Artes Mundi has officially opened nominations for its 12th edition, inviting the global art community to propose artists for the prestigious biennial exhibition and prize. Based in Cardiff, Wales, the organization seeks emerging to mid-career artists whose work engages with social reality and the human condition. Nominations are open until May 31, 2026, with the selected winner receiving a substantial prize of £40,000.
Dallas is set to launch the KTX Biennial in spring 2027, marking Texas’s first biennial dedicated exclusively to public art. Curated by Jovanna Venegas of New York’s SculptureCenter, the exhibition will feature nearly a dozen contemporary works installed along the Katy Trail, a popular 3.5-mile urban greenbelt. The inaugural edition is themed around a science-fiction story by Ursula K. Le Guin, focusing on the interconnectedness between humans and their environment.
The curatorial team for the 61st Venice Biennale has unveiled the details for the 2026 exhibition, titled "In Minor Keys." The project follows the vision of the late Koyo Kouoh, the first African woman appointed to curate the Biennale, who passed away in May 2024. The exhibition will feature 111 artists and collectives, with a significant focus on the Global South and themes such as Shrines, Schools, and the Creole Garden. The team emphasized that the show is designed as a "collective score" rather than a traditional commentary on world events, prioritizing spiritual rest and radical social connection.
Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, has stepped down as president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation and as a board trustee after 14 years, citing pressing family reasons. His departure will not affect the ongoing sixth edition, titled "For the Time Being," which opened last month and runs until March 31. Krishnamachari founded the biennial in 2012 in Fort Kochi, Kerala, alongside fellow artist Riyas Komu, who left in 2018 amid sexual harassment allegations.
The I.V. Savitsky State Art Museum in Nukus, Uzbekistan, near the former Aral Sea, houses nearly 100,000 works of 20th-century art, including Russian avant-garde pieces and Central Asian folk art. After a 2024 exhibition in Florence and Venice, the museum underwent a major renovation led by Italian academics and new director Gulbahar Izentaeva, reopening with updated galleries and a new exhibition, "The World of Igor Savitsky." The project is backed by the Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), which also launched the inaugural Bukhara Biennial and partnered with Art Basel Paris.
The 24th edition of Guatemala’s Bienal de Arte Paiz, titled "The World Tree" and curated by Eugenio Viola, runs until 15 February across 11 venues in Antigua and Guatemala City. It features 46 artists from 30 countries, with 31 commissioned works, making it the largest and longest edition in the biennial's history. The organizing non-profit, Fundación Paiz, has also created its first permanent exhibition venue, which soft-launched with a performance by Cuban artist Carlos Martiel.
The 17th Bienal de Cuenca, titled "The Game," opened on 24 October in Cuenca, Ecuador, marking its 40th anniversary. The biennial features 51 artists selected by 17 international curators, with works displayed across multiple venues including museums, gardens, and the airport. The event highlights artists and curators from the Global South, focusing on social and political concerns rather than market priorities. It opened just two days after political protests ended, with a ceremony featuring an Andean ritual led by artist Carmen Vicente, whose installation "Infinite Steps" won the acquisition prize.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco presents 'Bay Area Then,' an exhibition running from August 1, 2025, to January 25, 2026, that surveys the Northern California art scene between 1990 and 2005. Guest curated by Eungie Joo, the show features works by nineteen artists or collaborations, including Manuel Ocampo, Margaret Kilgallen, Bill Daniel, Ruby Neri, and Carolyn Castaño, mixing historical pieces with recent productions by artists who emerged during that era.
The 36th Bienal de São Paulo has opened with a site-specific installation by Nigerian-American artist Precious Okoyomon, titled "Sun of Consciousness. God Blow Thru Me – Love Break Me" (2025), which features a spiraling path of moss-covered earth and waterfalls evoking Brazil's deforested Cerrado region. The biennial, curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with an international team, includes 125 artists—97 international and 28 Brazilian—with more than half of the works commissioned for the exhibition. Notable presentations include a career-spanning display of over 20 paintings by British artist Frank Bowling, alongside works by Brazilian artist Gervane de Paula, who has the largest presence in the show.
The Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has launched ¡ARTE VIVA!, a yearlong celebration honoring the Hispanic cultures that make up nearly 30% of the region's population. The 2025-2026 season includes Día de los Muertos events at venues like the Marco Island Center for the Arts, Naples Botanical Garden, and Artis—Naples, featuring Calaveras sculptures by Ricardo Soltero, photography by Lizette Morales, and performances by Ballet Folklorica Jaliscience. Visual arts highlights include a Joan Miró exhibition at Naples Art Institute, a permanent collection show at The Baker Museum, and a public art installation by Michelle Tricca at Lipman Farms. Musical programming features Gulfshore Opera's Carmen, Latin Grammy nominee Leslie Cartaya, and Opera Naples Festival under Ramón Tebar.
The 36th Bienal de São Paulo, titled *Not All Travellers Walk Roads—Of Humanity as Practice*, takes its name from a poem by Afro-Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo. Chief curator Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, alongside curators Alya Sebti, Keyna Eleison, Anna Roberta Goetz, and Thiago de Paula Souza, has organized an edition featuring 125 artists, 28 of whom are Brazilian. The biennial includes a new performance program called Tributaries, created with the cultural center Casa do Povo, and debuts on September 5, 2025, with the public run from September 6, 2025 to January 11, 2026.
The Sky High Farm Biennial, curated by former Downtown art star Dan Colen, opened in a cold storage warehouse in Germantown, N.Y., featuring over 160 works by 50 artists across two floors. The exhibition is loosely themed around humanity's relationship with the natural world, with immersive installations by Anne Imhof (a maze of cider crates) and Rudolf Stingel (a mirrored floor requiring paper booties). Highlights include works by Nan Goldin, Thiago Rocha Pitta, Stephen Lichty, Carrol Dunham, Pia Camil, and Ann Craven. The show balances informal and polished elements, offering a breezy summer experience while serving as a thesis on artist community.
Prospect, New Orleans' international art exhibition, has canceled its next planned show in 2027. The decision was announced by the organization's most recent director, Nick Stillman, who cited the current political climate and cuts to government arts funding as making the financial outlook for the multi-million-dollar event "ominous." Stillman has since left the organization. Instead of mounting another exhibition, Prospect will publish a book titled "20 Years of Prospect" and shift focus to exploring sustainable models for presenting global art discourse while archiving its past work.
Ser Serpas, an American artist and activist, presents her multifaceted practice in the exhibition 'Of my life' at Kunsthalle Basel. Known for assemblages from found and discarded materials, she now emphasizes painting, creating large-scale works that double as props and backdrops for a collaboration with the Margo Korableva Performance Theatre from Tbilisi, Georgia. Serpas discusses her sourcing process in Basel, her partnership with director David Chikhladze, and the evolution of her work from sculptures to paintings that record studio activities.
The article highlights standout works at Osaka Art & Design 2025, including Maki Takato's 'Yokai Unity' installation at Nankai Namba Station, Shotaro Sanada's 'Next Landscape', and alan's 'Re:Re:' piece. It also promotes designboom's upcoming guides and exhibition roundups, such as the Venice Art Biennale 2026 and a monthly selection of global art and design shows.
The Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a major contemporary art exhibition in India, is the subject of this article. The piece likely covers the event's programming, participating artists, or organizational updates, though the provided text is truncated and primarily consists of a newsletter subscription prompt and footer information, obscuring the full details of the biennale's activities.
Thai artist and filmmaker Chantana Tiprachart has been awarded the 2026 Southeast Asian Video Art Production Grant by the Han Nefkens Foundation. The prize provides $15,000 for the production of a new moving-image work over a nine-month period, which will subsequently tour several international institutions including the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai and Nottingham Contemporary. The jury selected Tiprachart for her ability to locate social and political narratives within quiet, everyday spaces, praising her commitment to reflection in an era of information overload.
Following the recent electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition by the opposition party Tisza, the Hungarian art world faces a monumental task of institutional restoration. For 16 years, the regime’s 'System of National Cooperation' (NER) systematically co-opted cultural institutions, installing loyalists in leadership roles at major venues like the Kunsthalle and Ludwig Museum to promote an ethno-nationalist agenda. This period was marked by the exodus of independent curators, the occupation of museums by activists, and a fractured ecosystem where state funding was tied to political compliance.
CULTIVATING A VIRTUAL GARDEN LEO CASTANEDA S NEW INTERACTIVE DIGITAL WORK
The Whitney Museum of American Art has launched a new interactive digital artwork titled 'Camoflux Recall Grotto' by artist Leo Castañeda. Commissioned for the Whitney Biennial 2026, the web-based game invites players to cultivate a garden within a surreal, primordial landscape inspired by the Amazon and the Everglades, blending organic and technical infrastructures.
The Argentine artistic duo Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt have received the $75,000 Lifetime Achievement Award at The Ellies Oolite Arts Awards. The pair, founders of R&R STUDIOS, are recognized for their decades-long collaborative practice that merges art, architecture, and public space to create social sculptures.
Russia e Israele non potranno vincere nessun premio alla prossima Biennale Arte di Venezia 2026. La giuria prende posizione
The international jury for the 61st Venice Biennale, led by Solange Farkas, has unanimously declared it will not consider countries whose leaders are currently accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. This means Russia and Israel are excluded from competing for the Golden Lion awards, including Best National Participation and Best Artist. The jury's statement, published on e-Flux Notes, emphasizes the Biennale's historical role as a platform connecting art with contemporary urgencies and acknowledges the complex relationship between artistic practice and state representation.
Ecuador has unveiled "Kanua: listening practices," a public program for its pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, launching on May 8 with solar-powered boat tours through Venice's canals. Developed by the anticolonial film collective Tawna in collaboration with the Kara Solar Foundation and curated by Manuela Moscoso, the project features six intimate boat journeys with discussions on extractivism, aqua-feminism, and territorial resistance, involving artists such as Carolina Caycedo, Mariana Castillo Deball, and Tabita Rezaire. The initiative reactivates Tawna's floating Amazonian film festival, which originally brought cinema to remote communities in Ecuador via a solar-powered boat.
New reports reveal that Israeli Pavilion artist Belu-Simion Fainaru issued legal threats against the Venice Biennale, alleging antisemitism and discrimination after the awards jury decided to exclude Israel and Russia from consideration due to human rights charges. The jury, which included Elvira Dyangani Ose, Zoe Butt, Marta Kuzma, Giovanna Zapperi, and Solange Farkas, initially stated on April 22 it would not consider nations whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. Fainaru filed legal warnings with the Biennale, the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the Prime Minister's office. The jury abruptly resigned eight days later, leading the Biennale to scrap the Golden Lion awards and institute "Visitor Lions" decided by public vote. Reports indicate the Biennale's legal department warned jurors could be personally liable for damages, and Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli promised to promote Fainaru's work.
The 61st Venice Biennale has scrapped its traditional Golden Lion awards, replacing them with public-voted “Visitor Lions” after the entire award jury resigned on April 30. The jury had previously announced its intention to exclude countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, effectively targeting Russia and Israel. The Biennale Foundation, however, stated that all official national pavilions—including Russia and Israel—will be eligible for the new Visitor Lions, citing principles of inclusion and equal treatment. The awards ceremony has been moved from May 9 to November 22, the final day of the Biennale, to allow ticket holders to vote throughout the event.
NXT Gallery at Next Stage Arts in Putney, Vermont, presents “Forgotten Not Gone,” a new exhibition by Brattleboro-based artist Joey Morgan. The show features 12 mixed-media collage works salvaged from a previous project, “Have You Ever Loved Me?,” which was largely destroyed in a flood. An opening reception will be held on May 24, and the exhibition runs from May 8 to August 9.
Contour Art Gallery in Vilnius is presenting 'Monstrare', a solo exhibition by emerging artist Raminta S. R. Mint. The show explores the human body through three layers—exterior, interior, and invisible—using painting to critique social media's filtered self-image, anatomical abstraction, and digital medical imaging. Influenced by Gothic literature and H. R. Giger, the works combine red, black, and white palettes in a 'Frankensteinian' visual language.
The National Pavilion UAE has announced its upcoming exhibition for the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, titled ‘Washwasha’ (Whispers Across Water). Curated by Bana Kattan with assistant curator Tala Nassar, the presentation features six artists: Mays Albaik, Jawad Al Malhi, Farah Al Qasimi, Alaa Edris, Lamya Gargash, and Taus Makhacheva. The exhibition moves away from traditional visual spectacle to focus on sound, oral traditions, and 'sonic cartographies' that explore memory, migration, and the fluid identity of the UAE through an architectural environment designed by Büro Koray Duman Architects.
Cultured magazine profiles 29-year-old artist Yasmine Anlan Huang, who is featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial with her video poem "Her Love is a Bleeding Tank." The Guangzhou-born, New York- and London-based artist explores themes of girlhood, melodrama, fetish, and techno-capitalism through cross-media work. Her second book, "Becoming Everyone, Everywhere," is set for publication in early 2026. In the profile, Huang discusses her desire to create a medium-length film about a rosette cataract, a project requiring CGI and significant funding.
Western Washington University’s art department has opened its 2026 faculty and staff biennial, featuring 20 artists with works spanning painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation. The exhibition is held in the Fine Arts Building, room 124, and runs Monday through Saturday until May 2, with free admission. New gallery director Kelly Lindner curated the show, which includes interactive pieces and collaborative works. Featured artist Jennifer Anable contributed three works inspired by Skagit Valley and dark humor, emphasizing the importance of students seeing their teachers’ professional practice.
The Polygon Gallery in Vancouver has announced its 2026 exhibition schedule, featuring a diverse lineup of solo and group shows. The year's programming is anchored by photography but includes sculpture, installation, and beadwork, with a strong focus on local and Indigenous artists. Highlights include a major solo show by Tania Willard, a career retrospective for photographer Greg Girard, a two-person exhibition with Jeneen Frei Njootli and Catherine Blackburn, and the return of the Lind Biennial.