Notre-Dame : les travaux commencent, le combat se poursuit

Work has begun on replacing the stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, with scaffolding installed immediately after the work permit was posted. The project involves removing six ornamental windows created in 1864 by Alfred Gérente under Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and installing six new windows by artist Claire Tabouret and the master glassmakers Simon-Marq. The authorization, signed by the prefect, has sparked legal challenges from the heritage association Sites & Monuments, who argue the replacement is neither conservation nor restoration. The article details how the state's own authorization document inadvertently strengthens opponents' arguments by affirming that the entire cathedral, including Viollet-le-Duc's windows, is protected as a historic monument.

Authorities in New York return more than 650 looted antiquities, valued at nearly $14m, to India

The Manhattan District Attorney's office, led by Alvin Bragg, returned 657 looted antiquities valued at nearly $14 million to Indian authorities in late March 2025. The pieces, recovered through investigations into criminal trafficking networks, include a $2 million bronze Avalokiteshvara stolen from a museum in Raipur, a $7.5 million red sandstone Buddha smuggled by convicted trafficker Subhash Kapoor, and a sandstone dancing Ganesha looted from a Madhya Pradesh temple that passed through dealer Doris Wiener and was sold at Christie's in 2012.

‘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.

19th-century European weapons found in cenote in Mexico

Archaeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have discovered 153 Spanish and British muskets and rifles, along with an iron cannon, in the Síis Já cenote beneath the 16th-century former convent San Bernardino de Siena in Valladolid, Mexico. The weapons were likely discarded by the Yucatecan government during the early years of the Caste War of Yucatán (1847-1901) to prevent them from falling into Maya rebels' hands. The site also yielded Maya ceramic pieces and 18th-century Chinese porcelain, and INAH reported debris and pollution affecting the cenote.

Preemptive Listening review – artist’s film about sirens is buzzing with sonic ideas

The Guardian reviews Aura Satz's art film "Preemptive Listening," which explores the cultural and political meanings of sirens as warning devices. The film features a drone shot of a siren in a residential area, a soundtrack by composer Laurie Spiegel, and commentary from British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla on sirens during the 2011 Arab Spring protests. It also covers sirens on Nakba day in Palestine, a US activist linking emergency vehicle lights to danger for Black women, clocks frozen at the time of the Fukushima disaster, and a Maori activist discussing environmental catastrophe. The reviewer finds the film's ideas interesting but notes it lacks coherence as a feature-length experience, suggesting it would be better suited to a gallery setting.

Iran Abruptly Drops Out of Venice Biennale as US and Israel’s War Continues

Iran has abruptly withdrawn from the 61st Venice Biennale, scheduled for May 9–November 22, 2026, reducing the number of participating nations from 101 to 100. The Biennale confirmed the withdrawal in a statement but did not provide a reason; Iran is now the only country listed without any artist representatives, though Aydin Mahdizadeh Tehrani remains listed as the pavilion's commissioner. The announcement comes as the Biennale opens to press amid ongoing controversy over the participation of Israel and Russia, whose pavilions have drawn protests from artists and politicians.

A Theatre Group of Exiled Belarusian Artists Arrive in Venice, With an Exhibition That Shows What Repression Feels Like

The Belarus Free Theatre, an exiled underground theater group, will stage its first official collateral exhibition at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled “Official. Unofficial. Belarus.” The show, held in the historic La Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista di Venezia, features site-specific paintings, a sound installation, and large-scale sculptures that aim to immerse visitors in the experience of repression under authoritarian rule. This marks only the fifth time Belarus has been present at the Biennale, and the first time it appears not as a state but as a self-governing cultural body, challenging the official narratives of nations like Russia.

Shelley’s hair to Schindler’s list: the most fascinating objects in the State Library of NSW – in pictures

The State Library of NSW is celebrating its 200th anniversary with a new exhibition featuring 200 objects from its collection of 6 million items. Lead curator Elise Edmonds and her team selected highlights including a lock of Mary Shelley's hair, the smallest book in the library's collection (measuring 6mm by 6mm), bread wrappers from the 1960s, a colonial sketchbook from 1817, a Dharawal Indigenous language wordlist, Australia's oldest surviving political cartoon from 1808, and a contemporary artwork by Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens. The objects span literature, colonial history, Indigenous culture, sport, and everyday life.

A Buddha Is Reborn on the High Line

Tuan Andrew Nguyen's sandstone and brass sculpture "The Light That Shines Through the Universe" (2026) has been installed on the High Line in Manhattan as the park's fifth site-specific commission. The 27-foot-tall work, selected from nearly 60 proposals, resurrects the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan, which were demolished by the Taliban in 2001. Nguyen sourced artillery brass from Afghanistan to cast the sculpture's mudra hand gestures, symbolizing fearlessness and compassion, and had the sandstone carved in Vietnam. The piece is on view through Spring 2027.

FROM SÃO PAULO TO NEW YORK: THE MUSEUM OF ERRANCY OF ÉDOUARD GLISSANT

DE SÃO PAULO A NUEVA YORK: EL MUSEO DE LA ERRANCIA DE ÉDOUARD GLISSANT

The exhibition "La tierra, el fuego, el agua y los vientos: Por un Museo de la Errancia con Édouard Glissant" has traveled from the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo to the Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) in New York, marking its first U.S. presentation. Curated by Manuela Moscoso with Marian Chudnovsky, and building on prior work by Ana Roman and Paulo Miyada, the show engages with the philosophy of Martinican poet and philosopher Édouard Glissant, particularly his concepts of errantry, Relation, opacity, and the Tout-Monde. It centers on Glissant's unrealized idea of a museum as a fluid, porous space that resists colonial frameworks and fixed origins, featuring works by artists such as Melvin Edwards, Gerardo Chávez, and Eduardo Zamora.

The 10 Best Venice Films

Die 10 besten Venedig-Filme

Monopol magazine has published a ranking of the ten best films set in Venice, timed to coincide with the opening of the Venice Art Biennale. The list includes titles such as Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "The Honey Pot" (1967), and Kenneth Branagh's "A Haunting in Venice" (2023), highlighting how the lagoon city serves as a central character in action films, comedies, and love dramas.

Theme and title announced for Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu’s 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale

Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu have announced the theme and title for the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale: "Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality." The curators posed a series of questions addressing global climate change, the coexistence of land and architecture, natural materials versus modern construction, and urban-rural development conflicts. They emphasized that architecture is not just theoretical but must be practiced firsthand, confronting real reality through real construction. The duo, founders of Amateur Architecture Studio, have a long history with the Biennale, having participated in 2006 and 2010, where they received a Special Mention for their project 'Decay of a Dome.' The twentieth edition of the Architecture Biennale opens in May 2027.

Changes at Manifesta as Hedwig Fijen steps down

Hedwig Fijen, founding director of Manifesta, the European Nomadic Biennial, will step down on October 5. Emilia van Lynden and Catherine Nichols will succeed her as general director and artistic director respectively, as announced by the supervisory board of the International Foundation Manifesta. Fijen, who was commissioned by the Netherlands Office for Fine Arts in 1991 to develop a pan-European platform, has led Manifesta through editions in Palermo, Pristina, Barcelona, and the upcoming 2026 edition in the Ruhr region. Van Lynden has served as deputy director since 2019, while Nichols, a Berlin-based curator, contributed as creative mediator for the 2022 edition and artistic board member for 2026. The new leadership will begin with Manifesta 17 in Coimbra, Portugal, in 2028.

À Sars-Poteries, le MusVerre célèbre pour ses dix ans toutes les infinies possibilités de l’art verrier

The MusVerre in Sars-Poteries, France, celebrates its tenth anniversary with a new exhibition titled "Enchanté – La fabrique des histoires," curated by Laura Bouvard. The museum, which opened in 2016 in a distinctive blue beveled building, houses over 800 glass artworks and 3,000 ancient pottery pieces, originating from the passion of amateur collector Louis Mériaux. Under new director Laetitia Messager, the museum is forging collaborations with the Musée de Charleroi, Cirva Marseille, and Frac Normandie, and plans to host a symposium in autumn to mark the anniversary.

Michel Bassompierre (1948-2026)

French sculptor Michel Bassompierre has died at age 78. Known for his monumental bronze and marble animal sculptures—polar bears, gorillas, elephants, pandas, and horses—he depicted them in moments of rest and balance, simplifying forms in the tradition of François Pompon. Bassompierre studied at the École des beaux arts de Rouen under René Leleu, taught applied arts, and later worked with foundries including Venturi Arte in Italy. His major exhibitions include "Fragiles colosses" at the Jardin des plantes in Paris (2019) and a show at the Musée Despiau Wlérick (2021). In February 2025, the municipality of Vertou announced plans for a Michel Bassompierre museum, slated to open in 2028. He was named a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2010, received the Légion d'honneur in January 2025, and was promoted to Officier des Arts et des Lettres on April 1, 2025.

Study Shows Engaging with Art as Effective as Exercise in Slowing Aging

A new study by University College London, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, reveals that engaging with arts and culture can slow biological aging at a rate comparable to exercise. Researchers found that attending performances or visiting galleries once a month led to a 3 percent reduction in aging speed, while weekly engagement produced a 4 percent slowdown. Those who participated in the arts at least weekly were biologically at least a year younger than non-participants, outperforming weekly exercisers, who were only six months younger biologically. The study tracked 3,356 adults from 2010 to 2012 using survey data and blood tests, measuring aging via epigenetic clocks that analyze DNA changes.

Hedwig Fijen to Depart as Founding Director of Manifesta

Hedwig Fijen, the founding director of Manifesta, the nomadic European biennial launched in 1996, has announced she will depart on October 5. Fijen began working on the platform in 1991 under a commission from the Netherlands Office for Fine Arts, and oversaw editions in cities including Rotterdam, Palermo, Pristina, and Barcelona. The supervisory board has appointed Emilia van Lynden as general director and Catherine Nichols as artistic director to lead future editions, starting with Manifesta 16 in Germany’s Ruhr Valley this year and Manifesta 17 in Coimbra, Portugal, in 2028.

Lucio Santiago | LA ESPERA (2015) | For Sale

Lucio Santiago's bronze sculpture "LA ESPERA" (2015) is listed for sale at US$3,400 through Bernardini Art Gallery & Auction House. The work measures 23 × 19 × 19 cm, is unique, and signed. Lucio Santiago, born in 1987 in Oaxaca de Juárez, is the son of artist Alejandro Santiago. His artistic training includes workshops in photography at the Manuel Álvarez Bravo center and with Katy McFadden, as well as graphic art at Gráfica Bambú and a three-year residency at La Ceiba in Xalapa. His first solo exhibition was in 2007, and he has since shown in Europe and the US. His work explores themes of life and death, incorporating wings, skeletons, mutilated bodies, and animals like eagles, fish, and coyotes.

The Intimate Correspondence Between Artist Maria Lai and Stylist Antonio Marras Is on Show in Milan

L’intima corrispondenza tra l’artista Maria Lai e lo stilista Antonio Marras è in mostra a Milano

The exhibition "Paso Doble" at Galleria M77 in Milan brings together over 200 works by artist Maria Lai (1919–2013) and fashion designer Antonio Marras, curated by Francesca Alfano Miglietti. The show explores the deep creative and personal dialogue between the two, rooted in a transformative encounter that Marras describes as a turning point in his artistic language. Works range from historical pieces by Lai—including textile books, thread installations, and stone-embedded works—to Marras's own mixed-media creations using humble materials like cardboard, fabric scraps, and pastry trays. The exhibition culminates in collaborative installations such as "Llencols de aigua" (Water Sheets) and "Janas," immersive environments where viewers become part of a silent choreography of memory and imagination.

Banksy’s Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape Sells for $18 Million

Banksy's painting *Girl and Balloon on Found Landscape* sold for $18 million (£13.3 million) at a Fair Warning auction held at Tiffany & Co.'s Landmark store in New York. The 2012 work, which reimagines a traditional pastoral landscape with the artist's iconic balloon motif, was purchased by an anonymous US bidder after a phone battle. The result places it among the three highest auction prices ever achieved for a Banksy artwork, surpassing *Sunflowers From Petrol Station* and trailing only *Game Changer* and *Love Is in the Bin*.

Ron Nagle in Milan: at Gió Marconi the first Italian solo exhibition 'Phantom Banter'

Gió Marconi Gallery in Milan will host 'Phantom Banter', the first Italian solo exhibition of American sculptor Ron Nagle, from May 29 to July 24, 2026. The show features eleven ceramic sculptures created between 2024 and 2026, along with a selection of recent drawings, highlighting Nagle's process-oriented practice focused on material, surface, and language. Nagle, born in San Francisco in 1939, is a key figure in the California Clay Movement, having apprenticed with Peter Voulkos in the 1960s and influenced by Ken Price. His small-scale works, rarely exceeding 15 centimeters, explore reduction of scale and surface construction through cast and fired ceramics combined with resins and synthetic materials.

Running from one image to another, from one time to another, from one hope to another: at Circolo, in Milan, an exhibition on the contemporary Lebanese scene

The article reviews "Shifting Crossroads. Beirut Contemporary," an exhibition at Circolo in Milan that surveys the contemporary Lebanese art scene. It features internationally recognized artists like Mona Hatoum and Simone Fattal alongside emerging talents, including works from the Saikalis Bay Foundation, founded in 2024 by Nicole Saikalis and Matteo Bay. The show spans historical-archival investigation, photography, installation, painting, and sculpture, with pieces such as Stéphanie Saadé's "Stage of Life" (2021), Catherine Cattaruzza's "I am Folding the Land" (2022), and Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige's "Waiting for the Barbarians" (2013) exploring themes of memory, fragility, and geopolitical instability.

‘Embrace of the Earth’: Rajib Ahasen’s debut solo exhibition opens at AFD

Rajib Ahasen's debut solo exhibition, 'Embrace of the Earth', opened on April 24, 2026, at La Galerie, Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD). The show features around 36 works in watercolour and acrylic, rooted in the artist's memories of rural Bangladesh and his transition to urban life. Scenes of earthen roads, canals, riverbanks, and agrarian life dominate the collection, reflecting a personal narrative shaped by observation and recollection. Ahasen, who earned a Mawlana degree from a Qawmi madrasah in 2014 without formal fine arts training, has previously participated in national and international exhibitions including the Friendship Art Exhibition and Kahal International Art Fair.

Post-War & Contemporary Art

Freeman's auction house is presenting a 'Post-War & Contemporary Art' sale featuring 83 lots that span eight decades of art history. The auction includes notable works such as a Richard Mayhew landscape, an Andy Warhol text-based canvas, a Robert Rauschenberg solvent transfer, a Peter Halley abstraction, and monumental outdoor sculptures by Allan Houser. Other highlights include pieces by Caio Fonseca, Jamie Nares, Beverly Pepper, and a range of contemporary voices like Ann Craven, Bunny Rogers, and Sterling Ruby.

Giant glacier painting disappears from Argentina’s presidential palace after new law passes loosening protections for these icy regions

Days before Argentina’s Congress approved an amendment to the glacier law that weakens protections for glacial regions to facilitate mining, President Javier Milei’s government removed a monumental painting of the Perito Moreno Glacier from the Casa Rosada presidential palace. The work, Helmut Ditsch’s photorealist *The Triumph of Nature* (2006), had been on loan and on display since 2012. The government cited “maintenance reasons” and “structural damage,” but the artist says he was not notified and has contacted lawyers. A portrait of Juan Domingo and Evita Perón was also removed the same day, with the same vague explanation.

Stitches in time: the artist chronicling the DRC’s blood-soaked history in tapestry

Lucie Kamusekera, an 82-year-old artist in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, creates embroidered tapestries on tobacco sacks that chronicle the country's violent history. Born in 1944 and taught sewing by Italian nuns, she began documenting contemporary conflicts after witnessing a military truck filled with corpses. Her more than 70 works depict events from the colonial Belgian Congo era to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the second Congo war, as well as personal tragedies including her husband's murder by rebels. Despite ongoing danger from rebel offensives, she continues to stitch from her home studio, training her children and great-granddaughter to carry on her work.

Births, deaths and a first kiss: life near the frontline in Ukraine – in pictures

British-Iranian artist Aria Shahrokhshahi's long-term photographic project "Wet Ground" captures daily life in Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion, focusing on moments of youth, subculture, and fragile continuity rather than traditional war imagery. The series, developed through repeated stays and volunteering since 2019, includes scenes from teenage discos, hospital wards, a birth during a missile attack, and a first kiss near the frontline, all shot in stark black and white.

Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal Now Open at the Nasher in Dallas

Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal, a survey of the last 25 years of the Dallas-born artist's work, has opened at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and runs through August 16. The exhibition features over 70 works across media, focusing on Nicosia's shift to sculpture in the 2010s and his move from elaborate staged photography to a solitary studio practice. It includes sculptures, drawings, and photographs that explore themes of time, memory, and surreal everyday reality, with highlights such as cast metal works and drawings tracing personal experiences of distance and duration.

'Balance in Motion' at P21, Seoul, South Korea on 14 May–4 Jul 2026

P21 gallery in Seoul, South Korea, presents 'Balance in Motion,' an exhibition running from May 14 to July 4, 2026. The show takes place at the gallery's Itaewon district space, which features two separate facades (P1 and P2) designed for site-specific works. P21, founded in 2017 by Soo Choi, opened with an inaugural exhibition by Choi Jeong Hwa and continues to promote international contemporary art.

Aude Herledan | Black Venus (2015) | For Sale

This is a sales listing for Aude Herledan's bronze sculpture "Black Venus" (2015), an editioned work from her series "Faithful To My African Roots." The piece is offered by 1831 Art Gallery in Paris, with a certificate of authenticity and price available on request. The listing also provides a biography of Herledan, a French-born artist raised in Kinshasa who studied at the École Estienne, Parsons School, École des Beaux-Arts, and École du Louvre, and who has shown at major fairs including TEFAA and Art Paris.