tribeca film festival mierle laderman ukeles

Filmmaker Toby Perl Freilich has created a documentary titled "Maintenance Artist" about the pioneering artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles, known for her 1969 "Manifesto for Maintenance Art" and her decades-long role as the unsalaried artist-in-resident at the New York City Department of Sanitation. The film, which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival, features archival footage, interviews with art historians and family, and documents Ukeles's process of curating her archives for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, highlighting her iconic projects like "Touch Sanitation" (1979-80) and her ongoing work on Freshkills Park.

these three artisans have what their peers can only dream of unlimited access to the met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vacheron Constantin have launched an Artisan Residency Program, selecting three inaugural residents: woodworker Aspen Golann, jewelry maker Joy Harvey, and ceramicist Ibrahim Said. Over 18 months, the trio will receive mentorship, studio space at the Met, full access to its archives and collections, and exposure to Vacheron Constantin's craftsmanship techniques in Geneva, culminating in original works that reflect their practices.

The Public Legacy of Gonzalo Díaz

EL LEGADO PÚBLICO DE GONZALO DÍAZ

A collaborative research project, the Gonzalo Díaz Archive, was presented at the National Museum of Fine Arts in early 2025, focusing on the late artist's five-decade connection to the University of Chile. Just before his death in December 2025, Díaz publicly called for the university to safeguard a substantial part of his prolific work, and he was posthumously awarded the university's Rector Juvenal Hernández Jaque Medal. His widow, artist Nury González, will lead a funded project to transform his decades of preparatory notes and sketches into a new artist's book.

Exhibition | Travis MacDonald, 'Had a Farm' at Contemporary Fine Arts | CFA, Berlin, Germany

Contemporary Fine Arts in Berlin is presenting 'Had a Farm', a solo exhibition by New Zealand-born artist Travis MacDonald, opening during Gallery Weekend Berlin 2026. The show features new paintings that explore countercultural aesthetics through long-haired, androgynous figures set in a rural-subcultural landscape, drawing on photographic archives of 1970s experimental communes and referencing Pier Paolo Pasolini's essay on hair as a political sign.

Through Reverie: Love and Memory | A Duo-solo Exhibition by Clasutta and C.K.Koh

Whitestone Gallery Singapore will present a duo-solo exhibition titled "Through Reverie: Love and Memory" opening on 9 May 2026. The show features Indonesian artist Clasutta and Malaysian artist C.K. Koh, each presenting a solo component: Clasutta's "Roommates?" explores the emotional stages of a relationship through fragmented, intimate gestures, while Koh's "Folded Glimpses" draws from his personal photographic archive to evoke memory as impression rather than documentary record.

Things to do on Wednesday, February 18

A wide array of cultural events are scheduled across Cyprus for Wednesday, February 18. These include the opening of a curated showcase of publications from the late archaeologist Vassos Karageorghis in Nicosia, a contemporary art auction featuring 82 works, a presentation by underwater photographer Sakis Lazaridis, a sold-out theatre performance in Limassol, and numerous ongoing exhibitions in Nicosia, Limassol, and Larnaca featuring both historic and contemporary Cypriot artists.

Five can't-miss art exhibits in The City this winter

The article highlights five must-see art exhibitions in San Francisco during the winter season, centered around San Francisco Art Week in January. Featured shows include 'Labor Is on Our Mind' at CCA Wattis Institute, exploring labor through three interconnected exhibitions; 'Emory Douglas: In Our Lifetime' at the African American Art & Culture Complex, celebrating the artist's 50-year career in activism; 'Moving San Francisco' at City Hall's North Light Gallery, showcasing public transit history through photographs; and '1-800 Happy Birthday,' a participatory project beginning on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Annonce de chercheurs : Exposition Maurice Utrillo, de Montmartre à Angoulême

The Musée d'Angoulême will host the exhibition "De Montmartre à Angoulême, Maurice Utrillo intime…" from April to September 2027, focusing on the artist's lesser-known years in the Charente region. Curators Pamela de Montleau and Philippe Cassereau are seeking archives, correspondence, photographs, testimonies, and paintings to illuminate Utrillo's two-year stay in Angoulême (1935–1937), where he married painter and writer Lucie Valore. The show will also feature works by his painter friends, including Maurice de Vlaminck, Alphonse Quizet, and others.

Yves Klein Research Grant 2026: A Funded Residency for Emerging Scholars

The Yves Klein Foundation has launched its first Research Grant for 2026, offering a CHF 6,000 stipend and a one-week funded residency in Paris to emerging scholars under 35 who hold a PhD or postdoctoral degree. The program invites original research projects that deepen understanding of Yves Klein’s work, ideas, and legacy, with access to archives and scholarly guidance provided. Applications are due by 15 June 2026, with selection based on originality, scientific quality, and feasibility.

Nobody Can Handle Me: Brazil Rewrites the Pavilion as Living Memory.

Brazil's 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion, curated by Diane Lima, presents a radical, sensorial exhibition titled 'Comigo ninguém pode' featuring artists Adriana Varejão and Rosana Paulino. The show transforms the modernist pavilion into an active participant, where historical and new works by the two artists create friction and resonance, exploring themes of colonial violence, the Black female body as archive, and spiritual resistance.

Multimedia arts project wins Sycamore Gap tree commission after public vote

A community arts charity, Helix Arts, and George King Architects have won a public vote to create 'The People's Tree', a multimedia artwork using preserved wood from the illegally felled Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland. The National Trust commission, announced in September 2025, will transform the tree into a 'living archive' featuring participatory storytelling, a national sound archive, seed pods for digital recordings, a soundscape from growth rings, and a sound sculpture near the original site. The project is expected to begin public engagement in summer 2026 and be completed by autumn 2027.

‘Anger, curiosity and hope’: a planet of protest – in pictures

Matthew Connors' new photo book, *The Axe Will Survive the Master*, compiles 12 years of protest photography from Hong Kong, Cairo, New York, Kyiv, North Korea, and beyond. Published by MACK Books, the work weaves together images from the Occupy movement, the Egyptian revolution, Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests, the war in Ukraine, and other confrontations with authoritarian power, dissolving geographic boundaries into a single sequence drawn from an archive of 200,000 images.

‘A constant quiet terror’: Getting lost in Irish folklore – in pictures

Maria Lax's photobook *Stray Sod* draws on Irish folklore and archival accounts from the Irish National Archives to explore the phenomenon of the 'stray sod'—enchanted patches of earth said to disorient and lead travelers astray, especially at night. Her images reimagine rural Irish landscapes as sites of sudden confusion, where familiar landmarks vanish and fog or mist descends, evoking a sense of 'constant quiet terror'.

Auction of Diane Keaton’s Collection Includes Art, Fashion, and Personal Treasures from Decades on Film

Bonhams auction house is conducting a series of sales of actress Diane Keaton's personal collection, titled "Diane Keaton: The Architecture of an Icon." The main in-person auction will be held at Bonhams' New York flagship on June 8, preceded by exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York, and accompanied by three online auctions focusing on her fashion, home decor, and personal objects.

Petroglyphs and cave paintings, some more than 4,000 years old, discovered in Mexico

Archaeologists from Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) have identified 16 petroglyphs and cave paintings near the Tula River in Hidalgo. The artworks span over 4,000 years, ranging from prehistoric times through the Mesoamerican Postclassic period and into the early colonial era. The discovery, which includes depictions of the rain god Tláloc and various anthropomorphic figures, was made during archaeological salvage work for a new passenger rail line connecting Mexico City and Querétaro.

Dutch Museum Discovers 8-Inch Ancient Roman Phallus

Archaeologists at the Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen discovered a rare, eight-inch Ancient Roman phallus carved from bone while cataloging a massive backlog of 16,000 archaeological boxes. The artifact was found alongside high-quality Roman tableware during an €8 million government-funded inventory project aimed at processing collections from defunct storage depots in the province of Gelderland.

Take Your Practice Further in a Visual Arts Residency at Banff Centre

The Banff Centre is accepting applications for two thematic visual arts residencies in late 2026 and early 2027. The first, "On Other Archives," focuses on reinterpreting archival methods and will be led by artists Deanna Bowen and Krista Belle Stewart with curator Tarah Hogue. The second, "Future Figurations," explores speculative futures and world-building under the guidance of artists Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos.

state department report biden paintings gifts

The U.S. State Department's annual report on gifts to senior officials revealed that former President Joe Biden received a painting valued at $19,000 from Angolan President João Lourenço in 2024. The artwork, titled *Marimba*, was created by self-taught Angolan painter Augusto Guizef Guilherme. Other officials, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, also received various artworks from foreign leaders, all of which were subsequently transferred to the National Archives.

bayeux tapestry canterbury mealtime reading

A new study by University of Bristol historian Benjamin Pohl, published in the journal *Historical Research*, proposes that the Bayeux Tapestry was originally designed as mealtime reading for monks in the refectory of St. Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. Pohl argues that the tapestry’s moralistic episodes, inclusion of Aesop’s fables, and simple Latin text align with Benedictine rules requiring silent dining accompanied by edifying readings. The theory builds on earlier speculation that the tapestry once hung in a private school’s refectory, but Pohl provides documentary and archaeological evidence for the Canterbury location.

cartier into the wild miami

Cartier has opened a theatrical pop-up exhibition titled "Into the Wild" in Miami during Art Week, showcasing its archive of animal-themed jewelry and objets. The exhibition guides visitors through five staged "worlds" featuring the iconic Panthère motif alongside other fauna and flora, with vintage pieces from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and a finale by Berlin-based artist Clare Celeste. The experience concludes with golf carts transporting guests to Cartier's newly renovated Miami flagship boutique.

kryptos sculpture code cia

An anonymous buyer paid $962,500 at an RR Auction sale for the code to the final unsolved passage of Jim Sanborn's sculpture "Kryptos," located at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The sculpture, dedicated in 1990, contains four encrypted passages; three have been cracked by cryptologists, but the 97-character fourth passage (K4) has remained unsolved for decades. Sanborn, now 80, decided to sell the solution after growing tired of fielding inquiries from enthusiasts, despite a recent discovery of the solution in the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art that raised questions about the auction.

video ai alison nguyen historys strange

Alison Nguyen, a Vietnamese American artist based in New York’s Chinatown, discusses her multidisciplinary practice spanning video, installation, performance, and sculpture. Her works explore American mythologies, visual culture, and digital labor, drawing from low and high culture. Notable pieces include *History as Hypnosis* (2023), which follows three Vietnamese women through a desert and downtown Los Angeles, and *My Favorite Software Is Being Here* (2021), featuring an AI assistant named Andra8. Nguyen’s upcoming works *Change Order* (2024) and *Aisle 9* are inspired by her family’s Taiwanese hosiery business archives. She is featured in ARTnews’ 2025 “New Talent” issue.

bayeux tapestry 93 penises offer clues

The article examines historian George Garnett's analysis of the 93 penises depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, a 225-foot-long embroidery chronicling the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Garnett, a professor of Medieval history at Oxford University, argues that the size and placement of these genitalia—88 on horses and five on men—offer clues about the tapestry's meaning. He notes that the largest equine phallus belongs to Duke William's stallion, followed by those of Harold Godwinson and Odo of Bayeux, suggesting a hierarchy of importance. More significantly, Garnett interprets four penises attached to men in the tapestry's border as references to Aesop's fables, indicating themes of deceit, shame, and illicit sex, which he believes challenge the traditional attribution of the tapestry's commission to Odo of Bayeux.

great sphinx origin

The article examines the enduring mystery of who the Great Sphinx of Giza was modeled after. While the 66-foot-tall statue is universally recognized, its origins remain debated among Egyptologists. Some believe Pharaoh Khafre commissioned it in his own image, citing a 1853 discovery of a Khafre statue nearby and a connecting road to his pyramid. Others argue it was built by Khafre's brother Redjedef to honor their father Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. Damage to the Sphinx's nose from erosion and human conflict complicates identification.

literature darkology rhae lynn barnes blackface minstrelsy

Rhae Lynn Barnes, a scholar at Princeton, has published a new book titled "Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment," which examines the pervasive history of amateur minstrelsy in American life from the 19th through 20th centuries. Drawing on two decades of archival research, Barnes reveals how blackface performances were not confined to professional theaters but were common in living rooms, schools, USO shows, fraternal lodges, and even Japanese internment camps, involving figures like Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, and Bing Crosby.

parties filmmakers cooperative anniversary john waters

The Film-Makers’ Cooperative celebrated its 65th anniversary with a gala at Judson Memorial Church in New York City on a recent Friday. The event featured performances by Isaiah Barr, a recreation of Yvonne Rainer's Trio A by Brittany Bailey, and a closing set by musician Kinlaw. Notable attendees included photographer Nan Goldin, video artist Joan Jonas, and filmmaker John Waters, who was honored in absentia. The evening included speeches, a shoppable collection of film ephemera, and a crowd of artists, actors, and filmmakers.

art shakers movement ica philadelphia religion

The article reviews "A World in the Making: The Shakers," an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, running through August 9, 2026. It pairs Shaker material culture with works by seven contemporary artists, including Kameelah Janan Rasheed, who responds to the archive of Rebecca Cox Jackson, a Black Shaker leader. The exhibition explores how Shaker communal practices, craft traditions, and devotional art resonate in today's digital age, where handmade aesthetics often become lifestyle signals rather than shared experiences.

art udo kittelmann julia stoschek los angeles

German curator Udo Kittelmann and leading time-based art collector Julia Stoschek have collaborated on "What a Wonderful World," an audiovisual poem on view at Los Angeles's Variety Arts Theater from February 6 through March 20. The project interweaves early film entries by Alice Guy-Blaché, Georges Méliès, and Walt Disney with contemporary video works from Stoschek's collection, featuring artists such as Lu Yang, Bunny Rogers, and Paul Chan. Kittelmann and Stoschek insist the work is not an exhibition but a "poem," designed to challenge how audiences consume art and moving images, urging viewers to move beyond entertainment toward a raw, emotional experience.

art terry jo harvey allen artists santa fe home

Terry and Jo Harvey Allen, a multidisciplinary artist couple now in their 80s, have donated their entire archive to Texas Tech University. The collection includes countless paintings, scripts, hundreds of audio tapes recorded with collaborators like David Byrne and Steve Earle, and personal letters exchanged over decades. The couple, who met at a dance in Lubbock, Texas, over 70 years ago, continue to live and work in a rambling adobe home in Santa Fe, surrounded by their art and memories.

design coolwater childs estate connecticut

The article profiles Coolwater, a historic estate in Norfolk, Connecticut, owned by the Childs family for over a century. Originally a colonial farmhouse built around 1803, it was purchased by Starling Winston Childs in 1909. The property features a later addition designed by architect Alfredo Taylor, a prolific local designer who created over 50 buildings in the area. The estate is filled with family heirlooms, including Currier & Ives lithographs, a Jubilee-era tapestry, and eclectic decor that blends Adirondack lodge style with Colonial Revival elements. Siblings Starling Winston Childs and Elisabeth Gill, now the family elders, share stories of the house's quirks, such as its poor insulation and a subterranean basketball court.