UK museum directors join prime minister on diplomatic mission to China

A delegation of senior UK museum directors, including Tim Reeve of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Doug Gurr of the Natural History Museum, Keith Merrin of North East Museums, Sara Wajid of Birmingham Museums Trust, and Laura Pye of National Museums Liverpool, accompanied Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a three-day diplomatic and trade mission to China. The trip aimed to strengthen bilateral relations, with the museum leaders highlighting existing partnerships and exploring new opportunities for cultural exchange and commercial collaboration in the Chinese market.

russian pavilion 2026 venice biennale return

Russia has announced it will reopen its national pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale after a four-year hiatus following the invasion of Ukraine. The pavilion, which remained closed in 2022 and was loaned to Bolivia in 2024, will host an exhibition titled "The Tree is Rooted in the Sky" featuring a "musical festival" with over 50 participants from Russia and countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mali, and Mexico.

‘YBA & BEYOND’ Exports British Cool

Frieze critic Andrew Durbin reviews the national pavilions at the Venice Biennale, contrasting a vacuous US presentation with incisive and moving installations from Britain and Germany. The British pavilion, titled 'YBA & BEYOND,' exports British cool by showcasing works from Young British Artists and their successors, while the German pavilion offers a deeply resonant experience. The US pavilion is criticized for lacking meaningful content, raising questions about curatorial direction and national representation.

‘Our pattern, our document’: this Indigenous Australian community is using design to assert its rights

A new exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in Sydney, titled 'Yolŋu power: the art of Yirrkala', showcases the work of 90 Yolŋu artists from the remote community of Yirrkala in Australia's Northern Territory. The exhibition highlights how the community's art centre, Buku-Larrŋgay Mulka, has produced sacred clan designs known as miny'tji for eight decades, and how these patterns were used as legal and political documents to assert land and sea rights. Key moments include the 1963 Yirrkala Bark Petition, the Saltwater Project (1996) initiated by artist Djambawa Marawili, and the subsequent 2008 High Court ruling recognizing Indigenous ownership of the intertidal zone under the Land Rights Act.

US participation in 2026 Venice Biennale in limbo amid Trump's arts defunding

The United States' participation in the 2026 Venice Biennale is in jeopardy due to the Trump administration's campaign to defund the arts. According to a Vanity Fair report by Nate Freeman, the US government's preparation is behind schedule, with the typical 18-month planning timeline now reduced to just 12 months before the opening. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) faces funding cuts, staff reductions, and a vacant position for coordinating biennale affairs, while the application process has been altered to emphasize "American values" and remove references to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Right royal style: 90 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s fashion to go on show at Buckingham Palace

The Royal Collection Trust will mount an exhibition titled "Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style" at the King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London in spring 2026, marking the centenary of the late monarch's birth. The show will feature around 200 pieces, including the dresses she wore at her 1947 wedding and 1953 coronation, both designed by Norman Hartnell, along with diplomatically significant gowns, everyday attire, and never-before-exhibited colorful prints from the 1970s by Ian Thomas. Sketches and correspondence with her couturiers will also be on display.

Ragnar Kjartansson's politically charged soap opera—halted by the Russia-Ukraine war—goes on show in Reykjavík

Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson's video work *Soap Opera*—a recording of his durational performance *Santa Barbara: A Living Sculpture*—is on view for the first time at i8 Grandi in Reykjavík. The original performance, staged at the V-A-C Foundation's GES-2 House of Culture in Moscow from December 2021 to February 2022, featured Russian and Ukrainian actors reenacting episodes of the American soap opera *Santa Barbara*, which had been a cultural phenomenon in post-Soviet Russia. The production was halted at episode 81 on February 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Italy's Soft Power in China Thanks to Two Major Exhibitions on Pompeii and Palladio

Il soft power dell’Italia in Cina grazie a due grandi mostre su Pompei e Palladio

The National Museum of China in Beijing is currently hosting two major exhibitions celebrating Italian cultural heritage: "Pompeii: An Eternal Discovery" and "Geometry, Harmony and Life: The Architecture of Andrea Palladio from Antiquity to Classicism." These exhibitions, marking the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and China, were inaugurated by Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli. The Pompeii showcase traces 250 years of archaeological history using artifacts and multimedia, while the Palladio exhibition explores the Renaissance master’s influence on Western architecture and creates a cross-cultural dialogue with traditional Chinese building techniques.

Asia's Biennials Survey: The Asia Pivot

asias biennials survey asia pivot

Asia is experiencing a significant surge in biennial exhibitions, with at least eight major events currently running from Singapore to Riyadh and several more scheduled for later this year. These large-scale exhibitions are increasingly serving as strategic tools for soft power, urban regeneration, and economic promotion, often backed by government funding to elevate a city's global profile.

Soft Power: When Textiles Become Compelling Storytellers

The article reviews 'Threading Inwards,' an exhibition at the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) in Hong Kong, curated by Wang Weiwei, Eugene Hannah Park, Kurosawa Seiha, and Wang Huan. It features 14 artists from across Asia who use textile as a medium to explore themes of spirituality, memory, and cultural heritage. Works include Han Sang A's 'Threshold' series, Hu Yinping's 'Soul Bottle' series, and pieces by Aziza Kadyri, Mooni Perry, Citra Sasmita, IV Chan, and Chen Zhe, among others.

Frank O’Hara and the end of the ‘American Century’

Frank O’Hara, the poet and curator at the Museum of Modern Art, was a central figure in the mid-20th-century effort to promote American high art globally as a cultural counterpart to U.S. military and economic power. The article examines how O’Hara’s work, alongside the Abstract Expressionists and other artists, helped establish New York as the capital of the art world, projecting American cultural influence abroad through exhibitions, poetry, and institutional support.

Exclusive: Thai gallery removes China-focused artworks after 'pressure' from Beijing

A Thai gallery has removed artworks focused on China from its exhibition after reportedly facing pressure from Beijing. The pieces, which addressed sensitive political themes, were taken down following diplomatic or official intervention, according to the gallery's statement. The incident highlights ongoing tensions between artistic expression and geopolitical influence in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam to Debut at 2026 Venice Biennale

Vietnam will make its historic debut at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with its first-ever national pavilion titled “Viet Nam: Art in the Global Flow.” Located at the Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon palace and curated by Đỗ Tường Linh, the exhibition will feature works by ten contemporary artists, including a major immersive installation by Lê Hữu Hiếu. Hiếu’s contribution, titled "Tằm" (Silkworm), utilizes traditional materials like lacquer and jackfruit wood alongside live silkworms to explore themes of metamorphosis and memory.