british architecture sexism toxic culture

A report commissioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), titled the RIBA Build It Together report, reveals widespread sexism and toxic workplace culture in British architecture. Based on a survey of 635 industry workers conducted by the Fawcett Society, the report found that half of female respondents experienced bullying, one-third reported sexual harassment, and 83 percent said their career was hindered by having children. Many women described feeling humiliated, objectified, and traumatized, with 38 percent not reporting harassment for fear of consequences.

man arrested stone of destiny scottish museum

A 35-year-old man wearing a kilt was arrested at Perth Museum in Scotland on July 12, 2025, after allegedly breaking the glass protecting the Stone of Destiny, a 336-pound historical artifact central to British coronations. The museum was evacuated as a precaution, and no artifacts were damaged. The man is set to appear at Perth Sheriff Court, and the Stone of Destiny display remains closed.

work of the week krishna kanwal

A rare painting by Indian modernist Krishna Kanwal (1910–1993) sold for £152,800 ($207,573) at Bonhams London on June 5, setting a new auction record for the artist. Titled *Portrait of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at His Enthronement*, the work came from the collection of British diplomat Sir Basil Gould and depicts the 1940 enthronement ceremony of the four-year-old Dalai Lama. The sale also included a group of 40 watercolors by Kanwal that fetched £457,600, and the 49-lot dedicated sale of Gould's collection achieved £951,770 with a 96% sell-through rate.

eu import regulations

The European Union's Regulation 2019/880, aimed at combating illicit trafficking and terrorism, will take effect on June 28, imposing stricter import controls on antiquities and artworks over 200 years old and valued above €18,000 ($19,500). The regulation requires importers to provide evidence that an object was lawfully exported from its country of origin, even for items exported decades ago when such documentation was not required. This reverses the presumption of innocence, placing the burden of proof on importers. Dealers and experts express concern that the rules are not based on market realities, as importers must be registered within the E.U., forcing non-E.U. dealers to rely on third-party agents or shippers. The regulation also poses challenges for ancient objects, where borders and export controls may be historically ambiguous.

jewels buddha auction sothebys hong kong piprahwa gems

Sotheby’s Hong Kong will auction a collection of several hundred ancient Indian gem relics linked to Buddha’s mortal remains, known as the Piprahwa Gems, on May 7. The gems, dating to the Mauryan Empire (circa 240–200 BC), were unearthed in 1898 by British engineer William Caxton Peppé in Piprahwa, India, and have been held in a private British collection for over a century. The sale is estimated at HK$100 million (about $12.9 million USD).

design eiesha bharti pasricha estelle manor

Eiesha Bharti Pasricha, co-creative director of the Estelle Manor hotel and members' club in Oxfordshire, discusses her role in shaping the aesthetic and sensory experience of the property. The article profiles her background, from a childhood split between New Delhi and Scotland to her work in fashion and hospitality, and details how she developed the fictional muse 'Estelle' to guide the design of both Maison Estelle in London and the 108-room country estate, including art selection, fragrance, and a new capsule collection called Lady E.

fashion versace embodied dario vitale spring summer 2026 2

Versace has appointed Dario Vitale as its new Chief Creative Officer, and under his direction, the house launched the Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Milan Fashion Week alongside a new initiative called Versace Embodied. This series commissions photographers, painters, filmmakers, and poets to reinterpret Versace’s visual language through their own mediums. The first chapter features contributions from photographer Stef Mitchell, poet Eileen Myles, artist Collier Schorr, photographer Camille Vivier, and photographer Andrea Modica, whose works range from motorcycle portraits to hand-drawn nudes and regional Italian portraiture.

orlebar brown summer collection hamptons

Orlebar Brown and CULTURED magazine hosted a launch event in the Hamptons for the British brand's summer collection, held at Il Buco's Amagansett outpost. Guests included photographers, gallerists, a collector, an investor, a designer, and an artist, who mingled over drinks despite rainy weather.

‘As If’ by Isabel Waidner, Reviewed

Isabel Waidner’s latest novel, 'As If', follows the surreal intersection of two actors, Lewis and Korine, who share an uncanny resemblance and wives with the same name. After meeting in a Central London sublet, the pair decide to swap lives: the younger Korine takes over a high-stakes audition for the grieving Lewis, while Lewis assumes Korine’s domestic and financial burdens. Set against the brutalist backdrop of London’s Barbican and Golden Lane estate, the narrative uses this identity swap to explore the thin line between performance and reality.

‘Paper Gardens’: The Flower and the Serpent Beneath

The Museum of Art and Photography (MAP) in Bengaluru is hosting 'Paper Gardens,' an exhibition that re-examines the history of botanical art through the lens of British colonialism. While the show features visually stunning hand-coloured lithographs of rhododendrons and medicinal plants, it juxtaposes these aesthetics with the harsh realities of the East India Company’s surveys. The exhibition highlights how local Indian artists and knowledge keepers were often marginalized or left anonymous, even as their expertise was essential to the scientific and commercial success of the British Empire.

Joe Lycett to showcase artwork via Birmingham exhibition

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will stage the first major solo exhibition of artwork by comedian and artist Joe Lycett, titled 'EVERY THING MUST GO', opening on July 29, 2026. The exhibition will feature dozens of new, mixed-media works exploring themes of nostalgia, grief, and loss through Lycett's signature colorful and humorous style, focusing on subjects like deceased celebrities, extinct animals, and discontinued products.

Buried lines and bold beginnings

Timothy Akis, born around 1944 in Tsembaga village, Madang, is recognized as a pioneer of contemporary art in Papua New Guinea. His 1969 solo exhibition at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is considered the country's first Western-style show by a Papua New Guinean artist, catalyzing a modern art movement. Akis developed a distinctive drawing style using ballpoint, felt pen, and ink, depicting highlands creatures like cassowaries and flying foxes. His work inspired younger artists, notably Mathias Kauage, who became PNG's most internationally visible contemporary painter after seeing Akis's exhibition. Akis's career included exhibitions in Australia, Europe, and the United States, and his works are held by institutions such as the National Gallery of Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art.

Light on the water

The Victoria Art Gallery in Bath has announced 'The Transience of Light,' the first posthumous exhibition dedicated to the celebrated British printmaker Norman Ackroyd CBE RA. Opening on May 22, the retrospective features over five decades of etchings, ranging from his early 1980s works to his final pieces. Co-curated by the gallery’s senior curator Nathalie Levi alongside Ackroyd’s family and studio manager, the show includes archival material and a diverse range of subjects including his iconic remote coastal landscapes, cityscapes, and interiors.

Major art exhibition opens at Dorset museum

The Dorset Museum & Art Gallery in Dorchester has opened a major exhibition titled 'People Watching,' which explores portraiture in modern British art. The show features around 50 works from over 40 artists, spanning from 1915 to the present day, and combines pieces from The Ingram Collection with the museum's own holdings, including several never-before-seen works.

Banksy’s Bethlehem hotel, closed following 7 October attacks, reopens as ‘cultural platform that carries the narrative of Palestine’

Banksy's Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, which closed after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war, has reopened. The hotel, originally launched in 2017, faces the West Bank barrier and was designed to bring tourism to the area while exposing guests to life under the wall. Manager Wisam Salsaa says the hotel now serves as a cultural platform amplifying Palestinian voices, with over 20 original Banksy works still on display. Room prices range from $70 for a bunkbed to $495 for the presidential suite.

Sainsbury Centre receives one of largest ever UK museum donations

The Sainsbury Centre, an art museum in Norwich, England, has received a £91.2 million donation from British politician and businessman David Sainsbury through his charitable foundation, Gatsby. The funds will be used to renovate the grade II* listed building, originally designed by Norman Foster and completed in 1978. The renovation, led by Foster + Partners, includes improvements to the building envelope, photovoltaic panels, and upgraded visitor facilities, aiming to halve the museum's energy use and support the University of East Anglia's net zero campus goal by 2045.

Venice Biennale opens without a jury amid strife over Russian and Israeli participation

The Venice Biennale, one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions, opens its most contested edition in memory without a jury after the jury resigned in protest over the participation of Israel and Russia, both under investigation by the International Criminal Court for human rights abuses. Protests have erupted outside the Israeli and Russian pavilions, with demonstrators clashing with police, while feminist groups from Ukraine and Russia converged on the Russian Pavilion and Palestinians remembered artists killed in Gaza. The Biennale has replaced the jury with a public vote via email, with winners announced at the close on November 22.

Expo 86-themed events and ‘A Little Art Buzz’ at Surrey Art Gallery in May

Surrey Art Gallery in British Columbia is hosting a series of events throughout May 2026, centered on the exhibition "In the Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art." Highlights include a Family Art Jam on May 3, an artist talk with Leah Murray on May 7, a symposium titled "Expo Lines: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art" on May 9, and a curator’s tour with Jordan Strom on May 28. The events explore the artistic legacy of Vancouver’s 1986 world’s fair, which drew 22 million visitors, and feature works by over 50 artists including Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Debra Sparrow, and Paul Wong.

A Grandmother’s Keepsake Turns Out to Be an Imperial Chinese Robe Worth Thousands

A collection of Chinese antiques, including an Imperial robe from the 19th century, was discovered in a chest in London after being kept as family mementos for decades. The items were acquired by Nan Brake, a British translator living in Beijing during the 1950s, who purchased them on excursions around the city. The collection, which features Ming dynasty paintings, Qing dynasty embroidered robes, and jade ornaments, will be auctioned by Roseberys on May 12 with an estimated total value of £40,000 ($54,100). The standout piece is a turquoise silk Imperial robe embroidered with nine five-clawed dragons, likely made for a male member of the emperor's family.

Births, deaths and a first kiss: life near the frontline in Ukraine – in pictures

British-Iranian artist Aria Shahrokhshahi's long-term photographic project "Wet Ground" captures daily life in Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion, focusing on moments of youth, subculture, and fragile continuity rather than traditional war imagery. The series, developed through repeated stays and volunteering since 2019, includes scenes from teenage discos, hospital wards, a birth during a missile attack, and a first kiss near the frontline, all shot in stark black and white.

Member's Spotlight Exhibition Opening Reception: Simon Robins: Sociable

The Contemporary Dayton is hosting a Member's Spotlight Exhibition titled "Simon Robins: Sociable," running from June 5 to June 27, 2026, with an opening reception on June 5 from 6-8 PM. The exhibition features paintings by Simon Robins that draw from public domain and found photographs sourced from digital archives, which he crops, recolors, and recontextualizes to create works that feel both familiar and elusive. Robins, a collections librarian and faculty member at the University of Dayton, uses his archival expertise to explore themes of social alienation, belonging, and the power dynamics embedded in historical image collections.

The largest U.S. showcase of ancient Italy's fascinating Etruscan culture debuts at Legion of Honor.

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have opened "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy" at the Legion of Honor, the largest U.S. exhibition dedicated to the ancient Etruscan civilization. Curated by Renée Dreyfus, the show brings together approximately 150 objects borrowed from 28 institutions, including the Vatican, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It explores Etruscan engineering, architecture, art, and social customs, including the elevated status of women, and features highlights such as a granulated gold drinking bowl and the bronze Liver of Piacenza.

'I want the colour to talk' Artist Sarah Spackman celebrates 20 years at Sarah Wiseman Gallery in Summertown with new exhibition Continuum

Artist Sarah Spackman is preparing for a new exhibition titled "Continuum" at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery in Summertown, celebrating 20 years of collaboration with the gallery. The show features 30 new still lifes, reflecting Spackman's evolving style toward greater simplicity and focus on single objects, color, and quiet intensity. Spackman, an Oxford-based artist and elected member of the Royal Society of British Artists and Royal Institute of Oil Painters, describes her process as organic, often sketching first thing in the morning and working primarily with color to let it "talk" on the canvas.

New Schwarzman Center art exhibits highlight student experiences

Five new exhibitions opened at the Yale Schwarzman Center on April 7, featuring work from 53 young artists including New Haven high school students, Yale undergraduates, and graduate students. The shows explore themes of identity, unity, memory, nature, and emotion through visual art, photography, installation, digital work, and multimedia. Highlights include "Call-to-Connect," an interactive payphone installation by Soleil Piverger; "The View From Here: Accessing Art Through Photography," a smartphone photography exhibition in collaboration with the Yale Center for British Art; and "Rooted in Heritage: Art Across Yale’s Cultural Centers," curated by Carlynne Robinson, featuring works reflecting multicultural communities at Yale.

Europe: China’s censorship of cultural institutions must be challenged - ARTICLE 19

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has reportedly removed maps and images from exhibition catalogues on multiple occasions following pressure from its Chinese publisher, C&C Offset Printing. The publisher cited directives from China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), which enforces the Chinese Communist Party's official narratives on sensitive topics like territorial borders.

Renowned painter set to showcase more than 30 paintings in exhibition

Cornwall-based artist David Mankin is set to debut a major solo exhibition at the Vanner Gallery in Salisbury, featuring over 30 abstract landscape paintings. The collection spans a diverse range of scales, from intimate works on wooden panels to expansive, dramatic canvases, showcasing both new and existing pieces that capture the rugged beauty of the Cornish coast.

The World's Most-Visited Museums – and Why Germany is Falling Behind

Die meistbesuchten Museen weltweit – und warum Deutschland hinterherhinkt

The Art Newspaper's 2025 ranking of the world's most-visited museums reveals a global landscape dominated by institutions in Paris, Seoul, London, and New York. The Louvre leads with just over nine million visitors, followed by the Vatican Museums and Seoul's National Museum of Korea, which doubled its attendance to 6.5 million. Notable trends include strong post-pandemic recoveries at New York's MoMA and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, while London's Tate Modern and National Gallery still lag significantly behind their 2019 numbers.

Mummies and other human remains held in UK museums raise serious ethical questions, warn scholars

A major investigation has revealed that UK museums, universities, and local authorities hold more than 263,000 human remains, including mummies, skeletons, and skulls. Of these, approximately 37,000 originate from overseas, largely from former British colonies, often acquired without consent. The findings have sparked intense criticism from scholars and curators who argue that the sheer scale of these collections reflects a distressing colonial legacy and necessitates a systemic shift toward repatriation and more ethical storage practices.

Ancient Egyptian form of ‘Tipp-Ex’ identified on papyrus at UK’s Fitzwilliam Museum

Researchers at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge have discovered a 3,300-year-old form of corrective fluid on an Ancient Egyptian papyrus. Analysis of a 'Book of the Dead' created for a royal archivist named Ramose revealed that a mixture of huntite, calcite, and yellow orpiment was used to paint over a jackal figure to make it appear slimmer. This 'ancient Tipp-Ex' was specifically tinted to match the cream-colored papyrus, demonstrating a sophisticated level of aesthetic correction and attention to detail by Egyptian craftspeople.

Historic Attendance Elevates Korean Cultural Legacy as ‘Korean Treasures’ Exhibition Draws to a Close in Washington

The 'Korean Treasures: Collected, Cherished, Shared' exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington D.C. concluded on February 1st after drawing an estimated 65,000 visitors. The show featured over 200 works from the vast personal art collection of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee and was celebrated with a gala event hosted by Samsung Electronics and the museum, attended by the Lee family, U.S. politicians, and business leaders.