The Walters Art Museum is showcasing the intricate jewelry designs of Douriean Fletcher, the specialty jeweler responsible for the iconic adornments in the 'Black Panther' film franchise. The exhibition highlights Fletcher's craftsmanship and her ability to blend Afrofuturist aesthetics with traditional African metalworking techniques, bringing cinematic artifacts into a fine art museum context.
Ecuador has selected artist Oscar Santillán to represent the nation at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. Curated by Manuela Moscoso and organized by the Museum of Anthropological and Contemporary Art (MAAC), the pavilion will feature a collaboration between Santillán and the collective Tawna. The exhibition, titled after the collective, will explore Andean-Amazonian contexts through a dialogue on territory, indigenous knowledge systems, and coexistence.
L’apprendimento è qualcosa di estetico e di emotivo. Lo dice Marco Dallari nel suo ultimo libro (e in questa intervista)
Italian pedagogist Marco Dallari discusses his latest book, "La bellezza di Sophia" (2026), which explores the intrinsic human drive for knowledge as an aesthetic and emotional necessity rather than a pragmatic survival tool. Drawing on Freudian concepts and the work of Alessandra Risso, Dallari argues that the desire to learn is a primal impulse that should be nurtured through beauty and curiosity rather than stifled by rigid institutional structures.
Diné artist Eric-Paul Riege has launched his largest exhibition to date, titled “ojo|-|ólǫ́,” at the Henry Art Gallery. The show features large-scale soft sculptures, wearable art, and multimedia installations that reinterpret traditional Navajo symbols like the weaving comb and the hogan. Central to the exhibition is Riege’s rejection of traditional museum barriers; he encourages visitors to touch the tactile, plush works to honor the many hands involved in the production of his materials.
A MEDIA LUMBRE. BARRO Y FIBRAS NATURALES EN LA OBRA DE ARTISTAS IBEROAMERICANOS
The exhibition 'A media lumbre' presents a collection of works by Ibero-American artists that engage with materials and knowledge historically considered minor arts, such as ceramics, clay, wool, textiles, embroidery, and natural fibers. The show integrates sound and oral tradition as tools for transmitting memory, drawing inspiration from communal gatherings like the 'filandones.' It unfolds across four autonomous exhibitions in Valencia, Mallorca, Aragon, and Catalonia, connecting urban museums like the IVAM with rural contexts.
IMMA in Dublin is presenting the first Irish solo exhibition of Lebanese sound artist and composer Tarek Atoui, titled "Souffle Continu and Sunflowers." The exhibition opens on February 21, 2026, showcasing Atoui's innovative work in sound, performance, and custom instrument creation, which focuses on the physical experience of listening.
The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) has launched a new Community and Medicine Garden, a collaborative initiative designed to enhance waterfront biodiversity and serve as a living classroom. The opening event features traditional seed songs by Kaniehtenhawi Deer, tobacco planting workshops led by Michele Dent, and activities focused on sustainable gardening. Artists-in-residence Carly Franklin and Kamaldeep Kaur are also utilizing the space to grow indigo and other plants for their research into natural pigments and textiles.
Christopher Moller Gallery in Cape Town is set to host "Echoes of Home," a group exhibition featuring the works of Mpho Feni, Lionel Mbayiwa, and Olamide Ogunade. The show explores the evolving concept of identity and heritage across the African continent, contrasting traditional ancestral knowledge with contemporary lived experiences. Each artist provides a unique lens: Mbayiwa focuses on Shona cosmology, Ogunade utilizes introspective symbolism to capture the fragility of memory, and Feni documents the communal rituals of everyday family life.
The group exhibition ‘Bándearg’ (Pink) is set to open at Books At One in Louisburgh, County Mayo, featuring the work of five female artists based in Ireland. The show explores the color pink as both a physical medium and a complex cultural symbol, showcasing a diverse range of artistic approaches including the bold, hard-edge op art of Elphin-based artist Nickie Harrington.
The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington has unveiled its spring/summer 2026 exhibition schedule, featuring a diverse lineup of solo and group presentations. Highlights include a major exhibition by Diné artist Eric-Paul Riege exploring Indigenous cosmology and institutional knowledge, a showcase of Helen Frankenthaler’s experimental printmaking alongside works by Analia Saban, and the annual University of Washington MFA and MDes thesis exhibition. The season also features "Day-to-Day: Rhythm, Routine, Resistance," a collection-based show examining the intersection of personal life and structural social forces.
MASP CONTESTED NARRATIVES BETWEEN REPLICA AND WEAVING
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) has opened two simultaneous exhibitions that critically examine how narratives in Latin American art are formed. 'Réplica (Replica)' is a retrospective of Peruvian artist Sandra Gamarra Heshiki, featuring over 70 works that appropriate and alter historical pieces to expose the exclusionary mechanisms of museums. 'Vivir, tejer (Living, Weaving)' presents the collaborative textile work of Claudia Alarcón and the Silät collective, a group of over one hundred Wichí women weavers, foregrounding ancestral knowledge and collective creation.
Saodat Ismailova “When the Water Turns to Wind” at Portikus, Frankfurt
Uzbek artist Saodat Ismailova has opened a major solo exhibition, "When the Water Turns to Wind," at Portikus in Frankfurt. The presentation features a new, immersive film installation that weaves together ancestral myths, sonic landscapes, and the ecological history of Central Asia, focusing on the region's disappearing rivers and steppes. The work continues her long-term exploration of memory and cultural preservation.
Annonce de chercheur : Les poteries « genre Palissy » au XIXe siècle en France
A doctoral candidate in art history, Mariette Boudgourd, has announced a public call for information to aid her research on 19th-century French ceramics in the 'genre Palissy' style. Her thesis aims to define the corpus of these works, analyzing their production techniques, market diffusion, and the construction of the myth surrounding the Renaissance potter Bernard Palissy.
The Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (MAM Rio) is hosting a major retrospective titled 'Rubem Valentim: a ordem do sensível,' featuring approximately 180 works spanning four decades. Curated by Raquel Barreto and Phelipe Rezende, the exhibition showcases Valentim’s unique fusion of modernist abstraction with the spiritual symbols of Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous cosmologies. The presentation includes paintings, reliefs, and sculptures, culminating in monumental works like 'Templo de Oxalá.'
LA PROCESIÓN COMO FORMA DE MUNDO: ARTISTAS LATINOAMERICANOS EN LA BIENAL DE DIRIYAH
The third Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, titled 'In Interludes and Transitions,' is open until May 2nd in Saudi Arabia's historic Diriyah district. Curated by Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed, the exhibition features 68 artists from over 37 countries and frames the world as a multitude of processions, using movement as its central theme and methodology. The exhibition design by Formafantasma encourages a fluid, nomadic journey through four thematic movements and site-specific 'arenas' within the repurposed industrial halls of the JAX creative district.
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is currently presenting two distinct exhibitions that explore memory, identity, and historical violence in Latin America. 'Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge' features 35 works by the Peruvian artist that weave together Uitoto cosmology with the traumatic history of the Amazon rubber boom, while 'Video Room: Oscar Muñoz' showcases three video works by the Colombian artist that use ephemeral materials to reflect on political disappearance and the instability of the image.
A Florida artist, while preparing for an approaching hurricane, decided to paint a calming scene of a sailboat on a peaceful bay as a form of stress relief. This spontaneous act, captured in a video that went viral, has now led to a full-fledged solo exhibition of her work at a local gallery.
A statue of Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who enslaved over 200 people, is set to be reinstated in Washington D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. The National Park Service plans to place the statue as part of the nation's 250th birthday celebrations, six years after it was removed from Wilmington, Delaware, during Black Lives Matter protests.
Iranian archaeologists Sepideh Maziar and Mehrnoush Soroush have launched an interactive online map to document and geolocate cultural heritage sites in Iran damaged by military strikes. The map, hosted by the University of Chicago's CAMEL Lab, currently lists 69 verified sites, including the historic Sa'dabad Palace complex in Tehran, and is updated as new information becomes available.
The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) has opened the exhibition 'Clutch City Craft,' which explores the craft traditions and material cultures that define Houston. The show features a diverse range of making practices, from mosaic street signs and cowboy boot making to fiber artists involved in aerospace design, framing the city's creative density as an extension of its industrial identity.
Artist Liss Fenwick has created a photobook titled 'The Colony' by feeding a collection of historical Australian novels, described as 'settler fan fiction,' to a colony of termites. The insects consumed the books over several years, leaving behind hollowed, sculptural remains that Fenwick photographed. The resulting work documents this process of organic transformation, where the physical texts are digested and reshaped.
Pearl Fryar, the visionary self-taught topiary artist who transformed his yard in Bishopville, South Carolina, into a world-renowned botanical masterpiece, has died at age 86. Starting in the 1980s with no formal training, Fryar used a gas-powered hedge trimmer to sculpt salvaged plants into gravity-defying, abstract geometric forms that drew thousands of international visitors to his three-acre property.
The New York Times has published a comprehensive guide aimed at aspiring gardeners, detailing the essential steps required to cultivate and maintain a successful green space. The resource covers foundational gardening knowledge, from soil preparation and plant selection to long-term maintenance strategies for various types of outdoor environments.
A collection of rare 17th-century books, written in Chinese by Jesuit missionaries and stolen from the Jesuit Historical Institute in Rome, has been returned to Italy. The books, which cover astronomy and other scientific topics, were recovered by the Carabinieri art squad after being illegally exported to the United States.
ArtReview's feature 'The Museum in Crisis' presents a critical diagnosis of contemporary museums, questioning their foundational authority, purpose, and relevance. The article compiles perspectives from professionals, highlighting challenges like restitution claims, alienated audiences, and the need to dismantle colonial hierarchies embedded in language and display practices. It argues that museums must move beyond being mere preservers to become active producers of public knowledge.
The article announces and describes artist Peter D. Gerakaris's exhibition "Oculus Serenade," which features a collection of vibrant tondo (round) paintings, works on paper, and mosaic artworks. Gerakaris's work merges microscopic and macroscopic perspectives, focusing on motifs from the natural world such as endangered botanicals, exotic birds, and aquatic life, inspired by his firsthand experiences in diverse ecosystems. The exhibition's centerpiece is a four-foot diameter "Orchid Oculus Tondo," surrounded by hand-embellished prints and a cut-glass mosaic, with the artist's process described as a form of "visual jazz." The article also notes Gerakaris's interdisciplinary practice, his previous projects including a permanent installation at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, and details for an upcoming artist's reception at the Cornwall Library.
Brazilian artist Cinthia Marcelle has unveiled a major site-specific installation titled "beginning, middle, beginning" at the Serralves Museum in Porto. Developed in collaboration with the architecture collective vão, the work transforms the museum’s Central Gallery into a space governed by cycles of repetition rather than linear progression. Drawing inspiration from the Quilombola philosopher Nêgo Bispo, the installation challenges Western colonial structures and highlights the importance of ancestral knowledge and Indigenous cosmologies.
Brazilian artist Cinthia Marcelle has unveiled a major site-specific installation titled "beginning, middle, beginning" at the Serralves Museum in Porto. Developed in collaboration with the architecture collective vão and curated by Inês Grosso, the work transforms the museum’s Central Gallery into a space governed by cycles of repetition. Drawing inspiration from the philosopher and Quilombola leader Nêgo Bispo, the installation challenges Western linear conceptions of time and highlights the persistence of colonial structures in modern social organization.
CIMAM (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art) has launched an open call for its 2026 Travel Grant Programme. The grants will fund museum professionals, curators, and researchers from emerging and developing economies to attend the organization's 58th Annual Conference in Harare, Zimbabwe, under the theme 'Museums Beyond Limits: Imagining Repair Across Cultures, Ecologies and Knowledges.'
The Missoula Art Museum has launched "Buffalo Is Our Good Medicine," a collaborative exhibition by artists Aspen and Cameron Decker. The show features a diverse array of media, including traditional ledger art, sculpture, hide paintings, and multimedia installations that center on the buffalo's vital role within tribal communities. Many of the works utilize hides harvested from the Yellowstone herd, blending historical storytelling with contemporary artistic practices.