spectacle of misery that alienates the very community it claims to represent.

Proposed Restitution Law in France Advances in National Assembly

The French National Assembly’s Cultural Affairs Committee has approved a landmark bill aimed at streamlining the restitution of cultural property looted from Africa during the colonial era. Moving away from the previous requirement for case-by-case legislation, the new framework allows restitutions to be ordered by ministerial decree, provided they fall within the 1815–1972 timeframe. This advancement follows years of debate sparked by President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 pledge and the influential 2018 Sarr-Savoy report.

‘How can you forget me’: show details Filipino Americans’ rich history

Antonio Somera discovered 26 steamer trunks belonging to early 20th-century Filipino migrants in a Stockton, California basement in 2005. The trunks' contents, including a pillowcase embroidered with the phrase "HOW CAN YOU FORGET ME," form the core of the exhibition "How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories" at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington DC, offering an intimate look at the lives of the Manong Generation of laborers.

Plan to build border wall along the Rio Grande in Texas threatens prehistoric rock art, locals warn

Plans to extend the US-Mexico border wall through Val Verde County, Texas, threaten to damage or destroy hundreds of prehistoric rock art murals in the Lower Pecos region. Archaeologists and local landowners warn that construction vibrations could destabilize the rock surfaces housing these ancient paintings, some of which are over 5,700 years old and span up to 100 feet in length.

Centuries-old pottery firm Denby set to call in administrators

The 217-year-old British pottery firm Denby has called in administrators, putting nearly 600 jobs at risk and threatening the closure of the historic Derbyshire manufacturer. The company, which also owns the Burleigh brand, struggled with soaring gas costs, higher labor expenses, tighter financial markets, and softening consumer demand for its premium homeware, leading to a 17% sales drop in its most recent accounts.

Canadian foundation with ties to Israel’s biggest real-estate company ceases funding for Toronto Arts Foundation following protests

The Azrieli Foundation, a major Canadian philanthropic organization with ties to Israel's largest real-estate company, has ended its funding agreement with the Toronto Arts Foundation. The decision follows a sustained two-year protest campaign by the group Artists Against Artwashing, which included disruptions at a major Toronto arts event and an open letter signed by over 450 artists and cultural workers.

luxembourgs culture minister defends countrys venice biennale budget after critics say its too high

Luxembourg’s Culture Minister, Éric Thill, is defending the country’s €540,000 budget for the upcoming 61st Venice Biennale following criticism from the right-wing Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR). Lawmakers questioned the high cost and the provocative nature of artist Aline Bouvy’s project, "La Merde," a feminist commentary centered on a personification of excrement. Critics argued the expenditure is unjustifiable given current social challenges and compared it unfavorably to the smaller budget of the national cultural observatory.

lebanese ministry of culture urges unesco to grant enhanced protections to cultural property

Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture has formally petitioned UNESCO to secure enhanced protections for the nation’s cultural heritage sites as regional conflict intensifies. Culture Minister Ghassan Salamé urged the UN agency to intervene with belligerent parties to ensure the safety of irreplaceable landmarks, including the National Museum of Beirut and the Roman ruins of Baalbek. UNESCO confirmed it has shared the coordinates of these World Heritage sites with all involved parties to prevent accidental or intentional targeting during military operations.

IMLS Funding for Freedom Truck Mobile Museums Under Trump Administration

imls funding museums libraries trump freedom truck museum

The Trump administration has launched 'Freedom 250,' a fleet of six 'Freedom Trucks' serving as mobile museums to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. These tractor-trailers, which will tour the United States through 2026, feature historical artifacts such as George Washington’s spectacles and an Aitken Bible, alongside interactive AI-powered displays developed in partnership with Hillsdale College and PragerU.

devyani saltzman abruptly leaves her role as director of the barbican in london

Devyani Saltzman has abruptly left her position as Director of Arts and Participation at the Barbican Centre in London. Her departure, which comes just weeks after the arrival of a new CEO and shortly after she unveiled a five-year creative vision for the institution, marks another sudden leadership change at the major UK arts center.