senegal ivory coast france repatriation

Senegal and Ivory Coast have formally requested the repatriation of thousands of artifacts from French museum collections, following a groundbreaking French government report published on November 23 that recommends returning colonial-era objects taken before 1960. Senegalese culture minister Abdou Latif Coulibaly announced plans to file a formal request for up to 10,000 Senegalese objects, while Ivorian authorities have submitted a list of about 100 masterpieces, with director Silvie Memel Kassi noting up to 4,000 Ivorian objects remain in Paris's Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

medina triennial western new york

A new contemporary art triennial is set to launch in 2026 in Medina, a small village in Western New York with a population of about 6,000. The Medina Triennial will feature approximately 50 site-responsive works created by invited artists across indoor and outdoor locations, including former industrial buildings and spaces along the Erie Canal. The exhibition is co-directed by Kari Conte and Karin Laansoo, with associate curator Ekrem Serdar, and is conceived by the New York Power Authority and the New York State Canal Corporation to revitalize the canal and highlight its significance. A steering committee includes major regional institutions such as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, the University at Buffalo, the Memorial Art Gallery, and the Corning Museum of Glass. The inaugural edition runs from June 6 to September 7, 2026, with a hub opening in September 2025 for public programs.

vancouver art gallery lays off 30 unionized employees

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is laying off approximately 30 unionized staff members, representing about 20% of its 150 unionized employees represented by CUPE 15. The layoffs, described by a spokesperson as necessary for long-term sustainability, follow the departure of director Anthony Kiendl in March and the cancellation of a planned C$600 million building by Herzog & de Meuron last December. The gallery is now seeking a simpler, less expensive new home, inviting 14 Canadian architectural firms to apply. The city of Vancouver, a key funder, has also announced budget cuts and hiring freezes, compounding the gallery's financial challenges.

louvre paris closed monday due to strike working conditions

The Louvre in Paris was forced to close on Monday after museum docents, ticket sellers, and security workers staged a spontaneous strike to protest overcrowding and understaffing during the city's busiest tourist season. The walkout, announced during a routine internal meeting, left visitors frustrated and confused. Union representative Sarah Sefian of CGT-Culture said most staff planned to strike for the full day, though some might return to open a limited "masterpiece route" for ticket holders to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. The museum typically closes on Tuesdays, and workers may return Wednesday.

galerie simon blais francoise sullivan

A survey exhibition titled "Françoise Sullivan: Le temps du geste" is on view at Galerie Simon Blais in Montreal, showcasing the multidisciplinary career of French Canadian artist Françoise Sullivan. The show spans works from the 1940s to the present, including painting, sculpture, photography, and choreography, and highlights dialogues between different phases of her practice. Sullivan, who signed the Refus Global manifesto in 1948, is the only active member of that group, and the exhibition features pieces such as the watercolor "Sans titre – Turquie, Ruines de Commagène à Nemrut Dağ" (1996) and the geometric abstraction "Les damiers no. 4" (2018). The exhibition runs through June 14, 2025.

shooting washington dc jewish museum

A shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night killed two Israeli embassy staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, in what authorities have called an antisemitic attack. The gunman, Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, opened fire as the victims exited a diplomatic event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, then entered the museum where he was detained by security. Police reported that Rodriguez shouted “free, free Palestine” after being taken into custody. The museum expressed heartbreak and condemned the violence, while the Israeli embassy mourned the loss of the couple, who were engaged to be married.

bryn mawr college nekisha durrett monument lab

Monument Lab and Bryn Mawr College have unveiled a permanent public artwork by Nekisha Durrett titled "Don't Forget to Remember (Me)" in the school's Cloisters courtyard. The installation features 9,000 custom pavers arranged in an intertwined knot pattern, with 250 of them engraved with the names of Black staff whose labor was essential to the college's early operations but went unrecognized. The project emerged from a multiyear initiative called Art Remediating Campus Histories, which included symposia, lectures, and community consultations to address the institution's histories of systemic exclusion.

sfmoma cuts nearly 40 staffers amid labor talks

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has cut 29 positions, nearly 8 percent of its workforce, with 26 of those affected being members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 29. The layoffs, which include 20 full-time and 9 part-time roles, were announced abruptly with less than a day's warning, drawing criticism from union officials who say they were not given a chance to discuss alternatives or negotiate severance. Museum director Christopher Bedford stated the cuts were necessary due to financial challenges, and that enhanced severance packages were provided to union members. The affected staff reportedly hold public-facing or visitor service roles, and it remains unclear if curatorial or senior-level positions were included.

ronen zien tel aviv museum of art

Ronen Zien, an artist born in the Arab city of Shefa Amr in northern Israel, presents a solo exhibition titled "Walking Into" at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. The show features works that explore memory, time, and borders, including a life-size video piece where Zien walks into a faded family photograph from the 1990s. Using chroma key technology, he inserts himself into images from his childhood and historic photographs, such as a 19th-century print by Félix Bonfils. The exhibition draws on Zien's family history within the Druze community, which is divided by the Israel–Syria border, and includes works created in the six months before its February 2025 opening, amid ongoing war tensions.

bayeux tapestry fragment rediscovered in germany

A long-lost fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry, the 11th-century embroidered chronicle of the Norman Conquest of England, has been rediscovered in the Schleswig-Holstein State Archives in Schleswig, Germany. The roughly one-inch linen piece belonged to the estate of archaeologist Karl Schlabow, who had been part of a Nazi-affiliated group that re-measured the tapestry in 1941. The fragment will be repatriated to France later this year, but first it will go on public display at the Museum of Archaeology at Gottorf Castle as part of the exhibition “Viking Twilight: Turning Point in the North” from April 16 through November 2.

LATIN AMERICA AT THE VENICE BIENNALE: A VISUAL TOUR OF THE CENTRAL EXHIBITION

LATINOAMÉRICA EN LA BIENAL DE VENECIA: UN RECORRIDO VISUAL POR LA MUESTRA CENTRAL

The 61st Venice Biennale, titled "In Minor Keys," opened its preview days on May 8, 2025, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh (1967–2025). The central exhibition, realized by a team she selected before her death, features 110 participants from around the world, with a strong Latin American presence of 15 artists, collectives, and organizations. The show explores themes of colonial history, plantation economies, geological memory, and environmental crisis through works that emphasize shared materials, politics, and poetics across geographies from Dakar to San Juan.

Form in the Age of Living Materials. Interview with Curator Pablo José Ramírez

LA FORMA EN LA ERA DE LOS MATERIALES VIVOS. ENTREVISTA AL CURADOR PABLO JOSÉ RAMÍREZ

The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles is presenting "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," an exhibition curated by Pablo José Ramírez running until August 23. Featuring 22 artists from the Americas, the show explores materials such as avocado, cacao, achiote, cochineal, stone, clay, and natural dyes that evolve, degrade, or transform over time. Organized into three acts, the exhibition challenges conventional notions of the art object by treating these materials as living agents with memory and agency, rooted in Indigenous knowledge and the concept of "brownness." In an interview, Ramírez discusses how these materials destabilize extractivist logics and institutional frameworks, forcing a rethinking of conservation protocols and the very conditions of exhibition-making.

GEORGE FEBRES: TRADUCCIÓN, IRONÍA Y LIBERACIÓN. UN ARTISTA ECUATORIANO EN LA DIÁSPORA

George Febres (Guayaquil, 1943 – New Orleans, 1996) was an Ecuadorian artist whose work blended pop art, neo-surrealism, and Southern U.S. culture, shaped by his experience as a migrant and queer individual. The article traces his life from a privileged but unstable childhood in Ecuador to his migration to the United States, where he was drafted during the Vietnam War and eventually settled in New Orleans. Febres used bilingualism and ironic appropriation of tropical imagery to create a hybrid, irreverent body of work that challenges the official historiography of Ecuadorian art.

LA LECHUZA DE MINERVA

The Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, founded in 1926 by a small group of artists, has launched a centenary exhibition titled "La lechuza de Minerva" (The Owl of Minerva). Curated by Isabella Lenzi, the project revisits the institution's most disruptive exhibition, "El sueño imperativo" (1991), curated by Mar Villaespesa, which invited twelve artists to intervene in both exhibition spaces and transit areas, challenging traditional display logic. The new exhibition features works by artists including Dagoberto Rodríguez, Elo Vega, Rogelio López Cuenca, Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Itziar Okariz, Los Carpinteros, María Salgado, Pedro G. Romero, Regina Silveira, Silbatriz Pons, and Tino Sehgal, who activate hidden and unexpected corners of the building through visual and sound actions. The project also restores Nancy Spero's 1991 intervention "Minerva, Sky Goddess," which had largely disappeared, through archaeological research led by restorer Rocío Casasus.

Santiago Yahuarcani: The Beginning of Knowledge

SANTIAGO YAHUARCANI: EL PRINCIPIO DEL CONOCIMIENTO

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) is hosting "El principio del conocimiento," the first solo exhibition in Brazil for Peruvian artist Santiago Yahuarcani. Curated by Amanda Carneiro, the show features approximately 35 paintings on llanchama (tree bark) that explore the Uitoto worldview. The exhibition is organized into five thematic sections that navigate the sensory experience of the Amazon, the spiritual significance of sacred plants like coca and tobacco, and the brutal historical memory of colonial extraction.

CARTIER FOUNDATION. A THIN LINE BETWEEN EXTRACTIVISM AND CULTURAL RECLAMATION

FUNDACIÓN CARTIER. UNA DELGADA LÍNEA ENTRE EXTRACTIVISMO Y REIVINDICACIÓN CULTURAL

The Cartier Foundation inaugurated its new Paris headquarters on October 25 with the exhibition "Exposition Générale." The curatorial approach and, most notably, the labyrinthine architectural design by Jean Nouvel have drawn criticism from the specialized press, described as disappointing and patchwork. The new space, a dense black cube in central Paris, represents a radical departure from the foundation's previous luminous, glass-walled hall, forcing a complete rethinking of how to present its 40-year collection.

Everything is Common

TODO ES COMÚN

The exhibition 'Todo es común' (Everything is Common) is on view until June 21, 2026, at the Sala Europa in Badajoz, Spain. Curated by Adonay Bermúdez, it brings together works by fifteen international artists to examine the agricultural landscape as a space where practices, memories, and political tensions intersect, moving beyond its purely material condition.

The Whitney Museum Raised $6.3 Million Last Night

The Whitney Museum of American Art raised $6.3 million at its annual benefit gala on Tuesday night, honoring artist Julie Mehretu, Board Chair Fern Kaye Tessler, and Director Emeritus Adam D. Weinberg. The event drew a crowd of artists, actors, musicians, and arts leaders, with a performance by Grammy winner Shaggy and a seated dinner at the museum's downtown flagship.

collector questionnaire yu chi lyra kuo technology art

Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo, an entrepreneur, investor, and Harvard-educated lawyer, is profiled for her pioneering work at the intersection of frontier technology and art. A former Princeton academic and one of the youngest board members of the Shed in New York, Kuo began collecting art as a child with a jade gourd from her grandfather's museum of Asian carvings. She was an early entrant into blockchain in 2011, co-founded OpenSea 2.0, and now advises frontier tech companies like Orchid Health. Kuo believes technologies such as AI and robotics can enhance human creativity, enabling individualized artworks, autonomous creations, and robot performances, rather than replacing human cultural meaning.

art sonya yu philanthropy

Philanthropist Sonya Yu made headlines in December by funding universal admission to MoMA PS1, making the Queens institution the largest free museum in New York. Based on the West Coast, she serves on the boards of SFMOMA and the Hammer Museum. In this interview, Yu discusses her influences, her views on the art industry, and her personal philosophy, touching on topics like stagnation, curiosity, and the importance of world-building over algorithm-chasing.

art artists and mothers nonprofit organization

Since 2024, the nonprofit organization Artists & Mothers has been addressing a critical gap in the art world by offering grants for nine months of childcare to New York-based artists with children under three. The organization was founded by Julia Trotta and Maria De Victoria, with board members including Camille Henrot, Bridget Donahue, Maia Ruth Lee, Sarah Goulet, and Elizabeth Karp-Evans. In a Q&A format, the group discusses their motivations, influences, and hopes for a more equitable art world, highlighting works such as Lea Lublin's 1968 performance "Mon fils" and anticipating Ei Arakawa-Nash's Japanese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

art new museum building new humans

The New Museum in New York has reopened after two years with a major expansion designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, doubling its size to 60,000 additional square feet. The inaugural exhibition, “New Humans: Memories of the Future,” curated by Massimiliano Gioni, features over 800 objects by more than 200 artists, scientists, and designers across three main floors. The show explores how concepts of the human have evolved in response to technological innovation over the past century, with thematic chapters such as “Reproductive Futures” and a site-specific sculpture by Klára Hosnedlová in the new Atrium Stair.

art kenturah davis los angeles artist studio

Kenturah Davis, a Los Angeles- and Accra-based artist known for large-scale drawings and carbon pencil rubbings that incorporate text, lost her Altadena home and studio in the Eaton fire last year. In response, she helped organize “Ode to ‘Dena,” a group show at the California African American Museum honoring the neighborhood, and is now launching Rest Stops, a restorative public art project and community garden aiming to establish 10 green spaces by 2027. She has also taken up pottery classes and rebuilt her studio practice in a new Altadena sanctuary.

art valeria bross amaury vergara guadalajara

Amaury Vergara and Valeria Bross, a prominent collecting couple in Guadalajara, Mexico, have built a collection that reflects their local roots and the growing international resonance of the city's art scene. Vergara, CEO of Omnilife and president of CD Guadalajara, and Bross, a wedding photographer, acquire works through private studio visits and fairs like Zona Maco. Their home features pieces by Mexican contemporary artists such as Adela Goldbard, whose work 'Nochixtlán (III)' memorializes a 2016 protest in Oaxaca. They discuss Guadalajara's distinct, non-competitive artistic environment and its rise as a destination for collectors seeking alternatives to Mexico City.

art naomi beckwith guggenheim museum curator

Naomi Beckwith, deputy director and chief curator of the Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, has relocated to Kassel, Germany, as artistic director of Documenta 16, which opens in June 2027. The article follows her early impressions of Kassel, a city shaped by immigration and still grappling with its post-reunification identity, and touches on the political and cultural debates surrounding Documenta after controversy over antisemitic imagery in its previous edition. Beckwith is also organizing a concurrent exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, titled "Echo Delay Reverb: American Art, Francophone Thought."

collector questionnaire allison sarofim beauty marfa

Allison Sarofim, a Houston-born patron and founder of the clean skincare line Loulu Hawai‘i, is profiled in a CULTURED questionnaire. She recounts her art-collecting journey, which began with a Mark Rothko given by her father to her mother upon her birth, later gifted to her on her 30th birthday. Her first purchase was an Andy Warhol gold-leaf portrait of Stuart Preston. Sarofim serves as a founding board member of Ballroom Marfa, which recently acquired the 75-year-old Auction Sale Barn (the Bull Room) to transform into a performing arts space. She also discusses the inspiration behind her beauty line, rooted in Hawaii's botanicals and the spirit of aloha, and plans for new products in 2026.

art world gallery dinner politics parties

Art-world insiders share their best and worst experiences at gallery dinners, from seating disasters and VIP-only food queues to intimate gatherings and haunted-house Halloween parties. Contributors include collectors, artists, curators, writers, and gallerists who recount memorable evenings hosted by figures like Jose Martos and White Cube, revealing the social dynamics that define these events.

design fashion black bourgeois aesthetic rob franklin

The article is a personal essay by a writer reflecting on the play "Purpose" and its depiction of a Black political family's home, which triggers memories of his own childhood in the Morehouse College president's residence. He observes a recent surge in popular culture's portrayal of Black bourgeois aesthetics, citing examples like the Met Gala exhibition "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," Ralph Lauren's Oak Bluffs collection, and the HBO series "And Just Like That…" with its focus on the Todd Wexley family's art-filled apartment.

design art precious okoyomon garden

Precious Okoyomon, editor of CULTURED at Home gardens, selects five unconventional natural landscapes that thrive against difficult odds. These include Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC with its ancient wisteria, the radioactive waste site Dead Horse Bay in Brooklyn where invasive species bloom, the childhood haven Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Ohio, the Persian-inspired Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, and Derek Jarman's seaside garden beside a nuclear plant in Dungeness, UK. Each location is described through Okoyomon's personal reflections, illustrated by Erin Knutson.

art young photographer jasmine clarke

Jasmine Clarke, a photographer and MFA candidate at the Yale School of Art, is featured in Cultured's "Art Young Photographer" series, nominated by renowned photographer Stephen Shore. Her tender images of home and family have been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum. Clarke describes her work as a form of "biomythography," blending history, biography, and myth to explore memory, cultural identity, and the nature of seeing.