Tech giants JD.com and Tencent are launching new museums in Shenzhen, appointing prominent art figures Robin Peckham and Pi Li to lead them. This move is part of a broader initiative to transform the city, a major tech hub, into a significant player in the global art scene.
Artist and writer Farid Rakun, a member of the collective ruangrupa, offers a critical diagnosis of contemporary museums. He argues that institutions in his Indonesian context are either state-run and subject to unstable political direction, or privately owned and driven by colonialist, capital-accumulating mentalities. He laments the intertwining of these models, which prioritizes revenue and growth over genuine cultural service.
An exhibition at the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, Ireland, is showcasing the work of artists from the Crawford Supported Studios program. The program provides studio space, materials, and professional support for artists with intellectual disabilities, fostering their creative development and professional practice.
Cincinnati-based artist and activist Paul Kroner is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his space, Studio Kroner, with his first solo exhibition titled "What Have I Done?" opening April 17. Since its founding, the 1,200-square-foot venue has evolved from a private studio into a vibrant community hub, hosting national artists, theatrical performances, and social justice-oriented exhibitions. The upcoming show will feature a diverse range of Kroner’s own work, including paintings, illustrations, and a new series of bronze sculptures called "Liminals" created through a hybrid process of wax casting and digital scanning.
The "Artist of the Earth" exhibition recently opened in Paris, featuring a diverse collection of works by Syrian artists including miniature Damascene house models, paintings, mosaics, and traditional crafts. Organized by the association "Valuable Hands," the event concluded with a spiritual Sufi whirling performance and a ceremony honoring the participating creators.
Chicago is experiencing a surge in "Sidewalk Joy Spots," miniature art-sharing stations modeled after the "Little Free Library" concept. These small, community-maintained boxes allow residents to exchange handmade jewelry, miniature paintings, and sculptures, effectively turning residential sidewalks into decentralized public galleries.
Artist Charles Young is expanding his intricate city of miniature paper buildings, with 258 structures already completed from a series inspired by Sanzo Wada's color theory book. He is currently working on the final 90 models from the first volume, which explores two-color combinations, and has also created works featuring multiple colors.
Amandine Blier : « Aura est le nouveau nom d’Edeis Culture »
Trévise Participations, the holding company of the Noisiez family, has consolidated its cultural activities by granting autonomy to its subsidiary Edeis Culture and rebranding it as Aura. Amandine Blier, a seasoned communications professional with experience at the City of Versailles and the opening of Citéco, has been confirmed as the head of the new entity, which manages eight cultural sites including venues in Nîmes and the recently won concession for the Villa Kérylos.
Non abbiamo bisogno di nuovi musei (abbiamo bisogno di nuove forme museali!)
The Museum of Artificial Intelligence and Immersive Art (MAIIA) has announced the opening of a second location in Palermo, signaling a growing international interest in Italy's contemporary art scene. While the expansion is welcomed, critics warn that such developments often prioritize real estate investment over genuine cultural production, potentially leading to neighborhood gentrification rather than authentic community enrichment.
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.
In Trentino una mostra immersiva affronta i temi della sicurezza sul lavoro per coinvolgere su questioni urgenti
The METS – Museo etnografico trentino San Michele is set to launch an immersive exhibition titled "Un lavoro a regola d’Arte" on April 17, 2026. Created by artists Paola Samoggia and Carlo Magrì, the project utilizes seven rooms featuring short films, video art, and multisensorial elements to explore themes of workplace dignity, health, and safety. The exhibition moves beyond mere statistics to address the human reality of labor, incorporating music, dance, and performance to create a reflective space on the risks and rights of workers.
The 25hours Hotel Jakarta The Oddbird has launched the inaugural Room Art Fair 2026 to coincide with World Art Day. In collaboration with the Indonesian Art Galleries Association (AGSI), the event transforms the hotel’s 10th-floor guest rooms into immersive gallery spaces featuring 13 different galleries. By removing the formal barriers of traditional white-cube settings, the fair allows visitors to engage with contemporary Indonesian art in a domestic, intimate environment.
The Fayetteville Observer explores the historical racial bias embedded in photographic technology through the lens of "Shirley Cards." These reference tools, used by film developers for decades to calibrate color balance, were based exclusively on the skin tones of white female models, resulting in poor image quality and distorted representations for Black and dark-skinned subjects.
The Queens Museum is undergoing a significant transformation to better serve its diverse local community, moving away from traditional elitist museum models. Under the leadership of director Sally Tallant, the institution has integrated social services, including a food pantry and community organizing spaces, directly into its operational fabric while maintaining a rigorous contemporary art program.
Mossley Bricks is returning to Mossley Methodist Church on May 16, featuring an extensive collection of LEGO models created by adult enthusiasts. The exhibition will showcase detailed and imaginative displays, offering a creative community event for families and hobbyists in the local area.
The South Bay Arts Association is celebrating its 70th anniversary, marking seven decades of fostering creative connections within its local community. With a membership exceeding 160 artists, the organization continues to serve as a vital platform for creators to introduce their work to the public and engage with fellow residents through various artistic initiatives.
Gala Alica, a prominent contemporary artist, has been appointed as the new Artistic Director of the prestigious Kunsthalle Basel. The interview details her vision for the institution, which includes a renewed focus on interdisciplinary projects and supporting emerging artists from underrepresented regions.
No Place Gallery, a non-profit art space in Columbus, Ohio, is marking its tenth anniversary. The gallery has served as a crucial platform for local and regional artists, hosting numerous exhibitions and fostering a community for experimental and emerging art.
A Milano vanno in mostra gli arredi della Casa Bianca. Design e architettura per parlare di propaganda
An exhibition titled 'The White House. Domestic Propaganda' has opened at Dropcity, an experimental center in the tunnels beneath Milan's Central Station, as part of the city's Design Week. Curated by students from the Politecnico di Milano's Interior Design Laboratory, the show critically examines the White House as a domestic space for political propaganda, using installations, models, and drawings to explore how its architecture and furnishings project cultural and social meanings.
A think tank and a philanthropic foundation have launched a $1 million accelerator grant program for museum and performing arts leaders. The initiative, a partnership between Remuseum (an initiative of Crystal Bridges Museum) and the Doris Duke Foundation, will award up to ten $100,000 grants and provide a year-long residency program to help leaders develop innovative strategies to boost relevance and financial stability.
Dans l’ombre des génies
A podcast episode from France Culture's "Affinités Culturelles" series, titled "Ces femmes d'artistes à l'ombre de l'histoire de l'art," examines the lives and artistic contributions of women who were partners to 20th-century masters Edward Hopper and Pablo Picasso. It focuses on figures like Joséphine Hopper, Françoise Gilot, and Dora Maar, exploring how they were often relegated to the roles of muses and models, with some sacrificing their own creative careers for their relationships.
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.
Jasmine Lezema, an art history major and museum intern at the Janet Turner Print Museum, has organized a peer-led exhibition tour titled "Through an Art Historian’s Lens," scheduled for Wednesday from 5 to 5:30 p.m. The tour focuses on printmaking at Chico State and encourages students to engage deeply with artworks. Lezema selected three pieces from the current exhibition that personally resonated with her, drawing on her art history training to interpret symbolism, materials, and context. The museum’s director, Rachel Skowoski, and education assistant, Dylan Charlton, emphasize that student interns are empowered to shape programming around their interests, making this tour a product of that philosophy.
Warum KI uns nicht die Fantasie raubt – mit Jenifer Becker
Author and cultural scholar Jenifer Becker discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on creativity in the Monopol podcast "Fantasiemuskel." She argues that while AI-generated text is often generic, it can liberate us from the romantic myth of the solitary genius by demonstrating that most ideas already exist. Becker leads the "AI Lab Kit" at the Hildesheim Literature Institute, using experimental projects to push language models beyond their algorithmic comfort zones.
Curator Naz Cuguoğlu argues in an opinion essay that museums should embrace the ethos of rave culture to become more welcoming and inclusive spaces, suggesting they can foster new forms of belonging. The article also covers several other art stories, including the discovery of pre-Hispanic rock art in Mexico that led to the rerouting of a train line, an exhibition of Genesis P-Orridge's mail art in Toronto, and artist Jean Shin's memorial project at Green-Wood Cemetery.
An exhibition titled 'The Eames Houses' opened at Triennale Milano during Milan Design Week 2026. It offers a comprehensive look at the residential architecture of Charles and Ray Eames, featuring scale models of eight house projects, archival materials, and two full-scale pavilion structures built using a modular system developed with Kettal. The show runs from April 20 to May 10 and is accompanied by a newly published volume on the Eames' residential work.
Artist Theaster Gates has gifted a 19th-century vessel by enslaved potter David Drake to Drake's descendants and made this act of restitution the centerpiece of his solo exhibition at Gagosian in New York. The show, titled "Dave: All My Relations," features Gates's own artworks responding to Drake's legacy and the recently transferred pot, highlighting Gates's decades-long engagement with Drake as a foundational figure for his own practice.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art's upcoming Costume Institute exhibition, 'Costume Art,' will feature mannequins representing a diverse range of body types, including pregnant, disabled, and plus-size figures, instead of the traditional sample size 2. The mannequins were created using photogrammetry scans of real people, such as artist Michaela Stark and disability activist Sinéad Burke, and have reflective steel faces intended to allow visitors to see themselves in the display.
"Eine Startrampe für die Zukunft"
The article is a media roundup covering several stories from the art world. It includes an interview with Jeff Koons discussing his artistic process and philosophy, a portrait of artist Jorinde Voigt, a report on the robust Art Düsseldorf fair, a news piece about two valuable Gerhard Richter paintings on loan to a museum, and a review of the new LACMA building's non-linear curatorial approach.
The V&A East Museum has opened in London, marking a major expansion of the Victoria and Albert Museum into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. The new institution comprises two sites: a museum at Stratford Waterfront and a collections and research centre at Here East. The project, led by Director Gus Casely-Hayford and a dedicated team, aims to democratize access to the V&A's vast collections and engage new, diverse audiences in East London.