The Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale is a political protest (also against the Biennale itself)

Il padiglione dei Paesi Bassi alla Biennale di Venezia è una contestazione politica (anche della Biennale stessa)

The Dutch Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "The Fortress" by artist Dries Verhoeven and curator Rieke Vos, transforms the modernist Rietveld Pavilion into a fortress-like enclosure. Inside, a rotating group of thirteen international performers will stage a series of performances throughout the Biennale, focusing on themes of geopolitical uncertainty, social disorder, and the search for stability in an unbalanced world. This marks the first time the Netherlands has used the Rietveld Pavilion for a performance-based project.

Creating Variety in Contemporary Rome: The Story of the Conventicola degli Ultramoderni on Sky Arte

Fare varietà nella Roma contemporanea: la storia della Conventicola degli Ultramoderni su Sky Arte

On Sunday, May 3, Sky Arte will premiere the documentary "Ultramoderni," which chronicles the rise of the Conventicola degli Ultramoderni, a unique artistic collective in Rome. Founded by Sior Mirkaccio and Madame de Freitas, who met in 2011, the group operates from a small hidden venue in the San Lorenzo district, blending music, cabaret, burlesque, and contemporary variety shows with a retro-futuristic aesthetic. The documentary, filmed in their Roman space, features interviews with the duo and excerpts from their performances, tracing how they built a diverse community of enthusiasts around their reinvention of past traditions.

Art can officially be a form of therapy. Interview with Undersecretary of Culture Lucia Borgonzoni, godmother of the project

L’arte può essere ufficialmente una forma di cura. Intervista al Sottosegretario alla Cultura Lucia Borgonzoni madrina del progetto

The Italian Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Health have signed a formal protocol recognizing art as a form of therapy and care. The agreement, championed by Undersecretary of State for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni, mandates that museums, libraries, archives, and cultural institutions play a central role in developing therapeutic pathways using art to improve individual and community well-being. Borgonzoni, who has advocated for this initiative for nearly a decade, traces its origin to a 2018 study at the Sanctuary of Vicoforte that measured cortisol levels in visitors before and after viewing frescoes, showing significant stress reduction.

The first of May starts a new issue of Pax. Previews of the newsletter on cultural tourism (subscribe)

Il primo maggio parte una nuova uscita di Pax. Le anticipazioni della newsletter sul turismo culturale (abbonatevi)

The article previews the upcoming May 1st issue of Pax, a newsletter by Artribune focused on cultural tourism. It highlights a feature on Italy's colorful villages, explaining how bright colors historically aided sailors and fishermen, and how white facades served hygienic purposes. The issue also covers off-the-beaten-path destinations like Bolsena, which recently opened a contemporary art space in Palazzo Cozza Caposavi, and explores slow tourism practices such as barefooting, discussed with its founder Andrea Bianchi. Additional content includes a roundup of cultural initiatives from Berlin to Naples, Budapest's Citadella reopening, and the Sussex forest's Winnie-the-Pooh centenary.

Future cultural professionals in Africa will be trained by six Italian museums

I futuri professionisti della cultura in Africa saranno formati da sei musei italiani

The fourth edition of the International School of Cultural Heritage (Scuola Internazionale del Patrimonio Culturale) is underway, with 23 cultural professionals from 12 African nations participating in a hands-on training program hosted by six Italian museums. After online modules and a week of lectures in Rome, the residential phase runs from April 27 to May 22, 2025, placing participants at the Museo delle Civiltà (MUCIV), the Archaeological Parks of Praeneste and Gabii, the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (MArTA), the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN), the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria (MArRC), and the National Archaeological Museum of Agro Falisco and Forte Sangallo in Civita Castellana. The program, titled "Managing Art Collections: from ancient to contemporary," focuses on collection management, conservation, and public programming, linking archaeological heritage with contemporary practices.

For the 2026 Venice Biennale, the RojoNegro duo brings a collective ritual to the Mexico Pavilion

Per la Biennale Arte 2026 il duo RojoNegro porta nel Padiglione del Messico un rituale collettivo

The article announces that the RojoNegro collective, formed by María Sosa and Noé Martínez, will represent Mexico at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with a project titled "Actos invisibles para sostener el universo." Curated by Jessica Berlanga Taylor, the installation combines organic materials, sound, video, and performance to create a ritualistic space that invokes invisible presences, memories, and energies. The work draws on decolonial perspectives, centering Indigenous and Afro-descendant cosmogonies as living knowledge systems, and aims to activate a dialogue between situated ritual practices and the global context of the Biennale.

Il duo di artisti internazionali Gawęda/Kulbokaitė sono a Roma per la prima volta con una mostra su identità e percezione

The international artist duo Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė present their debut exhibition in Rome, titled "Spit and Image," at the Basement gallery. The show, on view until July 10, 2026, features sculptures, installations, and videos that explore identity construction in the digital age, using mirrors, fragmented bodies, and olfactory elements. Works like "Yield (twinning)" (2025) and "Spit and Image 1 and 2" (2025) evoke surveillance, metamorphosis, and duplication, while the Slavic vampire figure of the upiór serves as a metaphor for fluid, non-binary identities.

In Romagna for over a century there is a "serious" spring carnival. The story of the plaster and thought floats

In Romagna da oltre un secolo c’è un Carnevale “serio” di primavera. La storia dei carri di gesso e di pensiero

A small town in Romagna, Casola Valsenio, has been hosting a unique spring festival for 125 years, featuring massive allegorical floats made of plaster and wood. Unlike traditional carnivals, this event—called the "serious carnival"—takes place in late April/early May and focuses on social and political themes. The floats, up to seven meters long and nine meters high, are built by local youth and paraded twice (day and night) with performers frozen in tableau vivant poses. A jury, this year chaired by Roberto Cantagalli, director of the MAR museum in Ravenna, awards a winner.

L’inquinamento acustico diventa un percorso sonoro. L’installazione di Continental a Milano

Continental, the premium tire manufacturer, has commissioned WOA Studio, a creative studio founded by Davide Carioni and Giuliana Pajola, to create an immersive sound installation titled "The Sound of Premium" for the Fuorisalone design festival in Milan. Presented at BASE Milano, the installation transforms urban noise pollution into a three-part sonic journey—chaos, harmony, and quiet—using seventeen audio-luminous elements that abstract the city soundscape. The experience is designed to show how noise can be mitigated rather than eliminated, with sound data derived from real urban recordings, particularly tire rolling noise.

Thirteen Monumental Sculptures in Stockholm. Italian Artist Davide Rivalta Redesigns Urban Space

Tredici sculture monumentali a Stoccolma. L’artista italiano Davide Rivalta ridisegna lo spazio urbano

Italian artist Davide Rivalta has installed thirteen monumental bronze sculptures of animals—including lions, rhinoceroses, and buffalo—across iconic public spaces in Stockholm. The project, titled 'Blowing Figures into Space,' places the life-sized, pedestal-free figures directly on the ground, allowing them to blend into and subtly disrupt the urban landscape.

Working in Art: Opportunities from Roma Capitale, Fondazione Cariplo, Municipality of Milan and Fucine Vulcano

Lavorare nell’arte: opportunità da Roma Capitale, Fondazione Cariplo, Comune di Milano e Fucine Vulcano

This article lists five current job and funding opportunities in Italy's cultural sector. These include a call for live performance projects for Rome's Museum Night at the Civic Museums, the "Luoghi Plurali" grant from Fondazione Cariplo for urban regeneration through cultural reuse of disused spaces, a public art commission for a new library in Milan, a call for artists to access the workshops at Fucine Vulcano in Milan, and a search for cultural mediators by the Provincial Museums of South Tyrol.

Interview with Dries Van Noten who opens his foundation on art & craftsmanship in Venice

Intervista a Dries Van Noten che apre la sua fondazione su arte&artigianato a Venezia

Fashion designer Dries Van Noten is launching a new foundation dedicated to craftsmanship and art in Venice. The Dries Van Noten Foundation, opening on April 25, 2026, will be a hub for the exchange and transmission of knowledge, focusing on skills like glassmaking, textiles, ceramics, and goldsmithing. Its inaugural presentation, 'The Only True Protest is Beauty,' curated with Geert Bruloot, will fill twenty rooms of a Venetian palazzo with over two hundred works spanning fashion, glass, ceramics, design, and photography.

The Fair Dedicated to Emerging Artists Returns to Milan: Applications Open for the Sixth Edition of ReA! Art Fair

A Milano torna la fiera dedicata agli artisti emergenti. Aperte le iscrizioni per la sesta edizione di ReA! Art Fair

ReA! Art Fair has officially launched its open call for the sixth edition, scheduled to take place from October 22 to 25, 2026, at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan. Organized by the non-profit association ReA Arte, the fair will select 50 emerging international artists to showcase their work in a curated group exhibition format. Applications are open until May 1, 2026, welcoming a wide range of disciplines including digital art, performance, and traditional media.

In Bologna, an exhibition combines pictorial traditions and contemporary perfumes

A Bologna una mostra mette assieme tradizioni pittoriche e profumi contemporanei

The exhibition "Sogni di natura" (Dreams of Nature) has opened at the Collezioni Comunali d’Arte in Bologna’s Palazzo d’Accursio, coinciding with the 57th edition of Cosmoprof Worldwide. The show transforms the historic Sala Boschereccia into a multisensory "imagined garden" where 18th-century landscape paintings by Vincenzo Martinelli and Giuseppe Valiani are paired with contemporary fragrances. Students from the Italian Perfumery Institute developed these scents by analyzing the historical and symbolic identity of the room’s original decorations.

A collective lunch is organized in Milan to discuss the problems of the cultural sector. Here is how to participate

A Milano si organizza un pranzo collettivo per discutere dei problemi del settore culturale. Ecco come partecipare

The nomadic assembly "OMTU – Organized Meals for Times of Uprising" is heading to Milan on April 19, 2026, coinciding with the miart art fair. Organized by a coalition of independent spaces including terzospazio, Osservatorio Futura, Parsec, and Arts of the Working Class, the event features a collective lunch followed by a public discussion at the Baséll space. The gathering aims to address the systemic precariousness of the cultural sector, focusing specifically on the scarcity of affordable social and cultural spaces in Milan.

Between Fashion and Design, a New Issue of TAILOR Returns, Artribune's Newsletter on the Culture of Clothing

Tra moda e design torna un nuovo numero di TAILOR, newsletter di Artribune sulla cultura del vestire

Artribune has announced the return of TAILOR, a specialized newsletter exploring the intersections of art, fashion, and design. The upcoming April 19, 2026 edition focuses on the synergy between fashion brands and the Milan Design Week, featuring an interview with Mauro Simionato, founder of the experimental knitwear brand Vitelli, regarding sustainable material processes and community-building.

Artificial Intelligence as an Uncanny Machine is on Display in a Florence Air-Raid Shelter

L’intelligenza artificiale come macchina perturbante è in mostra in un rifugio antiaereo di Firenze

Artist and philosopher Francesco D’Isa presents "Latent Rooms" at Rifugio Digitale, a gallery located within a former air-raid shelter in Florence. The exhibition features video works created using generative AI models like Midjourney and Seedance 2.0, which D’Isa manipulates to create dreamlike, glitch-heavy sequences. Rather than aiming for cinematic realism, the artist embraces the technical errors and "hallucinations" of the AI, resulting in an aesthetic that blends Renaissance beauty with haunting, domestic melancholy.

miart 2026 Opens in Milan: First Shots of the Fair Celebrating 30 Years in a Brand New Space

A Milano ha inaugurato miart 2026: i primi scatti della fiera che compie 30 anni e debutta in uno spazio tutto nuovo

The 30th edition of miart, Milan’s modern and contemporary art fair, has opened at its new venue in the South Wing of Allianz MiCo. Under the final year of Nicola Ricciardi’s direction, the fair features 160 galleries from 24 countries organized around the theme "New Directions," inspired by the jazz innovations of John Coltrane. The layout has transitioned from a single-floor format to a three-level experience, incorporating sections such as Emergent for experimental works and the new Established Anthology, which focuses on non-linear art history.

Philanthropist and Patron Emmanuele Emanuele Dies; Creator of Rome's Palazzo Sciarra and Palazzo Cipolla Museum Spaces

È morto il filantropo e mecenate Emmanuele Emanuele. Fautore a Roma degli spazi museali di Palazzo Sciarra e Palazzo Cipolla

Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele, a prominent Italian philanthropist, jurist, and patron of the arts, has passed away in Rome at the age of 86. Born in Palermo, Emanuele dedicated the latter half of his life to cultural promotion, most notably serving as the President of Fondazione Roma and the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Internazionale. His leadership was instrumental in transforming Rome's Palazzo Sciarra and Palazzo Cipolla into significant museum spaces, hosting both permanent collections and major temporary exhibitions.

A new issue of the Pax newsletter on cultural tourism is arriving: Previews to entice those not yet subscribed

In arrivo un nuovo numero della newsletter Pax sul turismo culturale. Le anticipazioni per ingolosire chi non è ancora abbonato

The Italian Ministry of Tourism has partnered with the audio platform Loquis to integrate sound-based storytelling into the country's official tourism portal. This initiative, led by digital entrepreneur Bruno Pellegrini, aims to preserve the memory of Italian territories while promoting future development through an "audio atlas." The project is a central feature of the upcoming issue of Artribune’s Pax newsletter, which focuses on the intersection of cultural tourism, art, and hospitality.

The National Choreographic Center is doing everything to involve young people in ballet

Il Centro Coreografico Nazionale sta facendo di tutto per coinvolgere i giovani nel balletto

The Centro Coreografico Nazionale Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia has launched "Alla ricerca della meraviglia" (In Search of Wonder), a year-long research and production project aimed at engaging younger audiences through contemporary dance. The initiative involves three choreographers—Fernando Melo, Jacopo Jenna, and Francesco Marilungo—who are developing works that adopt a child’s perspective rather than simply creating content for children. These studies will be presented at the Internazionale Kids Festival in May 2026, with one selected for full production later that summer.

Two spectacular libraries are under construction in Milan: photos of the construction sites

A Milano sono in costruzione due spettacolari biblioteche: le foto dei cantieri

Milan is currently undergoing a significant cultural transformation with the construction of two major public libraries: the European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) and the Lorenteggio Library. The BEIC, a massive 30,000-square-meter project designed by Onsitestudio and funded by the PNRR, is rising in the Porta Vittoria district as a national-level cultural hub. Meanwhile, the Lorenteggio Library, designed by a team led by Grau Magaña Urtzi, is taking shape in a strategic suburban area to provide essential community services and social integration.

From Comics to TV: Quino's Legendary Mafalda Becomes an Animated Series

Dal fumetto alla tv: la mitica Mafalda di Quino diventa una serie animata

Netflix has announced a new animated series based on the iconic comic strip Mafalda, directed by Academy Award-winner Juan José Campanella. Produced by Mundoloco CGI, the project coincides with the 60th anniversary of the character's debut and marks a transition from the traditional black-and-white print medium to a dynamic, colorized digital format. The series aims to preserve the sharp social commentary and rebellious spirit of the original illustrations created by the late Argentine cartoonist Quino.

Biennale Tecnologia Begins in Turin: Five Days of Theater, Performance, Artificial Intelligence, and Distorted Futures

A Torino inizia la Biennale Tecnologia. Cinque giorni tra teatro, performance, intelligenze artificiali e futuri distorti

The Biennale Tecnologia has launched in Turin, featuring over 120 events across 20 venues, including lectures, exhibitions, and a significant performing arts program. The festival utilizes theater and audiovisual performances to translate complex technological themes—such as artificial intelligence, environmental infrastructure, and ethics—into accessible narratives. Key highlights include Marco Paolini’s exploration of the Po River at OGR Torino and the play 'Retrofuturo,' which uses a comedic time-travel premise to critique societal reliance on algorithms.

Popular sculptor Jago sets his sights on Capri with an exhibition that is also a territorial enhancement project

Il popolare scultore Jago punta su Capri con una mostra che è anche un progetto di valorizzazione territoriale

The Italian island of Capri has announced a major solo exhibition by the sculptor Jago, scheduled to open in June at the historic Villa Lysis. This ambitious project will feature the artist's works distributed across the villa’s eclectic spaces, including its Art Nouveau interiors, the Chinese-style opium den, and its panoramic terraces. The initiative is a strategic move by the local administration to revitalize the site, which, despite its architectural significance, suffers from its remote location on Monte Tiberio.

Jobs in Art: Opportunities from Catania Academy of Fine Arts, MADRE Naples, Camera Austria, Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Lavoro nell’arte: opportunità da Accademia Belle Arti Catania, MADRE Napoli, Camera Austria, Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Several prominent Italian and international cultural institutions have launched open calls for professional roles, residencies, and artistic competitions. Key opportunities include the search for a new director at the MADRE Museum in Naples with a three-year contract, a social media manager position at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and various residency programs for photographers and designers at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania and Camera Austria in Graz.

The Welcoming Spaces of Italian Artist Donatella Spaziani at Her First Major Exhibition in China

Gli spazi accoglienti dell’artista italiana Donatella Spaziani alla sua prima grande mostra in Cina

Italian artist Donatella Spaziani has opened her first major solo exhibition in China, titled "Incolume tra le cose" (Unharmed Among Things), at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Art Museum in Chongqing. The retrospective features over 100 works, including drawings, collages, site-specific installations, and sound art, spanning her career and highlighting her recent residency in the city. The exhibition eschews chronological order, instead creating an immersive environment where the artist’s signature silhouettes and explorations of the human body interact with the architectural space of the museum.

Merchant at the Fair, but with Art: The Art Edition of the Popular Board Game is Born in Milan

Mercante in Fiera però con l’arte. A Milano nasce l’Art Edition del popolare gioco di società

The creative agency Plus Srl and the curatorial collective The Art Society have launched "Mercante in Fiera – Art Edition," a contemporary art reimagining of the classic Italian card game. Debuting at the forthcoming Luceferma space in Milan, the project replaces traditional game cards with artistic imagery and visual references to spark informal dialogue among participants. The initiative functions as a social device, stripping away academic barriers to engage players in spontaneous interpretation and community building.

A library of sensations in Rome in the exhibition of Gabriele Simei: The interview

Una biblioteca di sensazioni a Roma nella mostra di Gabriele Simei. L’intervista

Artist Gabriele Simei has transformed the VOLUME! art space in Rome into an immersive installation titled "LABiblioteca Sottotevere." Curated by Silvano Manganaro, the exhibition features metal sculptures shaped like books, alongside found objects such as old lace, blankets, and tools. Simei uses acid to etch the textures of leaves gathered from the banks of the Tiber River and vintage textiles onto iron and brass plates, creating a "library of sensations" that bridges the gap between nature and domestic memory.

Between Control and Fragility: The Invisible Stories of Martina Zanin on Display in Rome

Tra controllo e fragilità: le storie invisibili di Martina Zanin in mostra a Roma

Martina Zanin’s solo exhibition, "EVERY CARESS, A BLOW," has opened at the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in Rome. Curated by Antonio Grulli, the show features a multidisciplinary range of works including photography, bronze sculpture, and immersive installations that explore the thin line between protection and threat. Through recurring motifs like falconry gloves and symbolic animals such as the hawk and the hare, Zanin investigates the invisible power dynamics and rituals inherent in relationships.