Exhibition explores connection between textiles and spirituality in Asia

The Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (Chat) in Hong Kong has launched "Threading Inwards," an exhibition featuring 14 artists from across Asia who utilize fabric as a medium for spiritual exploration. Co-curated by Wang Weiwei alongside three regional curators, the show features diverse works ranging from Sang A. Han’s ink-stained cotton gates to Aziza Kadyri’s AI-integrated Uzbek folk dance installations. The exhibition emphasizes textiles not merely as material, but as portals to ancestral cosmology and sacred vessels linking the physical and metaphysical worlds.

Masako Yasuki, Clifford Iwao Arinaga Visiting Artist

Kyoto-based painter Masako Yasuki will serve as the Clifford Iwao Arinaga Visiting Artist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, featuring an exhibition at The Commons Gallery from March 3 to 10, 2026. The showcase highlights Yasuki’s unique technical approach, which blends traditional East Asian mineral pigments and gold leaf with Western oil and tempera paints, alongside her use of frottage to document urban and natural landscapes.

New contemporary art gallery coming to Oxford Street, focus on local creatives

A new contemporary art gallery called Oxford Street Gallery is opening in Mount Hawthorn, Perth, in February. Founded by arts professional Abbey Telfer and her mother Lynette, the gallery's mission is to provide a permanent exhibition platform for emerging and mid-career Western Australian artists, who often lack such dedicated spaces. Its debut exhibition, 'DEBUT,' will feature works from 20 local artists.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Bellarmine Hall Galleries at Fairfield University Art Museum will host an exhibition from September 18 to December 12, 2026, exploring 'Egyptomania'—the 19th-century European fascination with ancient Egyptian art and culture. The show features paintings, prints, photographs, and decorative art from the early 19th century to the present, including works like Charles-Théodore Frère's *Along the Nile* (ca. 1870). Curated by Megan Paqua, the exhibition examines how Egyptian symbols and motifs were adopted, exoticized, and commercialized, often erasing the ancient Egyptian people themselves. It aims to contrast simplified or stereotypical narratives with current archaeological understanding.

Robert Smith & José Bayro C.’s “Parallel Origins” Exhibition to Open at Barton Art Galleries

Barton Art Galleries in Wilson, North Carolina, will open "Parallel Origins: From Distant Roots to Shared Worlds" on February 5, 2026, featuring works by Robert Smith and José Bayro C. The exhibition runs through March 13 and pairs two artists who share a studio in Puebla, Mexico, but present distinct bodies of work exploring memory, material, and personal history. It marks Barton College's first dual-artist residency, during which Smith and Bayro will collaborate with students in the "Studio Concepts" course, lead community workshops, and engage in open studio sessions and interdisciplinary conversations.

Art grad curates impressive resume through Experience-Driven Learning | News

Hope Donovan, a graduating art student at Western Michigan University, curated her senior exhibition in the DeVries Student Gallery at the Richmond Center for Visual Arts. Originally a music student at Loyola University New Orleans, she discovered her passion for painting and curation after selling her artwork under the alias Nervous Giraffe. Transferring to Western, she found community through Hillel at WMU and Alpha Chi Omega sorority, and gained leadership experience that shaped her career path in museum management.

Gallant Art Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Accra, Ghana, is opening a solo exhibition by artist Kamal Habib Hasan from December 8-18, 2025

Gallant Art Gallery in Accra, Ghana, will host a solo exhibition by artist Kamal Habib Hasan from December 8 to 18, 2025. The show presents his latest body of work, offering an immersive experience for art lovers.

One Art One Community: Exhibit illustrates the transformative power of art among the incarcerated

An unconventional art exhibition titled “One Art One Community” is on display at Case Western Reserve University’s Wade Park Community Engagement Center, featuring 46 works by 16 incarcerated artists from Grafton Correctional Institution. Curated by Eric Gardenhire, who directs the prison’s arts and crafts program, and co-curated by Megan Alves, the show replaces traditional artist statements with “Community Voice labels” written by Cleveland residents impacted by incarceration, including formerly incarcerated artist Gwendolyn Garth. The exhibit opened on October 30 and aims to bridge the gap between inmates and the broader community.

SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection including Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at Christie's totals £4,112,260 - Christie's

Christie's London held the 'SILSILA: Highlights from the Dalloul Collection' auction on 6 November 2025, featuring Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art. The sale achieved a total of £4,112,260, with a 93% sell-through rate by value and 85% by lot. The top lot was Saloua Raouda Choucair's 'Poem' (1966-68), which sold for £393,700, setting a world auction record for the artist in the wood medium. Other highlights included Sliman Mansour's 'Untitled' (2014) at £323,850 and Kamal Boullata's 'Nocturne I' (2001) at £165,100. Eight world auction records were set during the evening.

New Asian Art Museum exhibition brings joy and glitter to San Francisco

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco has opened a new exhibition titled "Rave into the Future: Art in Motion," which transforms the gallery into an immersive rave-like experience featuring a copper dance floor, live DJ sets, robot Roombas swirling glitter, and nine distinct "stages" representing the lifecycle of a rave. Curated by Naz Cuguoğlu, the show brings together queer and women artists of West Asian heritage from the Bay Area, New York, and Europe, and will run through January 16.

Community news: Scholars at OPRF, art exhibition in Western Springs, more

A community news roundup from the Chicago area reports on multiple local events, including a National Merit Scholarship announcement at Oak Park and River Forest High School, a two-day art exhibition and silent auction hosted by the First Congregational Church of Western Springs, a drive-in movie screening at Triton College, a Halloween brunch at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, a fall carnival in Darien, and a Zumba dance fundraiser for breast cancer research in Franklin Park. The art exhibition features works by about 20 church members and friends, with a watercolor workshop for children led by artist Jess Root and proceeds benefiting charities.

‘I want to haunt people’: Palestinian artist's London exhibition interrogates myth, history and the erasure of heritage

Palestinian artist Dima Srouji's exhibition *A Cosmogram of Holy Views* opens at London's Ab Anbar Gallery, presenting a decade of research into the built heritage of Palestinian Christians. The show juxtaposes European Renaissance depictions of the Holy Land with the reality of life under Israeli occupation, using media such as tinted glass collages, blown glass, carved stone, and mother-of-pearl objects. Works like *Return to Nazareth* overlay biblical scenes with personal childhood memories, while *Phantom Votives* offers wax votive forms as a response to the destruction in Gaza.

Williamson Gallery exhibit illuminates political history of Mexican muralist Alfredo Ramos Martínez

The Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery at Scripps College has opened a new exhibition, “Pintor de Poemas: Unseen Works by Alfredo Ramos Martínez,” featuring over 25 drawings and paintings by the Mexican modernist. Guest curator Robin Dubin, director of Louise Stern Fine Arts, organized the show to highlight recently discovered works that reveal Ramos Martínez’s political engagements, challenging the long-held view of his art as merely decorative or folkloric. The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections—Indigenismo, Revolution, Labor, and War—and includes studies for his 1946 mural “The Flower Vendors,” which is housed nearby in the Margaret Fowler Garden.

UNC Asheville hosts post-Helene symposium, storytelling event with local NC media

UNC Asheville will host the Post-Helene Symposium from September 24-26, 2025, to commemorate the anniversary of Tropical Storm Helene, which caused historic flooding in Western North Carolina in September 2024. The free, three-day event includes panels, concerts, art exhibitions, and a storytelling collaboration with NC Local titled "The Heart of the Mountains," featuring 12 news organizations including the Asheville Citizen Times. Highlights include the art exhibition "Looking Back to Move Forward" in the S. Tucker Cooke Gallery and a music faculty showcase concert "Hard Times, No More."

“Art Macao” public artwork Time Tower jointly created by artists from China, Japan and South Korean commemorates the cultural bonds and spiritual connections among East Asian cities

The "Art Macao: Macao International Art Biennale 2025" has unveiled a new public artwork titled "Time Tower" at the Macao Cultural Centre Plaza. Created collaboratively by artists Guan Huaibin (China), Hirotoshi Sakaguchi (Japan), and Kim Sang-yeon (South Korea), the piece commemorates Macao's designation as a "Culture City of East Asia" this year. The biennale features over 30 exhibitions across six sections, including the "Public Art Exhibition" themed "Waves & Ways," which integrates art into Macao's urban fabric. Additionally, the Community Co-Creation and Mutual-Aid Project at San Mei On Building has launched residencies with artists like Jason Ho, Wang Ying, Shen Jialu, and Zhang Xiao, engaging local residents through interactive works.

Artist whose work addresses art world access is not in Basel—because his visa was denied

Zimbabwean artist Richard Mudariki, creator of the Art World Passport project, was denied a visa by the Swiss embassy in Pretoria to attend the Africa Basel art fair in Switzerland. The project, which sells physical booklets at art events for attendees to document their experiences, symbolically addresses barriers faced by artists from the global South in accessing Western institutions. Mudariki had planned to debut the project in Europe at Africa Basel but was forced to appear via video link after the visa rejection, citing unreliable documentation for his stay.

Newly opened Photography Museum of Seoul plans to become a ‘cultural anchor’ for the region

The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) has opened the Photography Museum of Seoul (Photo-SeMA) in Dobong-gu district, marking South Korea's first public museum dedicated to photography. Spanning 7,048 square meters, the new venue draws from SeMA's collection of over 20,000 photographs and archival materials from the 1920s to the 1990s. It launches with two exhibitions themed around 'light obsession'—'Storage Story,' featuring commissioned works by six contemporary artists, and 'The Radiance: Beginnings of Korean Art Photography,' showcasing five pioneering Korean art photographers. The museum will eventually become part of an eight-branch network run by SeMA.

Must-see exhibitions and must-read books on Korean art

The article highlights two must-see exhibitions and two must-read books on Korean art. The exhibition "Scent of Korea in Silla" (June 27–November 30) at Solgeo Art Museum in Gyeongju features four contemporary artists—Park Dae-sung, Songcheon, Park Sun-min, and Kim Min—coinciding with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in October. The books include "Modern and Contemporary Korean Art in Context (1950–Now)" by Jung-Sil Lee and Dong-Yeon Koh (Bloomsbury Academic), which surveys postwar Korean art from ink painting to digital art, and "Art, War, and Exile in Modern Korea: Rethinking the Life and Work of Lee Qoede" by Jinyoung Anna Jin (Amsterdam University Press), which reexamines the life of a Korean painter long misunderstood due to political circumstances.

Bachelor of Fine Arts students explore their identity through The Western Gallery

The Western Gallery at Western Washington University presents its annual BFA art showcase titled “In Good Company,” featuring works by graduating students that explore themes of identity, belonging, and vulnerability. Student artists like Alesandra Caroline, Antonio Mejia Wolf, and Matt Berry use diverse media—including sculpture, film, and interactive installations—to address personal and cultural experiences, such as Mexican American identity and queer sanctuary.

Annual Juried Show at Gallery A3: Open Call for Artists

Gallery A3 in Amherst, Massachusetts, has issued an open call for its 10th Annual Juried Show, scheduled for August 7–30, 2025. Submissions will be accepted online from May 19 to June 21, with a theme of "United We Stand: Art for Divisive Times." The juror is Billy Myers, Artistic Director and Curator of the Art for the Soul Gallery in Springfield. Accepted artists will exhibit in the downtown Amherst gallery, with an opening reception on August 7 and a free public Art Forum on August 21.

Malak Mattar becomes first Palestinian artist to get solo show at London's prestigious Central Saint Martins

Malak Mattar, a 25-year-old self-taught Gazan artist, has become the first Palestinian to receive a solo exhibition at London's Central Saint Martins (CSM). After winning a scholarship for a Master's in Fine Art at CSM, she was trapped in Gaza until October 6, 2023, the day before the Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli invasion. Her show, opening May 15 at Window Galleries, features powerful works like 'No Words' (2024), a monochrome canvas likened to Picasso's Guernica, and 'Gaza's Phoenix' (2025), a colorful collage symbolizing resilience. Mattar has also faced institutional challenges, including a lack of public solidarity from the University of the Arts London (UAL) regarding Gaza and financial disparities compared to Ukrainian students.

A Primer on Buddhist Monuments

The New York Times Art section published a primer on three architecturally significant Buddhist stupas (reliquary mounds) located in Nepal, Thailand, and Taiwan. The article highlights the distinct design and cultural importance of each monument, serving as an educational overview for readers interested in Buddhist architecture.

Rare Books Stolen From a Jesuit Archive in Rome Are Returned to Italy

A collection of rare 17th-century books, written in Chinese by Jesuit missionaries and stolen from the Jesuit Historical Institute in Rome, has been returned to Italy. The books, which cover astronomy and other scientific topics, were recovered by the Carabinieri art squad after being illegally exported to the United States.

The Distance Between Art and Survival in Rojava

The article is a first-person dispatch from Rojava, a Kurdish-majority region in northeastern Syria, where the author meets artists and fighters living and working on the front lines against jihadist groups. It focuses on artist Diyar Hesso, who has exchanged his camera for a rifle, and YPJ fighter Hevi, who articulates the necessity of armed self-defense for women facing a genocidal enemy. Their stories illustrate the impossible choice between artistic creation and survival in a war zone.

REINTERPRETATIONS BY DEMIAN FLORES OF VIOLENCE MYTH AND REPRESENTATION

Mexican artist Demián Flores presents "America. New Visions from the Old World," a graphic arts exhibition at the Instituto Cultural de México in Madrid. The show features forty works that reinterpret 16th-century engravings by Theodor de Bry, whose images of Indigenous peoples—ranging from idealized noble savages to violent cannibals—shaped European perceptions of the Americas. Flores draws on his earlier series "Collateral Disasters" (2012), inspired by Goya's "The Disasters of War," to critique how colonial visual narratives constructed otherness and justified violence.

The History of Art from Bogotá at MAP

THE HISTORY OF ART FROM BOGOTA AT MAP

Montenegro Art Projects (MAP) in Bogotá opens a group exhibition titled 'La historia del arte contada desde Bogotá' (The History of Art from Bogotá), featuring 30 artists. The show explores how art history is activated today, treating it not as a closed archive but as a field in constant transformation, with artists reinterpreting and appropriating historical images and gestures through contemporary sensibilities.

Photographer Valerio Minato strikes again. The extraordinary shot of the red moon aligned with the Milan skyline: 'I waited for 5 years'

Il fotografo Valerio Minato colpisce ancora. Lo straordinario scatto della luna rossa allineata con lo skyline di Milano: “ho atteso per 5 anni”

Italian photographer Valerio Minato captured a striking image on May 2, 2026, showing a giant red moon aligned with Milan's skyline, including the Porta Garibaldi skyscrapers and the Duomo with its Madonnina. The photograph, which went viral, was the result of a five-year pursuit involving astronomical calculations, multiple location scouting across northwestern Italy, and precise timing to align the moon with the city's landmarks. A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 crossing the lunar disk added an unexpected cinematic element.

Artificial Intelligence as an Uncanny Machine is on Display in a Florence Air-Raid Shelter

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.

The Welcoming Spaces of Italian Artist Donatella Spaziani at Her First Major Exhibition in China

Gli spazi accoglienti dell’artista italiana Donatella Spaziani alla sua prima grande mostra in Cina

Italian artist Donatella Spaziani has opened her first major solo exhibition in China, titled "Incolume tra le cose" (Unharmed Among Things), at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Art Museum in Chongqing. The retrospective features over 100 works, including drawings, collages, site-specific installations, and sound art, spanning her career and highlighting her recent residency in the city. The exhibition eschews chronological order, instead creating an immersive environment where the artist’s signature silhouettes and explorations of the human body interact with the architectural space of the museum.

Beyond Weapons: Social Strength as True Defense in the Persian Gulf

Oltre le armi. La forza sociale come vera difesa nel Golfo Persico

Journalist and observer perspectives highlight that Iran’s geopolitical resilience against international military pressure stems from its vibrant middle class and deep-rooted historical identity rather than just its arsenal. Observations from travels across Iranian cities like Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan reveal a society deeply engaged with its own culture, frequenting museums, cafes, and archaeological sites despite political isolation and a lack of foreign tourism.