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uae to open massive museum in december that reflects historical trajectory of the country

The Zayed National Museum, a new mega museum designed by Foster + Partners, will open on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island in December. Named after the UAE's first president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the museum will feature six permanent galleries spanning 300,000 years of history, displaying artifacts including a 1,000-year-old Qur'an, the world's oldest natural pearl (the 8,000-year-old Abu Dhabi Pearl), and objects from the Palaeolithic to Iron Age. It will also host loans from international institutions like the British Museum.

harvard cedes early images of enslaved americans legal settlement

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.

mine atairu ai benin nigeria repatriation

Minne Atairu's augmented reality work "Deshrined Ancestors" (2024) was featured in the group exhibition "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" at REDCAT in Los Angeles. The piece is a speculative 3D rendering of a Benin bronze, created using AI trained on archives and oral histories, designed to fill the gap left by looted artifacts. Atairu, born in Benin, Nigeria, uses tools like Midjourney and Blender to generate artworks that address colonial violence and erasure, including her 2023 installation "To the Hand" at The Shed. The exhibition explores humanity's evolving relationship with AI, and Atairu's work includes an empty podium representing a Benin bronze returned to Nigeria from RISD.

Art, ancestors and the land: summer season opens at Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) opens its summer season with three contemporary exhibitions centered on Indigenous perspectives, identity, and land. The anchor show is Meryl McMaster's "Bloodline," opening June 18, featuring large-scale photographs, sculptural elements, and immersive video that trace her mixed Plains Cree, Métis, Dutch, and British heritage through the lives of her grandmothers from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation. Alongside it, "Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring" by Brianna Bear and Eli Hirtle presents a film installation on Songhees Nation language and land stewardship, while "Architectures of Protection," curated by Dr. Toby Lawrence, features works by Dana Claxton, Jessica Karuhanga, Emilio Rojas, Beth Stuart, and France Trépanier exploring care and resistance.

Los Angeles Metro’s Stunning D Line Art Turns Stations Into Galleries

Los Angeles Metro unveiled a major public art installation on May 8 with the opening of the 3.92-mile D Line extension, connecting downtown to Beverly Hills. Nine artists were selected from over 1,400 applicants to create works across three stations—Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. Notable pieces include Karl Haendel's "Hands and Things" at the Wilshire/Fairfax station, featuring photorealist pencil drawings of hands holding objects sourced from nearby cultural institutions, and Susan Silton's "WE, OUR, US." The artworks are mounted using durable porcelain enameling that resists corrosion, scratching, fading, and graffiti.

Faig Ahmed Weaves Mysticism, Science, Technology, and Craft into ‘The Attention’

Faig Ahmed, the Baku-based artist known for transforming traditional Azerbaijani carpets into melting, glitching textile sculptures, has opened a solo presentation at the 61st Venice Biennale, where he represents Azerbaijan. Titled 'The Attention,' the sprawling, maze-like installation curated by Gwendolyn Collaço explores science, alchemy, spirituality, and self-perception, weaving together digital processes with handcrafted techniques. Works include monumental machine-woven carpets like 'I Can Contain Both Worlds But I Do Not Fit Into This One,' a handwoven piece called 'Ancestors' that glows under black light, and 'Entropy Altar,' which uses a quantum random number generator to respond to visitors. The exhibition bridges 15th-century Hurufi mysticism with modern information theory, reflecting Ahmed's interest in consciousness, quantum physics, and the dialectic between measurable science and subjective experience.

Toi Tauranga Art Gallery reopens with new vision

Toi Tauranga Art Gallery in New Zealand reopens on November 15, 2025, after a two-year closure and transformation. The revamped space features a new entrance at Masonic Park, a Mauri Stones installation, a gallery store highlighting regional artists, a creativity centre, improved accessibility, and a café. The reopening exhibitions include 'Whakairo' by Kereama Taepa, 'Old Friends' curated by Dr Penelope Jackson, 'Glimmer' in the new Meldrum Gallery, and works by Pusi Urale, Vaimaila Urale, and Darcy Nicholas, among others.

Within and beyond the gallery: Moody Center for the Arts brings artists into classroom and classroom into exhibition

The Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University organized the exhibition 'Imaging after Photography,' which explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping the medium. The show featured seven international artists, including Sofia Crespo and Gregory Chatonsky, and was curated by Alison Weaver and Noor Alé.

Scottsdale Public Art exhibition marks city’s 75th anniversary

Scottsdale Public Art has opened "Desert Diamonds: Scottsdale’s 75th Anniversary" at the Civic Center Public Gallery inside Scottsdale Civic Center Library, running from April 10 through June 30, 2026. The exhibition features works selected from the city’s Fine Art Collection, including photography, painting, and sculpture that trace Scottsdale’s relationship with the arts from its earliest years, such as Mario Martinez’s "Yaqui Deer Dancer: Homage to the Ancestors" and George-Ann Tognoni’s "Helen Scott on Old Maude." The show marks the city’s diamond anniversary, with Scottsdale having been incorporated in 1951.

The Polygon Gallery maps out its 2026 programming

The Polygon Gallery in Vancouver has announced its 2026 exhibition schedule, featuring a diverse lineup of solo and group shows. The year's programming is anchored by photography but includes sculpture, installation, and beadwork, with a strong focus on local and Indigenous artists. Highlights include a major solo show by Tania Willard, a career retrospective for photographer Greg Girard, a two-person exhibition with Jeneen Frei Njootli and Catherine Blackburn, and the return of the Lind Biennial.

ARTS AND HUMANITIES: Aiken Center for the Arts exhibition focuses on the shaping of identity

Artist Lucy Bailey is presenting a solo exhibition titled "Roots and Wings" at the Aiken Center for the Arts, running through April 29. The show features nearly 50 mixed-media works created on vintage early 20th-century infant gowns, exploring the complex origins of human identity through themes of genetics, genealogy, community, and nature. Bailey utilizes diverse materials—ranging from DNA-inspired patterns and family photographs to resin-dipped cicada wings—to symbolize the foundational "roots" of selfhood and the "wings" of individual expression.

Trento, Studio Raffaelli brings Silas and Angus Borsos' painting and photography to Italy

From September 25 to December 15, 2025, Studio d'Arte Raffaelli in Trento, Italy, presents a double solo exhibition by Canadian brothers Silas and Angus Borsos, titled 'Broadway Dreams and the Vancouver Void.' Silas Borsos, a painter based in Brooklyn, shows small-format impressionistic works focused on theater, film scenes, and New York subway glimpses, alongside a large wall installation on paper. Angus Borsos, a photographer and former music video director, exhibits black-and-white analog photographs capturing Vancouver's urban landscapes and existential atmosphere. The exhibition marks the brothers' first joint presentation in Italy and includes a catalog with contributions by Virginia Raffaelli, Camilla Nacci Zanetti, and Gian Marco Montesano.

Should UK museums display mummies? One institution is asking its visitors for their view

Manchester Museum in the UK is asking visitors whether the mummified remains of Asru, an Egyptian woman who lived around 2,700 years ago, should remain on display. The public consultation, running until the end of August, invites comments online or in a box next to her case. The museum notes that Asru's body was acquired in the early 1800s by the sons of a man who profited from slavery, shipped to Manchester, and unwrapped in 1825.

A Roma un evento per indagare le relazioni tra scienza e moda. Intervista alla curatrice Dobrila Denegri

From May 13 to 15, 2026, the MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma will host "Science Fashion," an event curated by Dobrila Denegri that explores the intersections of fashion, science, and new technologies. The program brings together international researchers and practitioners in experimental fashion to discuss urgent issues such as climate emergency, energy, and interspecies coexistence. It is part of the broader multi-year initiative "Experiments in Fashion and Art," launched in 2024 with "Critical Fashion," and involves collaborations with NABA, Sapienza University of Rome, and UnitelmaSapienza.

New Exhibits open today at the African Art Museum

The Savannah African Art Museum is opening two new exhibitions today, April 30, 2026, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The new exhibits include a permanent gallery featuring artwork from West and Central Africa that explores the connections between agriculture, spirituality, and daily life. Museum representative Alisa Evans-Newsome highlighted that the exhibit shares agricultural and spiritual practices from the West African interior, emphasizing agriculture as a vital link to the land and ancestors.

Oregon artist’s ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ exhibition makes complying impossible

Ashland artist Crystal Proffitt's interactive installation 'Don't Touch My Hair: An Interactive Crowned Experience' at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix, Oregon, invites viewers to touch the braids and locs attached to portraits of local Black models while listening to voice recordings about hair as cultural identity and resilience. The work, supported by the Oregon Cultural Trust and the Black Alliance & Social Empowerment (BASE) Southern Oregon, debuted January 3 and runs through January 24, after which it will join BASE's Black Cultural Legacy Series at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford. Proffitt intentionally allows the hair to show wear from handling, treating the erosion as part of the artwork's meaning.

Exhibition featuring 24 Otoe-Missouria artists to open Sept. 5

The Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln will open “Reflections of Our People, Our Ways, Our Land” on September 5, the first-ever exhibition centered on Otoe-Missouria artists. Featuring 24 artists from the tribe, the show spans traditional to contemporary mediums and runs through December 20. The exhibition is part of the Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors project, funded by the Mellon Foundation, which aims to promote healing and reconciliation by reconnecting the tribe to its Nebraska homelands.

Art in the Multicultural Center Opening Reception: "I Am My Ancestors" by Jean Bernard Thomas

Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs and the Haitian American Art Network, Inc. will present an exhibition titled "I Am My Ancestors" by Haitian-born painter Jean Bernard Thomas at the Orange County Multicultural Center Art Gallery in Orlando, Florida. An opening reception is scheduled for May 13, 2026, with the display running through June 16, 2026. Thomas, a co-artistic director of HAAN, creates works blending still life, abstract, and surrealist styles that explore humanity's relationship with nature and Haiti's cultural heritage.

Peer Bode’s video art exhibition at VSW recalls the 1970s and ‘80s

Artist Peer Bode’s experimental video works from the 1970s and 1980s are currently on display at the Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) in the exhibition "Signal into Memory." The show features twelve screens and two digital prints, showcasing Bode’s "Process Tapes" created during his time at the Experimental Television Center (ETC). The works utilize analog technology, such as Portapak cameras and cathode ray tube televisions, to explore the nature of video signals, temporal dissonance, and the physical process of image-making.

US National Park Service removes slavery memorial at Philadelphia historic site

The US National Park Service has removed an outdoor exhibit titled “Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation” at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. The exhibit, which focused on nine people enslaved by George Washington and explored the paradox between slavery and freedom in the nation's founding, was dismantled following a directive from President Donald Trump to eliminate “corrosive ideology” from cultural heritage sites. The removal, captured on social media on January 22, aligns with a March 2025 executive order instructing the NPS to emphasize American achievements and avoid materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

New art exhibition at the M features queer Indigenous artists, cultural teachings

The Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul has opened “Queering Indigeneity,” a new exhibition curated by artist Penny Kagigebi and supporting curator Ben Gessner. Featuring works by 16 queer and two-spirit Indigenous artists, the show includes a birch bark basket by Kagigebi that retells an Ojibwe story about two-spirit ancestors, a glass mosaic by Sharon Day, beaded soundwave portraits by Ryan Young, and an abstract quilt by Delia Touché. The exhibition opens Thursday in the Nancy and John Lindahl Gallery.

Generational San Antonio Art on Display at Culture Commons Gallery

The City of San Antonio's Department of Arts & Culture has opened a new exhibition titled 'Built on Legacy: Artists of San Antonio' at the Culture Commons Gallery. The show features 23 artists, both living and deceased, whose work in prints, sculpture, and installation represents the evolution of the city's art scene over the last fifty years.