Paula Punkstiņa's exhibition "The Arrows of Concerns" opened at Kim? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga, running from March 14 to May 19, 2026. Curated by Zane Onckule, the show presents 33 images documenting the artist's work, with photography by Ansis Starks.
Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, the Belgian design studio founded by Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, has created "CLAUSURA," a life-size steel sculpture tracing the footprint of the vanished 16th-century Gothic church at Herkenrode Abbey in Hasselt, Belgium. The ethereal framework of slender steel rods rises from the original site, offering a transparent, abstract reconstruction that evokes the abbey's lost architecture through suggestion rather than literal rebuilding. The first phase opens to the public on June 18 as part of a broader restoration led by Herita.
Bonnie Keren He, a 17-year-old artist born in New York and raised between Suzhou, China, and New York, opened her solo exhibition "INNA BEAUTI" at Flushing Town Hall Gallery in New York City on April 19, 2026. The exhibition, curated by Dr. Hao Qingsong, Cindy Jiang, and Grace Jiang, features works across media including colored pencil, acrylic, oil painting, embroidery, and performance art, exploring themes of cultural identity, memory, and inner reflection. Notable attendees included political figures Jimmy Meng and Ron Kim, and the opening was hosted by Ge Chen of Global Cloud Media.
Artist with disabilities debuts their first solo exhibition in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as reported by the Brooklyn Eagle. The show marks a significant milestone for the artist, who has navigated barriers in the art world to present a body of work in a professional gallery setting.
The Schaap Center, a long-anticipated arts venue, is finally opening this weekend, fulfilling a dream for local arts enthusiasts in the Detroit area. The center is expected to host a variety of cultural events and exhibitions, marking a significant milestone for the community's arts scene.
The solo art exhibition of Tapati Bhowmik Majumder, Tripura's first National Award-winning woman artist, opened on May 12 at Mumbai's Jahangir Art Gallery. The show was inaugurated by Maharashtra Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, marking the first time a Governor of Maharashtra has attended an inauguration at the gallery. Special guests included professor and artist Maruti Selke and actress Jayati Bhatia. The exhibition runs through May 18.
Nepali visual artist and photographer Jyoti Shrestha, 29, will exhibit her photography collection ‘Chhyake’ in the official collateral exhibition ‘Personal Structures’ at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026. Organized by the European Cultural Centre (ECC), the exhibition runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, and features 150 international artists. Shrestha’s work explores intergenerational shame, body politics, and identity, drawing on the Nepali word ‘Chhyake’—meaning scars from skin disease—to examine inherited perceptions of ugliness within her family.
The Katara Cultural Village Foundation in Doha, Qatar, inaugurated the “Contemporary Graphic Art” exhibition on Monday evening, featuring 170 artworks by 29 artists from Qatar and various Arab and international countries. The exhibition showcases diverse modern printing techniques, including relief, intaglio, porous, flatbed, and monochrome printing, and will run until May 18 in Hall 18 at Katara.
The Venice Biennale jury has excluded Russia and Israel from eligibility for artist awards, following the EU's threat to cut funding over geopolitical concerns. The decision bars artists from these countries from being considered for official prizes at the prestigious international art exhibition.
The Fox Clark Gallery is hosting a new exhibition celebrating Bill Double and his 50-year artistic career. The show highlights Double's evolution as an artist over five decades, featuring a range of works that trace his creative journey and contributions to the visual arts.
Atelier Gallery in Salmon Arm will host "Springing Forth," the first exhibition in the city from the Federation of Canadian Artists' Thompson Nicola Shuswap Chapter. The show runs from May 1 to May 16 and features works by artists from the Shuswap, Kamloops, and Okanagan regions, selected through a peer jury process.
L’arrivo dell’hotel Orient Express a Venezia riapre lo storico Palazzo Donà Giovannelli (riempiendolo di arte contemporanea)
Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, a 15th-century Venetian palace, has reopened as the flagship Orient Express hotel after an eight-year restoration led by architect and interior designer Aline Asmar d’Amman. Located in the Cannaregio district, the 5-star luxury hotel features 47 rooms, suites, and residences, blending historical frescoes and neogothic details with contemporary sculptures, Murano glass chandeliers, and custom furnishings. The property, owned by Arsenale Group since 2019, includes a transformed courtyard lobby, a secret garden, and a rotating selection of contemporary artworks displayed in a passage called Calle Meraviglia.
Giuria o pubblico? La Biennale non è un algoritmo, ma neppure una liturgia
The article critically examines the proposal for "Visitor Lions" (Leoni dei Visitatori) at the Venice Biennale, arguing that the idea is a fragile, quick-fix response to a deeper crisis. It questions whether replacing expert juries with public voting would truly improve the selection process, noting that both systems have significant flaws: juries are not necessarily neutral, often rushed and filtered, while public voting risks favoring accessible, easily consumable works and reinforcing existing hierarchies.
L’Agendissima di Artribune in occasione della Biennale Arte 2026. La guida completa agli eventi da scaricare
Artribune has released its "Agendissima" guide for the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, running from May 9 to November 22, 2026, across the Giardini, Arsenale, and various venues in Venice. The guide provides schedules, addresses, and recommendations for openings, pavilions, exhibitions, and evening events during the preview days, available for online consultation, download, and printing.
The Luine Archaeological Park in Valcamonica, Italy, closed on April 1, 2026, after the municipality of Darfo Boario Terme, led by Mayor Dario Colossi, failed to renew the management contract held by Zamenhof Art and ArchExperience. The park, which houses rock engravings dating back to the end of the Paleolithic period (about 13,000 years ago), is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a unique part of the Camunian park system. Weeks after the closure, the park remains in limbo with no clear reopening date, while multimedia installations and digital content created by the former managers are being removed. The story has received little media attention beyond local outlets.
Il processo per assegnare il titolo di Capitale Italiana della Cultura andrebbe ripensato. Ecco perché
An analysis of the selection process for Italy's "Capital of Culture" title reveals a consistent pattern: cities chosen for the prestigious designation are almost exclusively administered by political coalitions aligned with the national government in power at the time of selection. The sole exceptions were Bergamo and Brescia, which were jointly awarded the title via a special parliamentary decree in recognition of their suffering during the pandemic, bypassing the standard procedure. This political alignment has persisted across different legislatures and changes in government.
The Escalante Canyons Art Festival returns September 18–27, 2026, in Southern Utah, inviting artists and visitors to engage with the landscape through plein air painting, studio submissions, and special categories like nocturne and miniature works. The festival offers over $10,000 in prizes, including a Best of Show purchase award of $1,500, and features a dedicated junior division with no entry fee. Highlights include the Escalante 150th Anniversary Paint-Out, workshops, live music, judges’ talks, historic walking tours, and a play by local playwright Raymond Shurtz, all set near the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council presents "Lifework," an exhibition of artworks by seven artists from the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent (KCAT) Studio. The show runs from May 9 to August 26, 2026 at the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon in Dún Laoghaire, featuring artists Thomas Barron, Declan Byrne, Lorna Corrigan, Sinéad Fahey, Fergus Fitzgerald, Andrew Pike, and Jason Turner. Curated by Dominic Thorpe, the exhibition pairs each artist's earliest work with recent pieces to highlight their long-term artistic development. A concurrent showcase of inclusive artwork from the county will be displayed in Gallery Two, accompanied by workshops programmed by Moran Been-noon and Rayne Booth.
The Heilongjiang Provincial Artists Association held its 2026 annual work meeting and the 7th 9th Presidium (Expanded) Meeting on April 29, 2026, via a hybrid online-offline format. Over 100 participants attended, including presidium members, council members, heads of municipal and industry artists associations, and committee members. The meeting conveyed directives from the China Artists Association's study and implementation of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, as well as the provincial文联's work arrangements. It summarized 2025 work and outlined key tasks for 2026, emphasizing ideological guidance through Xi Jinping's cultural thought, people-centered creative direction focusing on local themes like black soil culture and borderland heritage, and strengthening of traditional art forms such as Heilongjiang printmaking and watercolor. The meeting also approved new council member additions, first-batch 2026 membership applications, and committee adjustments.
The Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria will host 'Between Here and Elsewhere,' an exhibition featuring the Top 10 artists from the 2025/26 Tlhagella Incubation Programme. Curated by Puleng Plessie, the show opens on 1 May 2026 and presents works that explore themes of presence, memory, and belonging through a polyphonic, multi-perspectival approach.
The Sharjah Art Foundation has launched the ninth cycle of its Short Film Production Grant 2026, issuing an open call for applications from filmmakers worldwide. The grant provides financial support, with a total fund of AED 120,000 (approx. USD 30,000), for the completion of short films of 50 minutes or less across all genres. Selected projects may also premiere at a future edition of the Sharjah Film Platform festival.
CRÍTICA DE ARTE: ¿CLARIDAD O AUTORITARISMO MORAL?
The article is a critical essay examining the state of contemporary art production in Mexico, arguing it has become a privatized field designed to please wealthy elites and foreign collectors. It contends that art has shifted from being partly publicly funded to being driven by the market and private initiative, leading to a culture of self-censorship, precarity, and a desperate ambition for visibility and sales.
A new commercial gallery called the Runjeet Singh Gallery is opening in Leamington town centre at 37 Chandos Street. Its inaugural weekend runs from April 24 to 26, 2026, and it plans to present a rotating program of solo and group exhibitions focusing on artists from the South Asian diaspora.
The Umbrella Gallery is hosting an exhibition titled "Afrocentric," which showcases visual and mixed media art celebrating the African diaspora. The show focuses on African and Afro-descendant perspectives, exploring themes of heritage, cultural memory, identity, self-definition, migration, resistance, joy, and futurism. It aims to present history as a living presence through echoes of ancestral storytelling.
The Studio Museum in Harlem has launched an open call for applications to its 2026–27 Artist-in-Residence programme. The year-long residency, running from November 2026 to October 2027, offers a $50,000 stipend, private studio space, curatorial mentorship, and culminates in a public exhibition for a small cohort of selected artists. The programme is specifically geared toward supporting artists of African and Afro-Latinx descent.
An art show in San Miguel de Allende has sparked public debate after featuring works that use color as a vehicle for social commentary. The exhibition, which includes pieces by local and national artists, explores themes of identity, inequality, and cultural heritage through bold chromatic choices, drawing both praise and criticism from viewers and cultural commentators.
The Watercolor USA national competitive exhibition, a prestigious showcase of contemporary American watercolor painting, opens on Saturday, May 30, at the Spiva Center for the Arts, located in the Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex in Joplin, Missouri. This marks the second year Spiva has hosted the event, which was originally a signature exhibition of the Springfield Art Museum since its inception in 1962, but has moved temporarily while the museum undergoes renovation.
An exhibition titled 'Pioneers of Omani Art' has opened at the State Tretyakov Museum in Moscow, organized by the National Museum of Oman. Running until August 16, it features 23 artworks by 17 prominent Omani artists, including pieces such as 'The Shirt of Dreams 2' by Musa bin Omar Al Zadjali and 'Faces' by Alia bint Ali Al Farsi, showcasing the evolution of Oman's modern visual art movement through themes of culture, heritage, and natural environment.
The Redwood Art Association Gallery in Eureka, California, is hosting the Artist’s Choice Exhibition from May 26 through June 19, 2026. Online entry is open until May 22, with physical entry day on May 23. Lindsay Kessner will serve as the judge for this year's exhibition, which has transitioned from a visitor-voted favorite to a judged format due to popular demand.
A new art museum has opened in the Texas Hill Country, as reported by Texas Monthly. The museum aims to become a major cultural destination in the region, offering a significant collection and exhibition space for visitors.