USC Fisher Museum welcomes the National Archives’ Freedom Plane National Tour

The USC Fisher Museum of Art has welcomed the "National Archives’ Freedom Plane National Tour," a traveling exhibition featuring foundational American documents. Arriving via a specially branded Boeing 737 at Van Nuys Airport, the collection includes rare items such as a 1823 Stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris, and a secret printing of the Constitution. USC is the only university selected as a stop on this eight-city tour, which commemorates the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.

Stained glass artists open Mount Vernon arts hub — The Gallery on Gambier

Stained glass artists Kurt and Lorraine Wendling have officially opened The Gallery on Gambier in downtown Mount Vernon, Ohio. The new creative hub serves as the permanent home for their business, Wendling Glass Creations, while also showcasing the work of approximately 20 other artists specializing in mediums ranging from photography to oil painting. The space is designed as a multi-functional venue, incorporating a retail gallery, a custom framing center, and a dedicated classroom for art instruction.

Gallery: Finnish street artist EGS opens Estonian-inspired exhibition

Finnish street artist EGS has launched a comprehensive solo exhibition at the Poco Pop Art Museum in Tallinn, Estonia. The showcase features a diverse array of media including paintings, glass sculptures, and site-specific installations that document the artist's three-decade relationship with the city's urban landscape. A central highlight is a collaborative series of hand-painted ceramic plates created with Estonian artist Viktor Gurov, paying homage to the historic Tallinn ceramics factory in Kopli where EGS painted for 15 years.

In upcoming thesis exhibition, Bates senior studio art students each have a seat At the Table

Eleven graduating studio art and visual culture students at Bates College are preparing to debut their year-long thesis projects in the professional exhibition "At the Table." Opening April 17 at the Bates Museum of Art, the show features a diverse range of media including charcoal drawing, photography, and sculpture. The students have spent two semesters transitioning from theoretical research and material exploration to the physical production and professional framing of their works under the guidance of faculty and museum staff.

design formafantasma andrea trimarchi simone farresin

Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Milan-based design studio Formafantasma have become fashion and art's go-to design duo. In the past year, they designed runways for Meryll Rogge's Marni debut, scenography for the new Fondation Cartier, and a radical take on the Shaker legacy for a show at the Vitra Design Museum. In an interview, they discuss their critical approach to design, the gap between design's progressive claims and its environmental and labor impacts, and their commitment to using design as a tool for inquiry rather than mere form-making.

U.S. and Italy Honor Alliance to Curb Art Looting, Amid Broader Tensions

Officials from the United States and Italy gathered near dozens of repatriated artifacts to celebrate their ongoing alliance against art looting, which has resulted in the return of thousands of artworks to Italy. The event highlighted collaborative efforts between the two nations to curb the illegal trafficking of cultural property, even as broader diplomatic tensions persist.

The Next Frontier in Design? The Humble Birdhouse.

Artists and architects are increasingly designing and creating elaborate, artistic birdhouses, elevating a common backyard object into a subject of creative expression and public art. This movement reflects a broader trend of engaging with nature and public space, blurring the lines between functional design, sculpture, and environmental commentary.

Group Efforts Succeed During Milan Design Week

Milan Design Week has become a primary stage for high-profile creative collaborations, where independent designers and major brands pool resources to debut experimental works. These partnerships range from limited-edition furniture collections to immersive installations, highlighting a shift toward collective production in the design industry.

How Two Men with Hard Heads Broke Through Murano’s Glass Ceiling

Edoardo Pandolfo and Francesco Palù, the founders of the glass brand 6:AM, are revitalizing the traditional glassmaking industry of Murano with a contemporary, "punk" sensibility. By collaborating with master artisans and pushing the technical boundaries of the medium, the duo creates avant-garde pieces that challenge the island's historical aesthetic while maintaining its rigorous craftsmanship standards.

Route 66, a ‘Linear Museum Stretched Across Eight States,’ Turns 100

Cultural institutions across the United States are launching a series of exhibitions and preservation projects to commemorate the centennial of Route 66. From the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to local galleries along the 2,448-mile corridor, these programs examine the highway's evolution from a vital migration artery to a kitschy symbol of Americana. The initiatives aim to provide a nuanced look at the road’s history, including the experiences of marginalized travelers who relied on the Green Book to navigate segregated landscapes.

‘Volcano Snake Sun, September’: A Poem by Ella Frears

Poet Ella Frears has composed a new literary work in response to Charlie Prodger’s 2024 drawing, 'Volcano Snake Sun, September'. The poem explores themes of observation, physical detachment, and the tension between tranquility and underlying violence, mirroring the shift in Prodger’s practice from conceptual film to representational pencil-and-pastel works on paper.

Met gala guests deliver works of art on the human form

The article reports on the 2025 Met Gala, where celebrity guests showcased elaborate, art-inspired fashion on the red carpet. The event, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, featured designs that transformed the human body into living canvases, with many looks referencing the evening's exhibition theme.

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.

In Venice, an unprecedented space in the Arsenale opens to the public for the first time. It will host performances.

A Venezia apre al pubblico per la prima volta uno spazio inedito dell’Arsenale. Ospiterà performance

For the first time, the Galeazze—historically used for constructing the Serenissima fleet—will open to the public during the 2026 Venice Art Biennale on May 5 and 6. Artist and choreographer Faustin Linyekula has conceived a site-specific performance titled The Galeazze Project, activating the monumental, water-adjacent spaces of the Arsenale Nord. Collaborating with musician Heru Shabaka-Ra, Linyekula integrates the architecture into the performance, involving local performers and musicians. The project, conceived by Cosimo Ferrigolo and Dirk Bell and curated by Edoardo Lazzari, features scaffolding, platforms, and an irregular lighting system, inviting the audience to move freely and redefine the relationship between bodies and space.

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.

In Salento c’è una residenza che mette gli artisti in contatto con territorio e storia della Puglia. Intervista

In Casamassella, in the heart of Salento, Red Lab Gallery's residency program has produced "Chiedete al vento, all’onda, alla stella, all’uccello," a project by artists Agata Ferrari Bravo and Thomas Michael Saccuman with an intervention by Flavio Favelli, curated by Leonardo Regano. The centerpiece is a large bird-cart, a hybrid sculpture and performative device made from papier-mâché, fragments of festive lights, and objects collected from the local area, designed to be disassembled and reactivated. Favelli's installation transforms decommissioned luminarie into a suspended environment that amplifies the work's ambiguous, almost ritualistic quality.

The Forgotten Eligibles. Protest over the Ministry of Culture's ranking of 200 art historians

Gli idonei dimenticati. Protesta per la graduatoria dei 200 storici dell’arte del Ministero della Cultura

The CISDA (Committee of Qualified Art Historians) has issued a strong protest against the Italian Ministry of Culture's intention to let the ranking list from a 2018 public competition for Art Historian Officials expire on May 30, 2026, without extension. This would invalidate the eligibility of 204 qualified candidates who passed rigorous selections. The protest has escalated into a parliamentary inquiry directed at Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, and a public demonstration is scheduled for April 28 in front of the Ministry's headquarters in Rome.

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.

New dates, new venue, and a new theme: Here is what the Moncalieri emerging photography festival will look like

Nuove date, nuova sede e nuovo tema. Ecco come sarà il festival di fotografia emergente di Moncalieri

Liquida Photofestival has announced the details for its fifth edition, scheduled to take place from April 17 to 19, 2026. The independent festival dedicated to emerging contemporary photography is moving to a new venue at the Real Collegio Carlo Alberto in Moncalieri, near Turin. Under the artistic direction of Laura Tota, the upcoming edition will center on the theme "Learning and Unlearning – (re)writing the rules," featuring a program of exhibitions, talks, and publishing events built primarily through open calls.

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.

In Gorizia, artists work with local companies under the banner of circularity and industrial waste

A Gorizia gli artisti lavorano con le aziende del territorio all’insegna della circolarità degli scarti industriali

The exhibition "The Matter Loop" has opened in Gorizia as part of the GO! 2026 European Capital of Culture celebrations, showcasing a unique collaboration between contemporary artists and local industrial companies. Curated by Vincenzo Alessandria and organized by the QuiAltrove Association, the project paired four artists from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region with local businesses to repurpose industrial waste—including textiles, metals, and organic residues—into new artworks.

We were at the Turin concert where Marlene Kuntz celebrated the 30th anniversary of their unforgettable album "Il vile"

Siamo stati al concerto di Torino dove i Marlene Kuntz festeggiavano i 30 anni del loro indimenticabile disco “Il vile”

Italian alternative rock band Marlene Kuntz recently performed two sold-out shows at the Hiroshima Mon Amour venue in Turin to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal album, *Il vile*. The concert featured a near-complete performance of the 1996 record, which is widely regarded as a cornerstone of Italian noise rock. The anniversary celebration also includes a nationwide tour and a special vinyl reissue featuring new artwork by renowned illustrator Alessandro Baronciani.

Of Testaments and Transfigurations: An Interview with Poet Silvia Righi

Di testamenti e di trasfigurazioni. Intervista alla poeta Silvia Righi

Italian poet Silvia Righi discusses her latest collection, *Ex voto suscepto*, published by Pungitopo as part of the Remedia series. The book originated from a narrative concept involving the arrival of God's daughter on Earth and features a unique interdisciplinary collaboration with artist Mattia Barbieri, who provided China ink illustrations. The interview explores the collection's focus on the decaying body, the fluidity of the lyrical 'I', and the intersection of poetic language with visual art.

In China, the Margiela Show is Staged Inside a Series of Containers

In Cina la sfilata di Margiela è allestita dentro una serie di container

Maison Margiela has launched a major traveling exhibition in China titled "Artisanal: Our Creative Laboratory," debuting in Shanghai before moving to Chengdu. Designed by OMA/AMO, the open-air showcase features over forty couture creations from the Artisanal line dating back to 1989, uniquely displayed within weathered shipping containers. The project aims to demystify the fashion house's secretive creative process, highlighting the techniques of deconstruction and manipulation that define the brand's aesthetic.

Winemakers Pasqua Vini Bet on Art: Artist Sara Ricciardi Discusses Her Project for Verona

I produttori di vino Pasqua puntano sull’arte. L’artista Sara Ricciardi racconta il progetto per Verona

Artist Sara Ricciardi has unveiled 'Resonance,' a site-specific immersive installation at the newly restored Monastero space within Palazzo Maffei, Verona. Commissioned by Pasqua Vini, the work celebrates the creative partnership between winery CEO Riccardo Pasqua and American winemaker Charles Smith. The installation utilizes light, sound, and large-scale geode-inspired structures to translate the 'alchemy' of winemaking and the meeting of two distinct identities into a sensory ritual for visitors.

At the Feast of the Revolution: A Film to Tell the Story of Gabriele D’Annunzio’s Fiume Enterprise

Alla Festa della Rivoluzione. Un film per raccontare l’impresa a Fiume di Gabriele D’Annunzio

Director Arnaldo Catinari’s new film, *Alla Festa della Rivoluzione*, explores the 1919 occupation of Fiume led by the poet-soldier Gabriele D’Annunzio. Distributed by 01 Distribution and set for a mid-April release, the film depicts the city-state as a visionary laboratory where art served as a structural foundation and social hierarchies were temporarily dismantled. The narrative follows three fictional characters—a spy, a government official, and a deserter—whose lives intersect amidst the political and aesthetic fever of the D’Annunzio enterprise.

THE TRANSFORMATIVE SOUND ACCORDING TO BENGOLEA AT C3A

Argentine artist Cecilia Bengolea has unveiled her latest project, "El Ruido que Habita" (The Noise That Dwells), at the Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía (C3A) in Córdoba. Developed during a residency in early 2025, the exhibition features site-specific drawings and ceramic works created in collaboration with the Dionisio Ortiz School of Art. The installation integrates visual art, technology, and performance, inviting visitors to engage with sound as a transformative language that bridges cultural and material divides.

Ullger reflects on ‘quite special’ Berlin exhibition with Cane-Yo collective

Artist Karl Ullger recently participated in the group exhibition "Running with Scissors" at Anders Galerie in Berlin, organized by the global artist collective Cane-Yo. The show featured over 40 artists, including five invited Berlin artists, and displayed some 200 artworks. Ullger described the experience as "quite special," highlighting the energy of the packed opening and the direct engagement with visitors. He noted standout works by Austrian artist Theo Ritzinger, Chilean artist Diego Palacios, and Italian artist Yasmine Elgamal, as well as the opportunity to reconnect with fellow artists Alf Sims, Alex May, Shanice Farrugia, and Nicole Debono.

Exhibition | Dini Nur Aghnia, 'What Gathers, What Holds' at Gajah Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Indonesian artist Dini Nur Aghnia presents her solo exhibition 'What Gathers, What Holds' at Gajah Gallery in Yogyakarta, opening April 25, 2026. The exhibition features a new body of work exploring landscape through layered compositions of clay, resin, and patchwork textiles, moving away from a totalized vista to focus on fragments and accumulative change.