Exhibition | Lulama Wolf, 'The Architecture of Memory' at THK Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

South African artist Lulama Wolf presents 'The Architecture of Memory,' an online-only exhibition hosted by THK Gallery. Wolf utilizes a distinct material language of pigmented sand and acrylic to create tactile surfaces that reference the weathered walls of domestic and sacred spaces. Her work moves beyond simple representation, using geometric abstraction and earth-based materials to explore the intersection of personal history and collective generational memory.

US Border Wall Construction Damages 1,000-Year-Old Indigenous Land Art in Arizona

Construction crews building a barrier between the United States and Mexico have damaged a 200-foot-long etching of a fish embedded in the land in Arizona, known as the Las Playas Intaglio, which is thought to be 1,000 years old. According to a report in the Washington Post, workers destroyed a 60-to-70-foot portion of the ancient Indigenous land art as part of President Donald Trump’s $46.5 billion border-wall project. Satellite imagery confirmed the destruction, showing bulldozer marks running through about a third of the fish formation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged the incident, stating that a contractor inadvertently disturbed the cultural site on April 23, 2026, and that the remaining portion has been secured.

Ruins of a ‘Unique‘ Temple Complex Discovered in Northern Sinai

An Egyptian archaeological mission has unearthed a unique temple complex at Tell el-Farama, the site of the ancient city of Pelusium in northern Sinai. The discovery features a massive circular water basin, approximately 100 feet in diameter, surrounded by drainage channels and a central plinth likely intended for a statue. Initially mistaken for a civic building when first excavated in 2019, further study has revealed the site to be a sacred water installation used for religious rituals between the 2nd century BC and the 6th century AD.

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Artist Alex Vellis responded to criticism from conservative commentators, including Elon Musk and US Vice President JD Vance, over a graffiti-style art installation at Canterbury Cathedral. The installation, titled “HEAR US,” features questions posed to God, such as “What is the architecture of heaven?” and “Why are you indifferent to suffering?” Created through workshops with marginalized communities—including the Punjabi, black and brown diaspora, neurodivergent individuals, and the LGBTQIA+ population—the work uses spray-paint-like lettering but was not actually painted onto the historic building. Vance called the installation “ugly,” while Musk accused it of being “anti-Western propaganda.” Vellis responded on Instagram with a crude retort and the hashtag #freepalestine.

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Former US ambassador to France and Monaco Jamie McCourt has purchased a historic Palm Beach house known as the "Fore and Aft House" or "The Boat House" for $19.2 million. The sellers were Pace Gallery CEO Marc Glimcher and his wife, designer Fairfax Dorn, who bought the property in 2021 for $14.3 million and made further updates. The 1937 lakefront home features a ship-like design with porthole windows and curved lines, sitting on a third of an acre with waterfront access.

1,000-year-old archaeological site bulldozed during construction of Mexico-US border wall

On 24 April, a Department of Homeland Security contractor bulldozed a 1,000-year-old intaglio—a 280ft by 50ft etching in the desert sand—during construction of the US-Mexico border wall in Arizona's Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The site, sacred to local Indigenous communities including the Hia-Ced O’odham, was part of a UNESCO biosphere and contained over 3,000 petroglyphs. Despite warnings from tribal members and refuge staff, the contractor destroyed a 70ft stretch of the fish-shaped intaglio, which elders and archaeologists describe as an irreplaceable cultural and archaeological treasure.

Patarei Prison Could Become Museum

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Estonia’s Minister of Justice, Urmas Reinsalu, has proposed transforming the historic Patarei Prison in Tallinn into an international museum and research center dedicated to the crimes of communism. The sprawling 10-acre seaside complex, which served as a site of political incarceration under Soviet rule until 2002, remains largely unrestored, containing haunting remnants such as surgical tools and tattered bunk beds. The proposal has gained significant diplomatic traction, receiving formal support from representatives of eight EU member states during a recent meeting in the Estonian capital.

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The article recounts the Sack of Persepolis in 330 B.C.E., when Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces pillaged and destroyed the Achaemenid capital. It describes Persepolis as a marvel of ancient architecture, including the 31-acre limestone terrace, the Apadana hall with 36 columns, and the palace of Xerxes I. Ancient sources like Diodorus of Sicily and Plutarch offer conflicting accounts of the destruction—whether it was spontaneous, premeditated, or fueled by alcohol—while modern historians view it as a political act of retribution for Xerxes' attack on Athens.

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The Borso d'Este Bible, often called the 'Mona Lisa of Illuminated Manuscripts,' has gone on rare public display at the Italian Senate in Rome as part of the Vatican's Holy Year celebrations. The two-volume manuscript, commissioned by Duke Borso d'Este in the mid-15th century and created by calligrapher Pietro Paolo Marone and illuminators Taddeo Crivelli and Franco dei Russi, is usually kept in a safe at a library in Modena. It was transported with elaborate security and is now showcased behind humidity-controlled glass with a digital touch-screen experience for visitors.

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Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has filed an administrative lawsuit against the production company of YouTuber MrBeast (James Donaldson) over a video titled “I Explored 2000 Year Old Ancient Temples,” uploaded on May 10, 2025. The video shows MrBeast and his companions exploring Mayan sites in Yucatán, including Chichén Itzá, Calakmul, and Balamcanché, and features a scene where he promotes his snack brand Feastables as “the only Mayan-approved snack on the planet.” INAH alleges that the permit granted to Full Circle Media did not authorize commercial advertising or false information, and it demands compensation and a public retraction. The controversy escalated after Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum called for further investigation into whether the permit was violated.

Nikyle Begay Resurrects Century-Old Diné Weavings

Nikyle Begay, a Diné shepherd and weaver based in the Navajo Nation, is revitalizing ancestral weaving techniques that were historically marginalized by the colonial trading-post economy. By breeding Navajo Churro sheep and mastering complex twill patterns once used for functional saddle blankets, Begay bridges the gap between traditional agricultural practice and contemporary fine art. Their work involves the entire lifecycle of the medium, from shearing and processing wool to reconstructing intricate designs that fell out of favor when commercial markets prioritized specific regional styles for non-Native buyers.

Review: “Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try” at the Holocaust Museum Houston

The Holocaust Museum Houston is currently hosting "Boris Lurie: Nothing To Do But To Try," an exhibition focusing on the early works of the Holocaust survivor and NO!art movement founder. Organized by the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the show highlights Lurie’s "War Series," featuring paintings, drawings, and never-before-seen ephemera created as a means of processing the trauma of his imprisonment in camps like Buchenwald. The works, ranging from the immediate post-war period to decades later, serve as a visceral record of memory and loss, including tributes to his family members murdered in the Rumbula Forest massacre.

I Try to Allow Chaos

"Ich versuche, Chaos zuzulassen"

Florentina Holzinger presents her exhibition "Seaworld Venice" at the Austrian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, a spectacular underwater-themed installation that combines a theme park, sacred building, and sewage treatment plant. The work explores transformation from dirt to cleanliness, featuring water, dolphins in the lagoon, and boundary-pushing performance elements.

Nasan Tur Collects Contributions for 'Archive of Feelings' for Manifesta 16

Nasan Tur sammelt Beiträge für "Archiv der Gefühle" zur Manifesta 16

Berlin-based artist Nasan Tur is calling on people from the Ruhr region and beyond to submit contributions to his "Archive of Feelings" via an online portal. The project is part of his commissioned work for the 16th edition of the nomadic biennial Manifesta, which opens on June 21 across several cities in the Ruhr area. Tur's installation, titled "Elevation," will be housed in St. Gertrud Church in Essen, where excerpts from anonymous submissions—expressing hopes, fears, wounds, ideas, wishes, and everyday observations—will be carved into old church pews.

“Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes” at Marres, Maastricht

Seven artists with roots in West Africa—Yacine Tilala Fall, Selly Raby Kane, Maguette Dieng, Ican Ramageli, Hamedine Kane, Eva Diallo, and Babacar Traoré Doli—have jointly created a multi-sensory total installation at Marres in Maastricht. Titled “Porous Grounds, Sacred Codes,” the exhibition incorporates sculpture, sound, textiles, and video, connecting Zikr chanting of mantras, daily life in the Medina, and the trees of the dry landscape.

How Much Did It Cost to Paint a Pompeii Room Egyptian Blue?

How Much Did It Cost to Paint a Pompeii Room Egyptian Blue?

A new study has calculated the staggering cost of painting a room in Pompeii with Egyptian blue pigment. Researchers determined that covering the walls of a recently discovered "Blue Room," a sacred shrine, would have required between 2.7 and 4.9 kilograms of the prized synthetic pigment. Based on prices recorded by Pliny the Elder, this quantity of high-grade pigment would have cost between 50% and 90% of a Roman legionary's annual salary, highlighting it as an extreme luxury.

Lucas Museum Unveils `Star Wars’ Exhibition Details

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles has announced details for its inaugural exhibition "Star Wars in Motion," set to open on September 22. The show will feature props, costumes, and vehicle designs from the first six Star Wars films, including Luke's Landspeeder and General Grievous' Wheel Bike, as part of a broader lineup of about 20 inaugural exhibitions spanning visual storytelling from ancient art to modern film. The 300,000-square-foot museum, founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, will display over 1,200 artworks across 100,000 square feet of gallery space, with additional galleries dedicated to comic art, manga, children's literature, and works by artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Beatrix Potter, Jack Kirby, Alison Bechdel, Frank Frazetta, Norman Rockwell, Diego Rivera, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks.

Soft Power: When Textiles Become Compelling Storytellers

The article reviews 'Threading Inwards,' an exhibition at the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) in Hong Kong, curated by Wang Weiwei, Eugene Hannah Park, Kurosawa Seiha, and Wang Huan. It features 14 artists from across Asia who use textile as a medium to explore themes of spirituality, memory, and cultural heritage. Works include Han Sang A's 'Threshold' series, Hu Yinping's 'Soul Bottle' series, and pieces by Aziza Kadyri, Mooni Perry, Citra Sasmita, IV Chan, and Chen Zhe, among others.

Asking New and Better Questions with Cheryl Pope

Artist Cheryl Pope has opened a solo exhibition titled "All There Is" at Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago. The show features new, large-scale works made from needle-punched wool roving on cashmere that depict landscapes, marking a shift from her previous focus on the human form, memory, and identity. The exhibition runs through May 16.

‘People didn’t believe it was real’: Indigenous artists push to shut the Everglades migrant-detention facility Alligator Alcatraz

Miccosukee and Seminole artists, culture-bearers, and youth organizers are protesting the opening of a migrant-detention facility nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida. In July, a communal action coordinated with the collective Unidos Immokalee included ceremony, dance, sign-making, and distribution of supplies, with participants like Kendal Osceola and Maeanna Osceola speaking out against the facility, which they see as colonial violence on ancestral lands. The facility, run by Florida’s Division of Emergency Management in partnership with the US Department of Homeland Security, opened on 3 July and has faced legal challenges, including a temporary halt to construction by a federal judge in August, though a September appeals panel stayed the shutdown order.

Zen Crafart showcases Viveek Sharma’s solo exhibition Silence Please in New Delhi

Zen Crafart, an Indian art company, presents Viveek Sharma's solo exhibition 'Silence Please' at Bikaner House in New Delhi from November 20–30, 2025. The show features large-format paintings, intimate compositions, sculptural works, and limited edition art plates, exploring stillness and psychological interiors. Rashmin Majithia, Partner at Zen Crafart, and Chief Guest Jyoti Mayal, Chairperson of THSC, spoke at the opening. A second exhibition, 'Sacred Gestures,' is scheduled for December 2–8, 2025, at Jahangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, focusing on movement and expressive emotion.

Visualizing a “god of queer liberation:” An interview with queer artist Daniel de Jesús about their new Philadelphia exhibition

Philadelphia-based queer artist Daniel de Jesús, also a cellist and composer, is featured in a group exhibition at the William Way LGBT Community Center that opened July 10, 2025. In an interview with Emma Cieslik, de Jesús discusses their paintings blending Catholic iconography, mysticism, and queer identity, drawing on symbols like Saint Sebastian and the unicorn. They describe how a Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition on colonial Latin American art inspired their exploration of religious syncretism and the reclamation of Catholic imagery by queer and trans people.

"Journey in the Wake of Catastrophe": Yad Vashem Unveils New Art Exhibition

Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem has unveiled a new exhibition titled "Journey in the Wake of Catastrophe" by Israeli artist Tal Mazliach. The exhibition features eleven original works commissioned specifically for the show, which draw a visual and emotional connection between the Holocaust and the October 7th Hamas attack. Mazliach, a resident of Kibbutz Kfar Aza who survived the attack by barricading herself in her home for over 20 hours, is the second artist selected for Yad Vashem's 'Residency' Project. Her paintings incorporate tribal motifs, bold colors, and layered text, blending personal testimony with collective memory by drawing on Yad Vashem's archival collections.

18 Artists Reimagine Angels in Brooklyn Exhibition

Angel Archives, a Brooklyn-based collective founded in 2025 by Emma Long and Audrey Roloff, will present its group exhibition 'Angels' on July 17 at Studio 45 in East Williamsburg. The show features 18 artists working across various mediums, each reimagining angels as protectors, guides, and spiritual presences. Themes include grief, sacred imagery, purity, and the tension between the unreachable and the real. Featured artists include Audrey Roloff, Ashley Walia, Autumn Kidd, Charlie Rudalavage, Claire Porter Manning, EC Brooks, Eden Weinstein, Emma Long, Fiona Murphy, Jade Groobman, Julia Rose, Kaden Bard Dawson, Megan Liz Smith, Sara Carlsen, Sharon Yalan Li, pszygy, Why? Why Not? Because!, Henry Davis, and Charlotte Davis.

Holy ground: why Persian carpets played an important symbolic role in the funeral of Pope Francis

Persian carpets from northwest Iran were used in the funeral proceedings of Pope Francis, placed beneath his casket in St. Peter's Basilica and later in St. Peter's Square. The article traces this tradition back over 600 years, explaining how carpets from Islamic lands—first Anatolia, then Iran, Egypt, and the Levant—were depicted in Renaissance religious paintings as markers of sacred space, appearing at the feet of the Virgin Mary and other holy figures.

Michigan’s largest‑ever Chihuly exhibition marks long-awaited return to Meijer Gardens

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is hosting its largest-ever exhibition of glass artist Dale Chihuly, titled "CHIHULY: Radiant Forms." Opening May 2 and running through November 1, 2026, the show marks Chihuly's first exhibition at the venue since 2010 and spans the 158-acre campus, including a new concentration of works in the Japanese Garden. The indoor gallery presents a chronological survey of Chihuly's 50-year career, featuring early baskets and cylinders, Venetian-inspired goblets, and iconic sea forms in open-air aquariums.

World-renowned glass artist returns to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

World-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly returns to Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a new exhibition opening Saturday, his first at the venue since 2010. The show spans nearly 50 years of his career, divided into outdoor installations across the park's 158-acre property and a new indoor exhibit titled CHIHULY: Radiant Forms, featuring a massive glass garden centerpiece. The indoor galleries were custom-built to showcase different series of his work, creating dramatic transitions between spaces.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Announces First Exhibitions Curated by George Lucas

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open on September 22, 2026, in Los Angeles's Exposition Park, has announced its inaugural exhibition schedule curated by George Lucas. The museum will showcase a wide range of narrative art, from Americana works by Thomas Hart Benton and Norman Rockwell to documentary photography by Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, and Robert Capa, as well as public murals by Diego Rivera and Judith F. Baca. The collection also includes production designs, props, and costumes from the Lucas Archives, alongside illustrations by Frank Frazetta, Maxfield Parrish, and N.C. Wyeth, children's literature art by Beatrix Potter and Jacob Lawrence, and comics and manga by Jack Kirby, Alison Bechdel, and Mœbius.

Meijer Gardens Chihuly exhibit to bring art, nature and light together ‘on a grand scale’

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids will host its largest exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work from May 2 to November 1. The show will feature outdoor installations at twelve locations across the 158-acre campus, with additional indoor works in the sculpture galleries, allowing visitors to experience the large-scale glass pieces within natural landscapes.

Chihuly set to return to Grand Rapids' Frederik Meijer Gardens for largest exhibit yet

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will host its largest-ever exhibition of Dale Chihuly's work from May 2 to November 1, 2026. The show, titled 'CHIHULY at Frederik Meijer Gardens,' features installations across 12 outdoor locations on the 158-acre campus, as well as indoor displays in the Sculpture Galleries, and includes special ticketed tours and evening viewing events.