Khaled Sabsabi is finally at the Venice Biennale: ‘Being here is already a win’

Khaled Sabsabi has opened his exhibition 'conference of one’s self' at the Australian Pavilion of the 61st Venice Biennale, alongside a second installation 'Khalil' in the Arsenale. This follows a tumultuous period in which Creative Australia rescinded his appointment as Australia’s representative in February 2025, sparking widespread backlash from the art community. After being reappointed in July 2025, Sabsabi presents two monumental multimedia works inspired by Sufi practice, created in Bangkok and described as 'one body with two limbs'.

Somali artists and culture workers express concern over Somalia Pavilion in Venice

Somali artists, cultural workers, and organizations have published multiple open letters and statements expressing concern over the Somalia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The pavilion, announced in March for the 2026 edition, is titled 'SADDEXLEEY' and features Somali-Swedish artist Ayan Farah, Somali-Danish poet and filmmaker Asmaa Jama, and Somali-British writer Warsan Shire, curated by Stockholm-based Mohamed Mire and Italian project manager Fabio Scrivanti. Critics, including the Somali Arts Foundation and the queer collective Warbixinta Cidda, allege that the pavilion was organized without meaningful consultation of artists and organizations based in Somalia, and object to the appointment of an Italian co-curator given Italy's colonial history in Somalia. An anonymous open letter further alleges intimidation and coercive pressure against critics, and demands Scrivanti's removal, calling for a boycott if demands are not met.

Somali Cultural Organizations Unhappy With Somalia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Somali artists and cultural organizations are protesting the Somalia pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, arguing it excludes artists based in Somalia and relies on diaspora figures and an Italian co-curator, which they view as colonial. The Somali Arts Foundation issued a statement condemning the lack of consultation, while the queer arts collective Warbixinta Cidda criticized the appointment of Italian curator Fabio Scrivanti. Somali American poet Ladan Osman boycotted the pavilion, calling it "anti-indigenous."

Art Gallery of Burlington to host inaugural exhibition for emerging artists

The Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) will host the inaugural Henry Goodman Exhibition for Emerging Artists starting May 21, presented by the arts charity FUSION. The traveling show features over 25 emerging artists working in ceramic and glass under the theme 'gathering,' curated by 2025 Sobey Award finalist Chukwudubem Ukaigwe. Artists include Laura Wagner, Thomas Paik, Deborah Hatanaka, and Ryan Nesbitt. The exhibition will later travel to Rails End Gallery in Haliburton and Neilson Park Creative Arts Centre in Mississauga.

Pro Arts Jersey City presents A Margin of Influence: Artists and the books that inform them

Pro Arts Jersey City presents "A Margin of Influence: Artists and the books that inform them" at ART150 Gallery from May 8-31, 2026. Curated by Raymond E. Mingst and Arthur Bruso, the group exhibition features ten artists—including Agnieszka Wszolkowska, Alvin Quiñones, Brad Terhune, Dorie Dahlberg, Elliot Appel, Hank Yaghooti, Josephine Barreiro, Laura Lou Levy, Nanette Reynolds Beachner, and Peter Delman—who explore how books shape their creative practice. The show runs weekends with an opening reception on May 8.

Man Arrested for Allegedly Planning Terrorist Attack at Louvre

French authorities arrested a 27-year-old Tunisian man, identified as Dhafer M., on May 7 for allegedly planning a terrorist attack at the Louvre in Paris. The arrest, confirmed by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) and first reported by Le Monde, followed an investigation that began in late April after a traffic stop. Investigators found jihadist propaganda videos, photos of weapons, and searches for bomb-making instructions on his phone, as well as messages discussing access points to the Louvre and plans to make poison. The man has denied the allegations and was brought before an anti-terrorism judge to be formally charged.

Nick Cave at the 2026 Biennale. Seven works between loss, memory and protest

Nick Cave è alla Biennale 2026. Sette opere tra perdita, memoria e protesta

Nick Cave presents "Two Points in Time at Once" at the 2026 Venice Biennale, a project spanning seven locations across Venice. The installation features a series of bronze works, including the "Amalgam" series (Seated, Origin, Plot, Resuscitation, Meditation) along with "Grapht" and "Siren." This marks a significant material shift from Cave's iconic fabric Soundsuits to bronze, exploring themes of loss, memory, trauma, and protest through a more static yet politically charged presence.

The Claire Fontaine collective and Ugo La Pietra open the new season of the Fondazione La Rocca in Pescara

Il collettivo Claire Fontaine e Ugo la Pietra aprono la nuova stagione della Fondazione La Rocca di Pescara

The Fondazione La Rocca in Pescara has announced its upcoming exhibition program for 2026-2027, including a solo show by Ugo La Pietra (June–October 2026) and a solo exhibition by the feminist conceptual collective Claire Fontaine (December 2026–March 2027). The foundation has also appointed Simone Ciglia as its new Chief Curator, who will work alongside the presidency to shape future artistic research. The season opens with La Pietra's 'Alla finestra,' curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, featuring around seventy works exploring the window as a threshold. Claire Fontaine's 'Manuale d’uso,' curated by Ciglia, is conceived as an exhibition-essay based on Anita Chari's monograph. Additionally, the foundation launches 'FLR Incontra,' a public program of interdisciplinary talks and performances.

Habib Hajallie’s Meticulous Ballpoint Pen Drawings Examine the Depths of Emotion

Habib Hajallie, a Kent-based artist of Sierra Leonean and Lebanese heritage, presents a new solo exhibition titled "Black & Blue" at Larkin Durey in London. The show features meticulous ballpoint pen drawings on found fragments of philosophical and historical texts, exploring themes of memory, connection, and loss. For this series, Hajallie switched from black to blue ink as he grapples with the stillbirth of his daughter and the loss of his sister four years ago. Works include self-portraits and depictions of Black cultural figures, conveying emotions such as despair, confusion, numbness, and care.

TOXIC’s ‘ALWAYS EVER SINCE 83’ brings four decades of uncompromising practice to Woodbury House

Torrick Ablack, known as TOXIC, will present a major solo exhibition titled 'ALWAYS EVER SINCE 83' at Woodbury House in London from 14th May to 26th June 2026. The show features new paintings alongside rarely seen early works dating back to 1983, marking what the gallery calls a long-overdue recognition of TOXIC's career. TOXIC emerged from the downtown New York scene of the early 1980s alongside figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Rammellzee, and participated in the landmark Post-Graffiti exhibition at Sidney Janis Gallery in 1983. The exhibition positions 1983 as a psychological and artistic turning point, tracing over four decades of his uncompromising practice.

Markus Brunetti’s Monumental Photos Venerate European Ecclesiastical Landmarks

Bavarian photographer Markus Brunetti, working with collaborator Betty Schöner, has spent over two decades traveling across Europe in a converted firetruck photo lab to capture monumental composite photographs of basilicas, cathedrals, and other ecclesiastical landmarks. Their process involves taking thousands of meter-by-meter shots of each structure over several years, then meticulously layering and arranging them into high-resolution images that correct perspective to create a striking one-point view. Brunetti's current solo exhibition, "Facades IV" at Yossi Milo gallery in New York City, features recent works including "Roma, Basilica di San Pietro" (2007-2026), which required seven visits over nineteen years to complete.

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.

Art House Productions Unveils "In The Wind" Public Art Installation

Art House Productions has unveiled "In The Wind," a large-scale public art installation in Lincoln Park, Jersey City, featuring artist-designed flags with original works by Hudson County artists. Curated by Tina Maneca, the exhibition celebrates the organization's 25th anniversary and includes over 80 artists who live, work, or maintain studios in Hudson County. The flags are installed around Edgewood Lake, moving with the wind to create a dynamic, ever-changing exhibition. All flags are priced at $500 and available for purchase. The installation runs from June through November 2026, with an opening reception on June 5, 2026, during ACCESS JC Fridays.

Australian Indigenous Art Speaks to Contemporary Concerns

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne, in collaboration with the National Gallery (NGA) in Washington, D.C., has organized 'The Stars We Do Not See,' the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Australian Indigenous art ever shown outside Australia. Opening in Washington on October 25 and running through March 1, 2026, the show features over 200 works from the 19th century to the present, including 130 of the NGV's most prized pieces by revered artists from across Australia. The title is inspired by late Yolŋu artist Gulumbu Yunupiŋu, known for her celestial mappings, and the exhibition will travel to several U.S. cities and Toronto over two and a half years.

Q&A: Laura Pass Barry

Laura Pass Barry has been appointed the Carlisle H. Humelsine chief curator at Colonial Williamsburg, a role that expands her responsibilities to include leadership of Collections, Conservation and Museums as vice president. Barry began her career at Colonial Williamsburg over 30 years ago as a curatorial intern in folk art, later working as assistant curator to Margaret Pritchard and eventually overseeing the graphics, paintings, and folk art collections. She holds degrees from the College of Wooster and the College of William & Mary.

See what's new for the Shelburne Museum's free community day

Shelburne Museum will host a free community day on May 9, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., celebrating its 2026 season. The event features three new exhibitions: "Varied and Alive - New and Rarely Seen Treasures from the Collection" (19th to mid-20th century folk art, circus posters, textiles, and more), "On Point - Needlework from the Garthwaite Family Collection" (Vermont schoolgirl needlework and women's education), and "Big River - Ogden Pleissner in Wyoming" (sketches and paintings of the American West). Activities include curator-led tours, artmaking sessions, live music by Marie Hamilton, Owen Leavey, and Deja Nous, a seed swap, and garden talks. The day is organized in collaboration with the Vermont Community Foundation.

‘Close, yet distant': MMCA exhibition revisits Korea-Japan artistic ties since 1945

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) in Gwacheon, South Korea, has opened a major exhibition titled “Art between Korea and Japan since 1945,” co-organized with the Yokohama Museum of Art. Running from May 14 to September 27, 2026, the show marks the 60th anniversary of normalized diplomatic ties between the two countries. Featuring some 200 works by 43 artists, including Zainichi artists and video art pioneer Nam June Paik, the exhibition traces eight decades of artistic exchange shaped by colonialism, war, division, and ongoing tensions. It previously opened in Yokohama, drawing over 37,000 visitors—significantly surpassing typical attendance—with strong interest from younger audiences.

kazakhstan pavilion turns silence into a sensory landscape at venice biennale

Kazakhstan presents its third national pavilion at the Venice Biennale, titled 'Qoñyr Äulie: Immersion into Quiet Depths' by artist Ardak Mukanova. The exhibition, called 'Qoñyr: the Archive of Silence,' is housed at the Museo Storico Navale near the Arsenale entrance and transforms silence into a sensory landscape.

The weird, wiggly universe of Icelandic artist Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir

The article profiles Icelandic artist Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir, whose multidisciplinary practice spans visual art, performance, music, poetry, and filmmaking. It describes a recent performance at Reykjavik's Mengi venue where the audience was invited onstage to be stirred with an imaginary spoon, and highlights her upcoming project 'Pocket Universe' representing Iceland at the Venice Biennale, installed in a former shipyard. The piece also explores her fluid relationship with time, her admiration for artists like Meredith Monk and Laurie Anderson, and the tight-knit, artist-run creative ecosystem of Reykjavik that shapes her work.

Artists and businesses shine at Lompoc’s First Thursday Art Walk

Downtown Lompoc hosted its monthly First Thursday Art Walk, transforming the area into an open-air gallery where artists, residents, and visitors gathered for an evening of creativity. Highlights included a live letterpress demonstration by Angelina LaPointe of Side Car Press at New Lows, local vendors at Fortified Tattoo, and a make-and-take craft project at Cypress Art Gallery. The event drew community members to venues such as Jupiters Spark Collection and Bella Florist.

GALLERY AN INVITATION TO ENJOY CONTEMPORARY ART IN THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES

Gallery, a free contemporary art event in Buenos Aires, returns for its first 2026 edition on Saturday, May 16th, connecting over 40 galleries, museums, art spaces, and foundations across the Recoleta, Retiro, and Microcentro neighborhoods. Organized by Arte al Día and Pinta, the event features guided tours led by specialists, live music performances, and special activities at each meeting point. Participating venues include Rolf Art, Vasari, Fundación Klemm, ARTHAUS CENTRAL, Isla Flotante, and others, with support from the Buenos Aires City Ministry of Culture.

The Paradox of Contemporary Art: The World Is Violent, but the Works Are Correct and Inoffensive

Il paradosso dell’arte contemporanea: il mondo è violento, ma le opere sono corrette e inoffensive

The article examines a paradox in contemporary art: as the world grows more violent and chaotic, art has become increasingly 'correct,' morally irreproachable, and inoffensive. The author argues that over the past fifteen years, artworks have been judged primarily by their moral and identity credentials, with curators acting as moral gatekeepers and censors. This shift coincides with a period when geopolitics, history, and public behavior have spiraled out of control, creating a strange compensatory dynamic where art is expected to be perfectly controlled and polite while reality grows brutal.

L’antica certosa vicino Siena dove il disegno è diventato una performance condivisa. Il report

The third edition of the De Linea Art Festival took place on May 2-3 at the Certosa di Pontignano near Siena, Italy. Curated by Matteo Marsan and Riccardo Guasco, the event transformed the historic monastery into a living laboratory of drawing, illustration, and performance. Nine illustrators—including Marina Marcolin, Francesco Poroli, Elisa Macellari, Gianluca Folì, Ale Giorgini, Gloria Pizzilli, Matteo Berton, Giovanna Giuliano, and Daniele Caluri—participated in a week-long residency, producing works inspired by the site and the festival's theme "Crepe e spiragli" (Cracks and Glimmers), a contemporary interpretation of a Leonard Cohen quote. Over 500 visitors attended workshops, talks, and shared creative sessions, including a workshop by Fondazione Il Bisonte and performances by actress Daniela Morozzi and graphic poet Alessandro Valenti (Alvalenti).

Interview with Nina Wakeford of the Swiss Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Intervista a Nina Wakeford del Padiglione Svizzero alla Biennale di Venezia 2026

Nina Wakeford, artist and curator of the Swiss Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, discusses the pavilion's project "The Unfinished Business of Living Together." The exhibition draws on two Swiss television broadcasts from 1978 and 1984—Telearena and Agora—in which gay, lesbian, and trans individuals spoke on national television. Rather than treating these as historical artifacts, Wakeford and her team (Gianmaria Andreetta, Luca Beeler, Miriam Laura Leonardi, Lithic Alliance, and Yul Tomatala) reactivate them as points of tension, creating a multimedia environment that explores unresolved issues of coexistence, visibility, and social difference.

Pavlina Vagioni Oikeiōsis: A Greek Artist Asks Venice to Remember How to Belong

Pavlina Vagioni's exhibition *Oikeiōsis*, presented by the Hellenic Diaspora Foundation at the Venice Biennale, takes its name from a Stoic concept about recognizing belonging and expanding care outward. The show is structured in two rooms: the first, named Neikos (strife), features a fragmented plexiglass cube that reflects visitors in multiplied form, evoking separation. The second, Philotes (harmony), contains warm rock-salt seats and a layered vocal soundscape that activates the Tartini effect—a psychoacoustic phenomenon where two frequencies produce a phantom third tone, symbolizing collective kinship. The salt seats will physically change over the Biennale's six-month run, accumulating the memory of each visitor.

Explore art’s future at Hong Kong’s Affordable Art Fair this May

Hong Kong's Affordable Art Fair (AAF) returns in May with the theme “See Art. Love Art. Own Art.”, featuring 106 local and international exhibitors—up from 98 last year—and artworks priced from HK$1,000 (US$128). The fair, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, aims to make art accessible to new and seasoned collectors alike, with a focus on transactions under US$50,000. Founder Will Ramsay highlights growing confidence in this market tier, citing a report by Affordable Art Fair × ArtTactic that shows 69% of galleries expect sales growth and that art fairs generate 44% of gallery revenues.

Frieze New Writers Pick Vienna’s Must-See Exhibitions

Andrew Durbin reviews national pavilions at a major art event, contrasting a vacuous US presentation with incisive and moving installations from Britain and Germany. The piece is part of Frieze's 'Critic's Guides' series, offering a pointed critique of the US pavilion's lack of meaning against the strength of its European counterparts.

'Optical debris': Be transported to a world of light and shadows at unique art exhibit

Two Vancouver-based artists, Emilie Fantuz and Gillian Richards, are showcasing their work in a joint exhibition titled "Liminal City" at the Pendulum Gallery in downtown Vancouver. The show explores the effects of light and shadow in painting, with Fantuz focusing on what she calls "optical debris"—bursts of light and shadows that fracture contemporary vision—while Richards highlights transitional urban spaces and functional architecture, elevating overlooked everyday scenes. Fantuz, who is completing her MFA at Emily Carr University, has shifted from detailed neighborhood paintings to abstract studies of light and perception, often filtered through windows and screens. Richards, a former scenic artist in the film industry, uses photography as a starting point to capture intimate views of utilitarian structures.

Hong Kong wows the crowds to sleep at the 2026 Venice Biennale

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys" by its late artistic director Koyo Kouoh, has been marked by loud protests and urgent environmental alarms, notably at Florentina Holzinger's Austria pavilion. Amid this chaos, the Hong Kong collateral exhibition "Fermata" at Campo della Tana offers a quiet counterpoint, featuring Kingsley Ng Siu-king's installation *Laundry Nocturne (2026)*, a rest lounge with padded floors and cushions that has caused visitors to doze off. The exhibition follows Kouoh's curatorial vision of creating space for silenced voices and convivial collectivity.

On the Somalia Pavillion

At the 2026 Venice Biennale, Somalia has established its first-ever national pavilion, commissioned by the Somali government to showcase the richness of Somali culture through the theme of Saddaxleey, a triadic form of Somali poetry and proverbs. The pavilion features works by Somali Swedish artist Ayan Farah, UK-based Somali Danish multidisciplinary artist Asmaa Jama, and Somali British poet Warsan Shire. However, a collective of queer Somali artists, curators, and culture workers called Warbixinta Cidda has publicly criticized the pavilion for overrepresenting the diaspora, selecting an all-male advisory board, and appointing an Italian co-curator instead of Somali curators, raising concerns about representation and neocolonialism.