Why Italy's cultural wealth never really enters public accounts and budgets?

Perché la ricchezza culturale italiana non entra mai davvero nei conti e nei bilanci pubblici?

Italy has exceeded the European Commission's structural adjustment path by 0.1 percentage points of GDP, reopening fiscal scrutiny. Amid this debate, the article highlights a deeper issue: Italy's immense cultural heritage is drastically undervalued in public accounts. For example, the Pompeii Archaeological Park is recorded at just €48.9 million, the Colosseum at under €15 million, and the Uffizi at about €2 billion—figures based on outdated 2002 ministerial criteria that bear no relation to actual economic or cultural worth. The State General Accounting Office, with the University of Roma Tre and EU technical assistance, has proposed a new methodology to value cultural assets by discounting their future net financial flows, including direct revenues and indirect tourism-related returns.

Exhibition | Lin Zhipeng, 'LIN ZHIPENG (NO. 223): Relationship Duplicates' at DE SARTHE, Hong Kong

DE SARTHE gallery in Hong Kong presents 'Relationship Duplicates', the second solo exhibition by Beijing-based photographer Lin Zhipeng (No.223). The show, on view from May 16 to June 27, explores the tactile, intimate dimensions of human relationships through large-scale photoprints, a smartphone installation, and curated collages. Lin redefines 'duplicates' as supplements that extend relationships rather than mere copies, using nudity and physicality to counter the alienation of digital connectivity.

Anaheim's new $4 billion, 100-acre entertainment district will double as an open-air art gallery with 70+ free public artworks

Anaheim's $4 billion OCVIBE entertainment district, a 100-acre development around the Honda Center, has partnered with art and design studio FUTUREFORMS to create a public art program featuring over 70 original artworks. The program includes permanent and rotating installations such as sculptural landmarks, murals, and interactive pieces, with early works already taking shape in the food hall and concert hall. Notable artworks include 'Stretto' by Nataly Gattegno and Jason Kelly Johnson, 'Rhythm, Flavor, Motion' by Brian Peterson, 'Gratitude' by Carla Roque, and 'Sunrise – Sunset' by Marina Zumi. The first phase will be accessible to the public in early 2027.

KU students, teachers to show off form-defying ceramics at Off-Site Art Gallery exhibition

University of Kansas students and teachers are showcasing ceramics that defy gravity and traditional form at Off-Site Art Space in Lawrence. The exhibition, titled “Almost a Body: Not Quite a Thing,” features works by artists-in-residence Seuil Chung and SunYoung Park alongside their students, including pieces like Natalie Slutsky’s “Vital Exchange,” an anatomical heart with arteries forming a Möbius strip. The show highlights innovative techniques such as using sand-filled brick boxes for firing, French cleat mounting systems, and beeswax finishes inspired by natural forms from the McGregor Herbarium.

Mennello Museum’s 'Our Orlando' group show returns, featuring three innovative local artists

The Mennello Museum in Loch Haven, Orlando, has launched the fourth edition of its 'Our Orlando' group exhibition, featuring three local artists: Tasanee Durrett, Mado Smith, and Martha Jo Mahoney. The show, curated by museum director Shannon Fitzgerald and co-curator Flynn Dobbs, includes four works each by Durrett and Mahoney and two by Smith, drawn from studio visits. The exhibition runs through late August with an opening reception on Friday.

Stella’s Art Gallery selects ‘Size Matters’ winners | Gallery Glances

Stella's Art Gallery in Willoughby, Ohio, held its awards reception for the annual 'Size Matters' exhibition on May 8, with this year's theme requiring all works to be exactly 10 inches. Best of Show went to Breda Fallon for 'One Woman Show,' a 3D diorama. Winners in 3D included John Carreon (first and second place) and Daniel Fishwick (third); in 2D, Tatiana Strelnikova, Tracy Parsons, and Sheri Lawrence took top honors. The article also covers upcoming calls for art at the gallery, including 'The Landscape Show: Real or Fantasy' in June and 'The H2O Show' in July.

DO Savannah: Ella Langley, TEDxSavannah, and more

This article is a local events calendar for Savannah, Georgia, covering the week of May 12–21, 2026. Highlights include a SCAD Jewelry Trunk Show, a Telfair Museums anniversary preview of Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting with a lecture by National Gallery of Art curator Mary Morton, the opening of the Seven Ladies Exhibit at the Davenport House Museum, the 15th annual TEDxSavannah, a country concert by Ella Langley, a brewery anniversary party, a jazz fundraiser, and several preservation-focused lectures including one by National Preservation Partners Network CEO Kim Trent and a talk on landscape architect Clermont Lee. The Courtyard Concert Series at SCAD MOA concludes with local bluegrass band Swamptooth.

UK artist defends pro-Palestine drawings after show cancellation

UK artist Matthew Collings has condemned the cancellation of his art exhibition "Drawings Against Genocide" in Margate, England, after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) accused the show of being antisemitic. The exhibit featured 130 drawings depicting Israeli military, political officials, and business leaders, which Collings describes as artistic metaphors for Zionism, brutality, and violence. Collings insists the work is against genocide, not against Jews, and criticizes the conflation of antisemitism with pro-Palestine activism.

'Father' exhibit to make US debut at Armenian Museum. When it opens

The Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts, will debut the exhibition “Father” by internationally acclaimed artist Diana Markosian, running from May 29 to September 13. The show uses photography, archival materials, video, and text to document Markosian’s journey to reconnect with her estranged father, exploring themes of family, memory, and identity. Curated by Anahit Gasparyan, the exhibition is co-produced by Les Rencontres d’Arles and Foam, Amsterdam, and sponsored by the JHM Charitable Foundation. A private member preview on May 28 will feature a conversation between the artist and curator.

A Milano c’è la prima mostra omaggio all’artista Giovanni Campus dopo la morte

BUILDING Gallery in Milan has opened "Tempo e passione," the first posthumous exhibition dedicated to Giovanni Campus (1929–2025), who died less than five months ago at nearly 100 years old. Curated by Marco Meneguzzo, the two-floor show spans Campus’s career from his Sardinian roots to his Milanese performances, featuring works that measure space using materials like springs and cords, alongside vintage video documentation of his actions in Piazza Palazzo Reale and Sardinia.

Agitate, Educate, Organize. A Conversation with the Indonesian Collective That Is in Venice with Two Projects

Agitare, educare, organizzare. Una conversazione con il collettivo indonesiano che è a Venezia con due progetti

Sale Docks, an activist art space born from a 2007 occupation in Venice, has invited the Indonesian collective Taring Padi to collaborate on two projects. The first is the exhibition "Taring Padi: People's Liberation," which reactivates banners as tools for propaganda, mobilization, and resistance. The second is a public intervention in Venice, where the collective and local community will repaint the walls of the historic social center Laboratorio Occupato Morion. The article includes an interview with Taring Padi, which was founded in 1998 in Yogyakarta by students and activists, and discusses their use of wayang shadow-puppet imagery and collaborative processes to agitate, educate, and organize communities.

Indah Gallery Art Exhibition: Mark Russell Jones “Hearing the Quiet”

Mark Russell Jones, a Central Coast native, presents his large-scale ethereal paintings in an exhibition titled "Hearing the Quiet" at Indah Gallery, located within the Roblar Winery vineyard in a converted hay barn in Santa Ynez Valley. The artist describes his work as exploring the space between abstraction and representation through layering and reduction, evoking memory and atmosphere rather than fixed depictions.

London’s Wellcome Collection to Transfer 2,000 Manuscripts to Jain Community, But They Will Stay in UK

The Wellcome Collection in London has announced plans to transfer 2,000 Jain manuscripts to the Jain community, but they will remain in the UK at the University of Birmingham’s Dharmanath Network in Jain Studies. The manuscripts, ranging from the 15th to 19th centuries, were largely purchased in 1919 from a temple in India and from sources in present-day Pakistan. The transfer follows years of dialogue with the UK-based Institute of Jainology and aims to maximize community access and research opportunities.

New film about forgers is ‘Miami Vice’ for the art-world crowd

The article reviews 'Forge', a new crime thriller directed by Jing Ai Ng, which follows Chinese American siblings Coco and Raymond Zhang who forge early 20th-century landscape paintings and sell them as authentic works in South Florida. The film features FBI agent Emily (Kelly Marie Tran) investigating the scheme, while the forgers navigate a world of wealthy collectors, a hurricane-destroyed art collection, and a family legacy of deception. The movie is described as 'Miami Vice' for the art-world crowd, with a dusky palette and pulsing soundtrack set against the backdrop of Art Basel Miami Beach's booming art market.

Israel Advances Bill Granting Sweeping Civilian Authority over West Bank Archaeological Sites

Israel advanced a bill on Tuesday that would grant sweeping civilian authority over antiquities and archaeology in the occupied West Bank, replacing the current military-run system. The Likud-backed legislation would create a "Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority" under the Israeli heritage minister, empowered to purchase and expropriate land, oversee excavations, and manage heritage sites across Areas B and C of the West Bank. The bill passed its first of three votes (23-14) and would be led by Amichai Eliyahu, a far-right politician who advocates for annexation. Human rights groups and the Israeli NGO Emek Shaveh warned the move amounts to de facto annexation and a violation of Palestinian rights.

Art Collectors Bet on Known Quantities Amid Market Reset

The Impressionist and Modern art category became the most lucrative market segment in 2025, generating $4.7 billion in sales—a 29.5% increase from 2024—as collectors favored established names amid a cautious market. The $10-million-plus bracket surged 68.6% to $1.5 billion, while the number of lots sold hit a decade high of 122,213. Postwar and contemporary art ranked second with $4.1 billion, but its average price per lot dropped to a decade low of $23,027. Old Masters saw a 41.2% rise to $708.6 million, partly driven by the Thomas A. Saunders III collection at Sotheby’s, though that sale fell short of estimates. Ultra-contemporary art continued its four-year decline, falling 26.5% to $229.9 million, with average prices tumbling 72.4% from their 2021 peak.

Ashfika Rahman's art lands in New York Times Critics' Top 6

Bangladeshi visual artist Ashfika Rahman has been recognized by The New York Times as one of the six must-see shows at the Venice Biennale, with her work "Than Para — No Land Without Us" featured in the collateral exhibition "Still Joy — From Ukraine into the World." The installation, presented by the PinchukArtCentre and curated by Björn Geldhof and Oleksandra Pohrebnyak, incorporates thousands of small temple bells gathered from different spiritual traditions and draws on testimonies from Ukraine as well as the struggles of Indigenous communities in Bangladesh's Hill Tracts.

Morris Museum’s Common Ground: NJ Artists Think Monumental, an Ex

The Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey, presents "Common Ground: NJ Artists Think Monumental," the 42nd New Jersey Arts Annual. For the first time in the series' history, the exhibition moves outdoors, activating the museum's 8-acre campus with large-scale sculptures. Nine artists were selected from 530 submissions by a jury led by Johannah Hutchinson, Executive Director of the International Sculpture Center. The exhibition runs from May 28 to August 23, 2026, and includes works by Clifford Blanchard, Sunil Garg, Wendy Gordon, Robert Koch, Robert Lobe, Judith Peck, Jill Scipione, Lee Tal, and Josh Urso.

Fort Worth African American Museum to officially open in June with joint exhibition

The Fort Worth African American Museum and Cultural Center will officially open on June 12 with its inaugural exhibition, "All ’N All: Artists Embracing Community," in partnership with Kinfolk House and the National Juneteenth Museum. The show features paintings, photographs, and mixed-media works by 11 North Texas artists exploring memory, culture, and the Black experience, and is part of the larger Freedom Vibes festival running June 11-20. The museum, which has been in development since 2020, secured its final funding from the Fort Worth City Council in January and purchased a 5,000-square-foot building on East Rosedale Street last summer.

Szentendre’s Old Artists’ Colony Marks 100 Years with Major Exhibition

A major exhibition titled "Artists’ Colony 100" has opened at MűvészetMalom in Szentendre, Hungary, to mark the centenary of the Old Artists’ Colony founded in 1926. The show features hundreds of works by nearly a hundred artists, from founding members such as József Bánáti Sverák, Miklós Bánovszky, and Béla Onódi to contemporary figures including József Baksai and Imre Szakács. It includes iconic pieces, rare works, and recent discoveries, organized thematically with a focus on the garden motif that has long inspired colony artists.

Chandra Bhattacharjee magnifies lives pushed to the margins in his latest Kolkata showcase

Artist Chandra Bhattacharjee presents a new body of work titled "A Star Amongst Too Many" at the Sarala Birla gallery within the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata. Curated by Uma Ray, the exhibition features large-scale charcoal drawings that depict marginalized figures such as ragpickers, trash collectors, beggars, and street vendors. The works use black-and-white charcoal with occasional bursts of yellow and rust—the latter symbolizing neglect—to highlight the overlooked lives of these individuals. The show runs until May 24, 2026.

11 artists explore nature and art in next Tahawus Gallery exhibit

The Tahawus Gallery will host an upcoming exhibition featuring 11 artists whose works explore the intersection of nature and art. The show brings together a diverse group of creators to examine themes of landscape, ecology, and the natural world through various media.

Spain, sculpted in sand at Tottori museum’s landmark 20th exhibition

The Tottori Sand Museum in Japan has opened its 20th anniversary exhibition, themed around Spain. The show features monumental sand sculptures recreating iconic Spanish landmarks, including several of Antoni Gaudí's structures, most notably the Sagrada Familia basilica. The exhibition began last month and will run through January 3, continuing the museum's tradition of annual themed displays that began outdoors in 2006 and moved to a dedicated indoor building in 2012.

International Museum Day: Museum of Art and Photography showcases botany, history and social media

The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bangalore, India, celebrated International Museum Day by presenting a special showcase that weaves together themes of botany, history, and social media. The exhibition highlights how plant life has been depicted in art across centuries, from historical botanical illustrations to contemporary digital works, and explores the intersection of nature, culture, and online platforms.

Baby dolls, whale songs and swimming in urine: The Venice Biennale’s must-see national pavilions

The 61st Venice Biennale, themed 'In Minor Keys' by late curator Koyo Kouoh, has been marked by political protests against Russia and Israel's participation, pavilion closures, and threats to funding. Despite this tense atmosphere, several national pavilions quietly embody Kouoh's vision of nurture, intimacy, and reflection. Highlights include the Japan Pavilion's 'Grass Babies, Moon Babies' by Ei Arakawa-Nash, where visitors carry and care for baby dolls, and the Polish Pavilion's 'Liquid Tongues' by Bogna Burska and Daniel Kotowski, an immersive sound installation exploring Deaf culture and marginalized communication.

In “El Arte de la Resistencia,” migrant children share their experiences through art

An art exhibition titled "El Arte de la Resistencia" opened in Tucson, featuring artwork created by migrant children who have participated in La Ristra's art therapy program. The show includes life-size paintings, such as a boy's self-portrait with an excavator in his belly symbolizing his deported father's work, and a colorful cactus painted by another child. The exhibition, held in a small gallery near Fourth Avenue and Seventh Street, runs until May 17, 2026, with original pieces for sale to benefit the young artists and prints sold to raise funds for La Ristra, a nonprofit providing emotional support to migrant families.

‘Art is story, and stories save lives’: In St. Walburg, a travelling exhibit gives voice to stories often left untold

The Susan Velder Gallery and More in St. Walburg, Saskatchewan, is hosting 'Invisible Winds: Stories You Can Not See, Journeys toward Wholeness,' a traveling exhibition curated through the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC). Featuring 19 local artists, the show explores hidden emotional realities such as adoption, PTSD, trauma, and resilience through mixed-media works, including Holly Hildebrand's textured portraits 'Ghosts and Shadows: Heather' and 'Ghosts and Shadows: Teanna.' Visitors are encouraged to scan QR codes to hear artists' stories, and many return multiple times to absorb the heavy themes.

Oklahoma Arts Council receives largest gift to state art collection

The Oklahoma Arts Council has received the largest gift in the history of the Oklahoma State Art Collection: ten works by influential Native artists from The Howard L. and Mary Ellen Meredith Collection, donated by America Meredith and Samonia Byford in honor of their parents. The donated works include pieces by Benjamin Harjo Jr., Norma Howard, Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings, Ruthe Blalock Jones, Shan Goshorn, Doc Tate Nevaquaya, Jane Osti, Juanita Pahdopony, Jeri Redcorn, and Dick West. The artworks are now on display in the Betty Price Gallery at the Oklahoma State Capitol, alongside two other recent acquisitions.

Minnesota Marine Art Museum celebrates two new collections with weekend events

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona is hosting a "Spring New Look Weekend" from Friday through Sunday to celebrate two new collections. The first, "Myths & Legends of Minnesota: An Exhibition of the Minnesota Plein Air Collective," features 43 paintings by 32 artists created outdoors across the state, focusing on folklore, oral traditions, and waterways. The second, "Gordon Coons: Gidibaajimomin / We Tell Stories," showcases 18 new works by Ojibwa artist Gordon Coons, along with earlier pieces and examples of Woodland Style art from Norval Morrisseau and Sam Ash. The weekend includes plein air painting demonstrations, a printmaking activity with Coons, meet-the-artist tours, and an evening social.

Photo Gallery: The artists behind UTRGV’s senior art exhibition ‘sonder’

The article is a photo gallery showcasing the senior art exhibition 'sonder' at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). It features the work of graduating art students, highlighting their individual projects and creative processes as part of their final academic showcase.