What Did the Golden Lion Die Of? On Judgment and Disavowal at the Venice Biennale

The international jury of the 61st Venice Biennale announced it would exclude from prize consideration countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, specifically targeting Russia and Israel. This prompted the Italian culture minister to send inspectors to the Biennale's offices, leading the jury to resign. The Biennale then replaced the Golden Lion with "Visitors' Lions" prizes voted by ticket-holders, immediately making Russia and Israel eligible again. The article traces this crisis to the Biennale's historical structure under Mussolini's 1930 Royal Decree, which established the national pavilion system as a diplomatic concession system designed to serve state power, and notes the recent acceptance of a €50 million donation from Qatar for a new permanent pavilion in the Giardini.

Art Museum of Southeast Texas opens two new exhibitions tonight exploring Texas waterways and history

The Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) opens two new exhibitions today: "Julius Stockfleth: Dawn of a Century" and "Bill Pangburn: Printed Traces - A Neches River Journal." The Stockfleth exhibition features early Texas artist Julius Stockfleth's paintings of the 1900 Galveston hurricane and Texas coastal history, marking a homecoming as his work was first shown at AMSET in 1987. The Pangburn exhibition presents a new series of large-scale abstract woodcut prints inspired by the Neches River. Both run through July 5, with a free public reception tonight and a musical performance by composer Nathan Felix on May 30.

Zīnah (Adornment): Oman’s Pavilion Tunes the Biennale to Resonance Over Spectacle

At the 60th Venice Biennale, the Sultanate of Oman presents "Zīnah (Adornment)," a pavilion conceived by artist and curator Haitham Al Busafi. The immersive installation, on view at the Arsenale Artiglierie from 9 May to 22 November 2026, draws on the Omani tradition of adorning horses with silver (al-zaanah) to explore themes of relation, movement, and shared presence. Visitors enter through darkness into a field of Omani sand, beneath a canopy of silver elements that respond to movement with sound. The work incorporates drawings by students and emerging artists from a workshop in Muscat, emphasizing collective authorship.

Great Neck Library to host Rosemary Wilson Sloggatt art exhibit in June

The Great Neck Library in New York will host an exhibition of paintings by artist Rosemary Wilson Sloggatt titled "Among Children 2026: Paintings and Portraits by Rosemary Wilson Sloggatt" from June 1 to June 30. The show includes a Kids' Reception on June 3 and an Artist Reception on June 20. Sloggatt, who studied at Parsons School of Design and Otis Art Institute, has taught art in the Great Neck Public Schools for over 25 years.

Qatar makes Venice Biennale debut with pavilion built on collaboration, food and live art

Qatar has made its debut at the Venice Biennale with an official national pavilion, marking a major cultural milestone as the first new national pavilion in the Giardini in 30 years. Led by artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, the project titled "Untitled 2026: A gathering of remarkable people" transforms the space into a living environment featuring live music, film screenings, shared meals, and ongoing performances. The pavilion brings together artists, musicians, and chefs from across the Arab world and its diasporas, emphasizing cultural exchange rather than a single national narrative.

San Francisco's iconic art museum, the Legion of Honor, is hosting an after-hours party this June

The Legion of Honor, a historic art museum in San Francisco, will host an after-hours party on June 11, 2026, to celebrate its new exhibition "The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy." The event, part of the museum's Late Night Editions series, will feature drinks, live DJ sets, food from Off the Grid Food Trucks, and a VIP tasting room from Ezeta Wine, with general admission at $35 and VIP tickets at $95.

Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum to reopen Saturday with new exhibitions

Ohio State University's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, home to the world's largest cartoon and comic collection, will reopen on Saturday after being closed since November 10, 2025. The reopening features renovated galleries, a new permanent exhibition titled "Story of Comics" that traces 400 years of cartoon art, and the U.S. debut of cartoonist Chris Ware's major international exhibition "Life Is Complicated," on display until January 3, 2027. The museum houses 300,000 original cartoons and 2.5 million newspaper comic strip pages and clippings.

An art gallery on Route 66 in New Mexico is working to support local art and culture

Double Six Gallery, operated by the Cibola Arts Council in Grants, New Mexico, is showcasing southwestern art on Route 66 ahead of the Mother Road's centennial celebration. Gallery director Debbie Doggett notes that visitors are often surprised to find such high-quality local artists in Grants. The gallery rotates artists every few months and currently features Gary Yazzie, John Boomer, Jonnie Head, and Joan Sheski.

Michener Art Museum's retired founding director returns with new exhibition

Bruce Katsiff, the founding director of the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, has returned to the institution with his first-ever exhibition at the museum, titled 'Pieces of a Life.' The retrospective showcases six decades of Katsiff's photography, including series such as 'Face Maps,' 'River Town Portraits,' and 'Nature Morte,' as well as collaborative works never before exhibited. Katsiff, who led the museum from 1989 to 2012, transformed it from an arts center into a full-fledged museum, building a collection focused on regional artists from Bucks County and overseeing the installation of iconic spaces like the Nakashima Room.

Union Theatre exhibit at arts museum raises more than $1,000 toward revival of the Attleboro landmark

The Attleboro Arts Museum held an exhibition titled “Staging a Comeback” that raised over $1,000 to support the revival of the historic Union Theatre in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The theater, which opened in 1928 as a vaudeville house and later became a movie theater, has been closed since 2002 and is owned by the Friedman family. The exhibit featured items on loan from the theater, including vintage Gold Metal brand popcorn boxes, and a popcorn-themed artwork by local artist Billie Klegraefe.

Olivia Bourrat revient au Quai Branly

Olivia Bourrat, a 45-year-old chief heritage curator trained at the École du Louvre, the INP, and the Sorbonne, has been appointed director of the heritage and collections department at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris. She succeeds Anne-Solène Rolland, and returns to the museum after previous stints there, as well as at France-Muséums, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the French Ministry of Culture, and Paris Musées.

Tehran exhibition gives voice to war’s silent burden through modern art

An exhibition titled "Art and War" opened on May 11, 2026, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran, featuring works by Pablo Picasso, Antoni Tapies, Robert Motherwell, and Juan Gris that explore the impact of conflict on modern art. The show includes Spanish anti-war artists from the post-WWII era, such as Juan Genoves, and aims to give voice to those suffering under war's burden. Visitors like student-artist Kiyana Niknam described the paintings as a universal language expressing personal pain and resilience, while project adviser Fuad Necmeddin noted that museums in Iran had reopened after wartime closures due to cultural demand.

New Warhol exhibition at Saginaw Art Museum & Gardens

The Saginaw Art Museum & Gardens in Michigan is hosting a new exhibition of works by Andy Warhol, running from May 20 to September 19, 2026. The show brings the iconic Pop artist's pieces to a regional audience in Flint-area community.

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park Will Open 6th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park will open its 6th Annual Visual Arts Exhibition, as announced by BroadwayWorld. The exhibition continues the park's tradition of showcasing visual art in a cultural setting.

Hanwha Culture Foundation hosts Lim Young-Joo solo show in New York

The Hanwha Culture Foundation is hosting a solo exhibition by artist Lim Young-Joo, titled 'The Late故', from May 15 to July 25 at Space Zero One in New York. The show features video and installation works that reinterpret themes of faith, anxiety, life, and death, including a centerpiece piece that reconfigures her previous major works and research from her residency. Lim Young-Joo won the 2025 Frieze Artist Award and was selected for the Korea Artist Prize by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea.

Where's Al? Andy Warhol Exhibit at Hilliard Art Museum

The Hilliard Art Museum in Lafayette, Louisiana, has opened a new exhibition titled "Andy Warhol: Plus One," featuring works by Andy Warhol drawn from the museum's own permanent collection. The exhibit showcases Warhol's photographic and screenprint pieces, exploring themes of intimacy, observation, and voyeurism in the artist's life and practice.

Andy Warhol exhibition at Saint Laurent Rive Droite turns Paris boutique into pop art gallery

Since April 23, 2026, the Saint Laurent Rive Droite boutique in Paris has been hosting an exhibition dedicated to Andy Warhol titled “Objets banals”. Curated by Anthony Vaccarello, the show features a selection of Polaroids and 35 mm photographs taken from the 1960s onward, revealing a more intimate and personal dimension of the pop art master. The installation is immersive and minimalist, with photographs interacting with Saint Laurent collections, design pieces, and exclusive objects, blurring the boundaries between commerce, museum, and artistic manifesto. All works on display are available for sale, distinguishing the boutique from a traditional museum.

A big moment for a city that loves art

Geelong Gallery in Australia is preparing to host "Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel, art dealer among the artists," its most ambitious international exhibition ever, running from 20 June to 11 October. The show features over 70 paintings by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, and second-generation Impressionists, with most works from a private French collection never before seen in Australia. The exhibition marks the gallery's 130th anniversary and is supported by the Geelong Major Events committee. Separately, the genU artX Regional 2026 exhibition at Rachinger Gallery showcases over 130 works by artists with disabilities or mental illness, on view until 22 May.

Janet Werner Is Distorting Fashion’s Beauty Ideals Through Painting

Janet Werner, an artist with a nearly four-decade career, has created a new body of work titled "Landscape with Legs" that distorts fashion imagery from Vogue archives and vintage campaigns by Marc Jacobs. Her paintings transform archetypal fashion models—thin, blonde, and emblematic of privilege—into unsettling, complex figures that expose a tension between glamor and the grotesque. The exhibition runs from May 1 to June 12, 2026, at Anat Ebgi Gallery in New York, marking her second solo show there. In an interview, Werner discusses her background as a dancer, her creative process of collaging photographic images with art historical references like Watteau and Caspar David Friedrich, and the political moment that makes the show feel urgent.

A giugno 2026 a Pietrasanta apre il Museo Igor Mitoraj. Opere dell’artista ma anche mostre

The article announces the opening of the Museo Igor Mitoraj in Pietrasanta, Italy, scheduled for June 6, 2026, after several years of delays. The museum is the first space entirely dedicated to the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj, who died in 2014 and was known for transforming Tuscan marble into works blending classical forms with fragmented, contemporary themes. Designed by OBR, Politecnica, and Studio Lumine, the museum results from collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Pietrasanta, and the artist's heirs, united in the Fondazione Museo Igor Mitoraj. Frank Boehm, director of the foundation, envisions the space as a research-oriented center that will engage with different artistic languages and contemporary issues, not limited to Mitoraj's work alone.

Il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale? “Deve essere uno spazio di possibilità”. Intervista alla curatrice

The article announces Chiara Camoni's project "Con te con tutto" for the Italian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026, curated by Cecilia Canziani. The project emphasizes relational and communal practices, rejecting the identity-driven rhetoric of national representation. It stems from a fifteen-year dialogue between artist and curator, incorporating workshops, shared readings, and collaborative works like "La Giusta Misura." The pavilion is conceived as an ecosystem of artworks, texts, and activations rather than a linear exhibition, with a catalog designed as a critical reader.

The 15th-century Ca' Giustinian Faccanon reopens in Venice. It will be a space for exhibitions and events

A Venezia riapre il quattrocentesco Ca’ Giustinian Faccanon. Sarà uno spazio per mostre ed eventi

The historic Ca' Giustinian Faccanon, a rare example of Venetian Gothic architecture in the San Marco district, has reopened in Venice after over a year of restoration work. The 15th-century palace, acquired by entrepreneur Andrea Parisotto, will now serve as a space for exhibitions and events managed by Art Events and Cultural Real Estate Studio. During the 61st Venice Biennale, it will host the Vietnam Pavilion with the exhibition "Arte nel flusso globale" curated by Do Tuong Linh, marking Vietnam's first official participation, as well as a solo show by Korean sculptor Shim Moon-Seup titled "Harnessed From Nature."

Working in Art and Culture: Opportunities from Premio di Pittura Casciaro, Fondazione MUS.E, Comune di Roma, Fondazione Officine Saffi

Lavorare nell’arte e nella cultura: opportunità da Premio di Pittura Casciaro, Fondazione MUS.E, Comune di Roma, Fondazione Officine Saffi

This article from Artribune compiles five current job and grant opportunities in the Italian visual arts and culture sector. It lists open calls for the Premio di Pittura Giuseppe Casciaro (a painting prize with a career award and a solo exhibition prize), a residency program for artists and curators under 36 at Fondazione MUS.E's MAD Murate Art District, an open call for artists on the theme of play by Associazione Circuiti Dinamici, a search by the Comune di Roma for a three-year artistic director for the La Vaccheria cultural space, and a stage (internship) position at Fondazione Culturale Officine Saffi for exhibition programming and project coordination.

The project that brings Michelangelo's David to the Swiss Alps: a full-scale copy will be installed among the mountains

Il progetto che porta il David di Michelangelo sulle Alpi della Svizzera: verrà installata tra le montagne una copia a grandezza naturale

A full-scale marble replica of Michelangelo's David will be installed in the Swiss Alpine village of Klosters (Canton of Grisons) starting July 2, 2026. The copy, carved in 2017 from Michelangelo's preferred Polvaccio marble in Carrara, weighs over nine tons and was produced by Studi d’Arte Cave Michelangelo under Franco Barattini. The project is organized by Scultura Viva, a cultural initiative based in Klosters that focuses on reactivating sculptural heritage through public installations and educational programs.

Wagner comes alive in Milan. Not only at the theater but also in these two exhibitions

A Milano rivive Wagner. Non solo a teatro ma anche in queste due mostre

Two exhibitions dedicated to Richard Wagner's Ring cycle have opened at Milan's Teatro alla Scala, coinciding with a new production of the Ring des Nibelungen and the centenary of the first Scala staging of the tetralogy in 1926. The Museo Teatrale alla Scala presents "La rivoluzione del Ring – Visconti Ronconi Chéreau," curated by Giovanni Agosti with design by Studio Margherita Palli, while the Ridotto dei palchi "A. Toscanini" hosts "Risonanze Wagner – Visioni intorno al Ring," curated by Gianluigi Colin and Mattia Palma, featuring contemporary paintings by four women artists—Antonella Benanzato, Flaminia Veronesi, Chiara Calore, and Federica Perazzoli—each reinterpreting one of the four operas.

Two years ago Russia ceded its pavilion at the Biennale to Bolivia. A testimony from within

Due anni fa la Russia cedette il suo padiglione in Biennale alla Bolivia. Una testimonianza da dentro

Two years ago, Russia ceded its national pavilion at the Venice Biennale to Bolivia, a move that artist Inés Fontenla experienced firsthand when she was invited by Bolivia to participate in the 2024 edition. Fontenla recounts how the pavilion's organization shifted after Bolivia's 2025 elections, with the curator replaced by the new Minister of Culture just one month before the opening. She realized Russia was using Bolivia as a front to re-enter the Biennale after closing its own pavilion in 2022 in protest of the Ukraine invasion, and she ultimately withdrew from the project to avoid being instrumentalized by a military power.

Rome and its visions in contemporary photography: from Carbone to De Angelis, to Hervé Gloaguen

Roma e le sue visioni nella fotografia contemporanea: da Carbone a De Angelis, fino a Hervé Gloaguen

The article critiques a recent trend in contemporary photography of Rome, exemplified by a 2020 exhibition at the Mattatoio (Nuove produzioni 2020 per la collezione Roma) that presented black-and-white images reducing the urban landscape to a dark, lifeless mass. The author contrasts this with a personal photograph of a horse taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, which captures Rome's periphery with warmth and specificity, and praises the 2024 exhibition "Roma 1975, città, volti e storie dell'anno giubilare" featuring photojournalist Fabio De Angelis's rediscovered work as a vital counterpoint.

This upcoming art exhibition at Joo Chiat celebrates the joy of doing absolutely nothing

Irish comic artist and illustrator Niall Breen is debuting his Dog & Frog comic series in Singapore with a solo exhibition titled "Lazy Days with Dog & Frog" at Heartware Store & Gallery in Joo Chiat. Running from May 29 to July 26, 2026, the show features original artworks, merchandise such as blankets and picnic mats, and a special artist talk on May 30 where Breen will discuss his creative process and the global following his tender, everyday-life comics have attracted since 2018.

Nigerian art, culture returns to Atlanta in historic international exhibition

Fulton County Arts & Culture in Atlanta has announced "Threads of Heritage: A Cultural Confluence Connecting Africa to Atlanta," a major Nigerian-American cultural exchange initiative running from May to June 2026. The program, led by Nigerian textile icon Nike Monica Okundaye and involving Nike Art & Culture Foundation, Nike Art USA, and UniSpectrum Inc., will feature Nigerian artists, cultural practitioners, bata dancers, and tradition bearers in visual arts, textile traditions, muralism, sculpture, storytelling, workshops, and youth education at the Fulton County Arts & Culture Downtown Exhibition Space.

337 œuvres et objets volés récupérés : la vaste opération italienne de lutte contre le trafic de biens culturels aux États-Unis

On April 29, Italy's carabinieri dedicated to cultural heritage protection announced the recovery of 337 looted or stolen artworks and objects repatriated from the United States between December 2025 and April 2026. The haul includes archaeological artifacts, archival documents, and other artworks, such as a marble head of Alexander the Great from the 1st century AD, a bronze sculpture stolen from Herculaneum, and two Egyptian basalt sculptures. The objects were dispersed through international markets using forged provenance documents, and their return involved U.S. agencies including the FBI.