'Emergence' exhibition at Galerie Myrtis features artists telling powerful stories

The 'Emergence: Stories in the Making' exhibition at Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore features 12 artists, including Maxwell Pearce—an artist and Harlem Globetrotters player—and Linnea Poole. Pearce uses sports equipment like shoelaces and basketballs to create portraits of loved ones, responding to the 'shut up and dribble' narrative he faced after a traumatic incident. Poole's work focuses on mourning and grief, dedicated to Black women. The exhibition includes artists from Nigeria and the Caribbean, aiming to preserve personal and collective histories through uncensored storytelling.

Hubert Robert & Fragonard. Le sentiment de la nature

The Musée d'art et d'archéologie in Valence, France, is presenting an exhibition titled "Hubert Robert & Fragonard. Le sentiment de la nature" from March 7 to June 21, 2026. The show traces the artistic friendship between Hubert Robert and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who met as young French artists sketching in the ruins of Rome under the guidance of Charles-Joseph Natoire. It features works from the museum's renowned collection of sanguine drawings, notably those from the foundational bequest of Julien Victor Veyrenc (1835-1836), and includes new attributions proposed by curator Sarah Catala, a graduate conservator from the Institut National du Patrimoine.

In Minor Keys: The 61st Biennale di Arte Venezia Opens Under Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025).

The 61st Biennale di Arte Venezia opens under the posthumous curatorial vision of Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025), the late Cameroonian-born curator who reshaped contemporary African and diasporic art discourse. The central exhibition, spanning the Giardini and Arsenale, features 111 participants including artists, collectives, and artist-led organizations from across the Global South, with works in textiles, film, sculpture, and performance that interrogate colonialism, migration, and ecological repair. The Biennale is also marked by a pronounced presence of African and diasporic narratives across national pavilions, including several first-time pavilions from the African continent.

‘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.

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.

Antwerp exhibition celebrates its homegrown fashion designers, the influential Antwerp Six

The MoMu fashion museum in Antwerp has launched a major exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of the "Antwerp Six," a group of influential designers who graduated from the city's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The show focuses on the formative years between the late 1970s and mid-1980s, culminating in the 1986 London event that launched them into the global spotlight. It highlights the distinct creative identities of Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, and Dirk Van Saene, while also serving as a poignant tribute to Yee, who passed away in late 2024.

How to Extract the Story of Appalachia

The artist collective GRIT has issued a sharp critique of Fia Backström’s exhibition, "The Great Society," currently on view at the Queens Museum. The authors argue that Backström, a European artist, engages in "extractive" storytelling by focusing exclusively on trauma, environmental disaster, and poverty in West Virginia. They contend that the exhibition’s aesthetic choices—such as inverting landscape photographs and omitting human subjects—flatten the region's complexity into a spectacle of misery that alienates the very community it claims to represent.

LA Artists Honor Dolores Huerta’s Defiant Spirit

The Chicano cultural center Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles has launched "DOLORES," a major group exhibition celebrating the 96th birthday and enduring legacy of labor leader Dolores Huerta. Featuring works by over 30 artists, including Barbara Carrasco and Vincent Valdez, the show utilizes portraiture, mixed media, and depictions of migrant labor to honor Huerta’s contributions to the United Farm Workers (UFW) and Chicano civil rights.

Patarei Prison Could Become Museum

paterei prison could become museum

Estonia’s Minister of Justice, Urmas Reinsalu, has proposed transforming the historic Patarei Prison in Tallinn into an international museum and research center dedicated to the crimes of communism. The sprawling 10-acre seaside complex, which served as a site of political incarceration under Soviet rule until 2002, remains largely unrestored, containing haunting remnants such as surgical tools and tattered bunk beds. The proposal has gained significant diplomatic traction, receiving formal support from representatives of eight EU member states during a recent meeting in the Estonian capital.

wang contemporary ying alexander wang

Designer Alexander Wang and his mother Ying Wang have acquired the historic 58 Bowery building in New York's Chinatown for $9.5 million, marking its first Chinese American ownership. They are transforming the former bank into a cultural venue named Wang Contemporary, which will host exhibitions, performances, and festivals focused on Asian and Asian American creatives, with its inaugural exhibition curated by the art collective MSCHF.

eimear walshe trial airport protest us military gaza

Artist Eimear Walshe, who represented Ireland at the 2024 Venice Biennale, will stand trial alongside activists Áine Treanor and Aindriú de Buitléir, collectively known as the Shannon Three. They are charged with trespassing and illegally accessing a runway at Shannon Airport in County Clare during a 2024 protest where they raised a Palestinian flag and held a sign reading "US military out of Ireland." The protest, which shut down the airport for over half an hour, was staged on Land Day to draw attention to the conflict in Gaza and the use of the airport by US military and civilian aircraft allegedly transporting munitions to Israel.

the beatles white album art installation lands in liverpool

New York artist Rutherford Chang has brought his installation of over 1,000 copies of The Beatles' 'White Album' to FACT in Liverpool, the band's hometown. The piece, which took eight years to assemble, features copies of the album with handwritten notes, drawings, and other traces left by previous owners, and is on view for the first time in the UK. The exhibition, titled 'We Buy White Albums,' also invites the public to sell their copies to the artist.

hard truths curator invisibility

The article, presented as an advice column by consultants Chen & Lampert in ARTnews, addresses two anonymous letters from art-world professionals. The first letter is from a curator at a major museum who feels underpaid, invisible, and constrained by an ethics policy that prevents freelance work, while colleagues at smaller institutions enjoy more freedom. The second letter is from a veteran graphic designer and illustrator, active since the 1960s, who laments losing commercial clients to younger, cheaper talent using AI and smartphones. The consultants respond with sharp, critical advice: they tell the curator to consider collective action with colleagues to push for institutional reform, and advise the designer to leverage their legacy and experience rather than accept obsolescence.

a i art summary venice intelligens

Nick Axel and Daniele Balleri have written a reply to this article. The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, organized by MIT professor Carlo Ratti under the theme “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.,” features A.I.-generated summaries alongside traditional wall texts for each exhibit. These two-sentence distillations, labeled “A.I. Summary,” are designed to help visitors quickly grasp core ideas and choose their pace through the dense show. An example is Beatriz Colomina, Roberto Kolter, Patricia Urquiola, Geoffrey West, and Mark Wigley's installation *The Other Side of the Hill*, whose 200-word wall text is condensed into a succinct A.I. summary about microbial intelligence and demographic collapse.

yuge zhou midnight moment

Artnet is co-presenting Midnight Moment in partnership with Times Square Arts this June, featuring Yuge Zhou's video work *Trampoline Color Exercise*. The piece uses archival Olympic footage to show gymnasts tumbling on pink-gridded trampolines in a seamless collage, exploring themes of globalization, geopolitical tension, and humanity's pursuit of perfection. Zhou, a video artist with a background in computer science and a former child singer in China, discusses her creative journey and the inspiration behind the work in an accompanying interview.

the new rules of subculture

Writer and theorist Nadia Asparouhova has published a new book titled *Antimemetics: Why Some Ideas Resist Spreading*, which introduces the concept of "anti-memes"—cultural phenomena whose influence derives from being hard to find or difficult to understand, rather than from popularity and visibility. The book is released by the Dark Forest Collective, a group of artists and thinkers inspired by Yancey Strickler's metaphor of the internet as a "dark forest," where meaningful exchange retreats to private spaces away from commercial and contentious public platforms. Artnet News critic Ben Davis reviews the book, connecting its ideas to contemporary art that deliberately operates below the radar.

WAYAMOU: LENGUAS DE LO COMÚN. LAURA ANDERSON BARBATA Y SHEROANAWE HAKIHIIWE

The exhibition "Wayamou: Lenguas de lo común" at the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City presents the collaborative work of artists Laura Anderson Barbata and Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, whose artistic and political relationship spans over three decades. The show traces their shared history, beginning in the early 1990s when Barbata traveled to the Venezuelan Amazon and taught handmade papermaking using local plant fibers, introducing Hakihiiwe to a sustained visual exploration of Yanomami cosmology, oral tradition, and legacy. In 1992, they co-founded Yanomami Owë Mamotima ("Yanomami art of papermaking"), a project enabling the community to tell its own stories through its own visual and linguistic codes, exemplified by the handmade book "Shapono (Casa)" (1996).

Body, Territory, and Food Sovereignty at MAMM

CUERPO, TERRITORIO Y SOBERANÍA ALIMENTARIA EN EL MAMM

The Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM) has inaugurated a trio of exhibitions titled 'Nos habitan pájaros y montañas', 'La luz, el fuego y la ceniza', and 'El susurro del barro'. These shows collectively explore the intersection of the human body, territorial sovereignty, and food security, featuring a dialogue between the museum's permanent collection—specifically the work of Débora Arango—and contemporary artists. The exhibitions utilize diverse media, including sound and raw materials like clay and soil, to address environmental and social crises.

culture harmonia rosales ingrid best interview

Harmonia Rosales, an Afro-Cuban artist known for reimagining Renaissance and baroque iconography with Black bodies, and Ingrid Best, an Afro-Latina wine entrepreneur and art collector, discuss their friendship and mutual support in an interview for Cultured. They first connected at Rosales’s 2022 show at UTA in Los Angeles, where Best was part of a collective that purchased Rosales’s work, including the piece *Strangler Fig: Adam and Eve*. Rosales later became the first artist to invest in Best’s wine business, IBEST Wines, which sources from underrepresented regions. Their conversation covers ownership, community, and creating structures that sustain women’s legacies beyond mere representation.

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 frieze la art production fund

Frieze Los Angeles has announced its 2025 public art program, titled "Body & Soul," developed in partnership with the Art Production Fund. Seven Los Angeles-based artists—including Patrick Martinez, Amanda Ross-Ho, Kelly Wall, Shana Hoehn, Polly Borland, Dan John Anderson, and Cosmas & Damian Brown—will present site-specific installations outside the fair's main venue at Santa Monica Airport. Works include a neon billboard by Martinez addressing ICE raids, a durational performance by Ross-Ho rolling a giant inflatable Earth, and a resurrected newsstand by Wall filled with disappearing glass magazines. The program also features youth art workshops and three prizes for emerging artists.

nile harris art boffo performance festival

The BOFFO Performance Festival took place July 12–13 on Fire Island Pines, featuring a day-to-night marathon of 10 site-specific performances across three locations: the beach, a James McLeod home, and a helipad. Titled "Dystopian Ecstasy," the 11.5-hour program included artists such as Nile Harris, Shannon Funchess, Jonathan González, Lysis, Byrell the Great, Jas Lin, Makadsi, River Moon, Symara Sarai, and WILDBLUR, curated by Sydney Fishman and Lucas Ondak. Harris, who also photographed the event, collaborated with Dyer Rhoads on an interactive performance that engaged audience members including photographer Wolfgang Tillmans and actor Hari Nef, exploring gay social dynamics and community-building through satire and participatory acts.

Patrick Mukabi: Inside the life and legacy of artist who nurtured a movement

Legendary Kenyan painter Patrick Mukabi, known as Panye, has died at age 56 after an illness. Born in Nairobi in 1969, he studied graphic design at the Technical University of Kenya before dedicating himself to fine art. His bold, colorful works were displayed at venues like Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Java House outlets, and in over 20 countries. He developed the Cover Girls series celebrating curvy women and worked at major art spaces including the Nairobi National Museum, Kuona Artists Collective, GoDown Arts Centre, and the Railway Museum. At Dust Depo Studio, he mentored many young artists, teaching them both technique and the business of art. His protégé Jimmy Kitheka recalls Mukabi's warmth and discipline, and how the studio became a creative hub. Even during his illness, the art community rallied to support him through benefit exhibitions like the Patrick Mukabi Medical Fund Benefit Art Exhibition in April 2026 and a solo show at Banana Hill Art Gallery.

Nasan Tur Collects Contributions for 'Archive of Feelings' for Manifesta 16

Nasan Tur sammelt Beiträge für "Archiv der Gefühle" zur Manifesta 16

Berlin-based artist Nasan Tur is calling on people from the Ruhr region and beyond to submit contributions to his "Archive of Feelings" via an online portal. The project is part of his commissioned work for the 16th edition of the nomadic biennial Manifesta, which opens on June 21 across several cities in the Ruhr area. Tur's installation, titled "Elevation," will be housed in St. Gertrud Church in Essen, where excerpts from anonymous submissions—expressing hopes, fears, wounds, ideas, wishes, and everyday observations—will be carved into old church pews.

The Emptiness That Will Still Be There Should the War End Tomorrow

"Die Leere, die noch da sein wird, sollte der Krieg morgen enden"

The group exhibition "Looking into the Gaps" at the Jam Factory in Lviv presents works by artists living in Ukraine or in exile, as well as by those killed on the front lines. Curated by Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan, it is the fourth installment of a series exploring the fractures and diverse experiences within Ukrainian society, with this iteration focusing on the theme of loneliness rather than collective identity.

57th CIMAM Annual Conference: Together Forever

The 57th CIMAM Annual Conference brought together 300 museum professionals in Turin for discussions on pressing institutional issues. The event featured keynote speeches from figures like political scientist Francoise Vergès and economist Mariana Mazzucato, who addressed themes of power structures and public arts funding. Performances by artists such as Alessandro Sciarroni and Abdullah Miniawy served as central, unifying experiences for the attendees.

Colectivo Los Ingrávidos wins Schering Stiftung Award

The Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, an anonymous film collective based in Tehuacán, Mexico, has been named the winner of the 2026 Schering Stiftung Award for Artistic Research. The group will receive a €15,000 prize, a solo exhibition at Berlin's KW Institute of Contemporary Art featuring a newly produced work, and a publication.

Aux châteaux de Malmaison et de Bois-Préau, le festival des Premiers Romantiques fait dialoguer musique et nature

The Festival des Premiers Romantiques takes place from May 22 to 25 at the châteaux of Malmaison and Bois-Préau in Rueil-Malmaison, France. The event features concerts on period pianos (including an 1806 Erard pianoforte and an 1847 Streicher), performed by musicians from La Nouvelle Athènes collective, alongside an exhibition titled "Roses & Pivoines" showcasing works by Pierre-Joseph Redouté and contemporary German artist Thilo Westermann. The festival celebrates Romantic-era music and nature, set in the recently restored château and its emblematic gardens, once the botanical passion of Empress Joséphine.

With "Video Games & Music," the Philharmonie de Paris Gets Into the Game

Avec « Video Games & Music », la Philharmonie de Paris se prend au jeu

The Philharmonie de Paris has launched "Video Games & Music," an immersive exhibition exploring the history and evolution of video game music (VGM). Curated by Fanny Rebillard and Jean Zeid, the show features a non-linear scenography inspired by open-world games, incorporating 29 playable consoles, archival photography by Ira Nowinski, and contemporary art by Mounir Ayache and Invader. The exhibition traces the medium's journey from 8-bit bleeps to complex orchestral scores and its influence on club culture and mainstream pop.

At Centquatre, Circulation(s) Highlights the Diverse Perspectives of Young European Photographers

Au Centquatre, Circulation(s)s met en lumière la diversité de regards des jeunes photographes européens

The 16th edition of the Circulation(s) festival has opened at Centquatre-Paris, showcasing the work of 26 emerging photographers from 15 European countries. Organized by the Fetart collective, this year’s festival features Ireland as the guest country and emphasizes the hybridization of photography with other mediums, such as embroidery, tapestry, and digital installations.