Il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale è il più internazionale di sempre

Chiara Camoni presents the Italian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale with her exhibition "Con Te Con Tutto" in the Arsenale. The show is divided into two sections: the first features monumental yet intimate sculptures, including her signature "sister" figures made from necklaces and terracotta fragments, while the second section continues the installation with a focus on circular production and zero waste. Camoni emphasizes a return to front-facing statuary, avoiding the gigantism of past editions, and works with sustainable, handmade processes.

What is the international exhibition of the Venice Biennale like? Review of "In minor keys" by Koyo Kouoh

Com’è la mostra internazionale della Biennale di Venezia? Recensione di “In minor keys” di Koyo Kouoh

The 2026 Venice Biennale, titled "In minor keys" and curated by the late Koyo Kouoh, opens to the public on May 9 amid controversies including the absence of the president's name in the colophon at the Arsenale entrance. The exhibition, organized by Kouoh's team (Rory Tsapayi, Siddharta Mitter, Marie Helene Pereira, Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, and Rasha Salty), unfolds across the Giardini and the Arsenale's Corderie, featuring works that balance strength and beauty with a harmonious mix of voices and themes. The Giardini section is particularly compelling, with a non-linear, polycentric layout that feels like a living organism, while the Arsenale offers further depth.

Van Cleef & Arpels cashes in on lucrative secondary market for vintage jewellery

Van Cleef & Arpels has capitalized on the growing secondary market for vintage jewelry through its Heritage Collection, launched in 2007. The collection offers around 150 curated 20th-century pieces, authenticated and restored by the maison, allowing clients to buy directly from the jeweler rather than through auction houses like Sotheby's, Christie's, and Artcurial, which sold over €120 million in Van Cleef jewels in 2024.

Belfast’s murals are an open-air gallery of history and art

Belfast's murals, long used as tools of political expression and territorial marking during the Troubles, are gradually changing. Research shows that three-quarters of the most intimidatory murals in the loyalist Shankill area have disappeared since 1998. Newer murals commemorate figures like Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, while non-sectarian artistic murals—including tributes to murdered journalist Lyra McKee—are appearing across the city. However, some paramilitary-linked murals persist, and a 2024 incident saw a wall in north Belfast rebuilt and its threatening imagery repainted, reflecting ongoing tensions and the complex politics of 'conflict transformation' funding.

Exhibition | Carlo D'Anselmi, 'Secrets and Mountains' at Fabienne Levy, Lausanne, Switzerland

Carlo D'Anselmi's solo exhibition 'Secrets and Mountains' opens at Fabienne Levy in Lausanne, Switzerland. The show presents a new body of work created during the artist's first stay in Switzerland, overlooking the French Alps, where he observed the transition from winter into spring. His dreamlike paintings blend figures, animals, and landscapes, exploring memory, light, nature, and the shifting boundary between reality and fiction. D'Anselmi holds an MFA from the New York Studio School and is represented by Thierry Goldberg Gallery in New York.

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.

Billionaire Collector Ken Griffin Buys Second Rare Constitution Printing

Billionaire collector Ken Griffin has quietly acquired a second rare first printing of the US Constitution, known as the Van Sinderen copy, through a private deal after it was pulled from a planned Sotheby’s auction in 2022. Griffin, who previously paid $43.2 million at Sotheby’s in 2021 for another copy, now holds the only two copies of the 1787 document still in private hands. The newly acquired document will go on public display starting May 27 at the South Street Seaport Museum in New York, headlining an exhibition titled “The Promise of Liberty” that includes other foundational texts.

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.

Hundreds Protest Israel’s “Genocide Pavilion” at Venice Biennale

On May 6, 2026, the first day of previews at the Venice Biennale, hundreds of pro-Palestine activists led by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) blocked the entrance to the Israeli pavilion, demanding its immediate closure. Protesters waved Palestine flags and banners reading "No Artwashing Genocide" and "No Genocide Pavilion at Biennale," chanting accusations of genocide against Israel. The demonstration temporarily shut down access to Belu-Simion Fainaru's exhibition "Rose of Nothingness" for about half an hour. The protest followed a letter signed by over 200 artists urging the Biennale to exclude Israel, which instead moved the pavilion to an alternative location in the Arsenale due to renovations. Separately, Pussy Riot and FEMEN rallied outside the Russian pavilion, which will only open during preview days due to sanctions. Venice cultural workers plan a 24-hour strike on May 8 in solidarity with Palestinians, potentially disrupting the Biennale's schedule.

Stitches in time: the artist chronicling the DRC’s blood-soaked history in tapestry

Lucie Kamusekera, an 82-year-old artist in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, creates embroidered tapestries on tobacco sacks that chronicle the country's violent history. Born in 1944 and taught sewing by Italian nuns, she began documenting contemporary conflicts after witnessing a military truck filled with corpses. Her more than 70 works depict events from the colonial Belgian Congo era to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the second Congo war, as well as personal tragedies including her husband's murder by rebels. Despite ongoing danger from rebel offensives, she continues to stitch from her home studio, training her children and great-granddaughter to carry on her work.

Protests and Shutdowns Engulf 61st Venice Biennale Opening

The 61st Venice Biennale preview week, opening to press and professionals ahead of its May 9 public launch, has been engulfed by protests and institutional crises. On May 5, around 60 artists from Koyo Kouoh's exhibition “In Minor Keys” staged a Solidarity Drone Chorus outside the Giardini, drawing on Gazan composer Ahmed Muin's Drone Song (2025) to highlight victims of warfare. On May 6, the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) organized protests outside Israel's pavilion at the Arsenale, leading to a security-enforced closure, while Pussy Riot and FEMEN demonstrated outside the Russian pavilion. The jury resigned on April 30 after controversy over award eligibility tied to ICC arrest warrants, prompting the Biennale to scrap Golden Lions and transfer prize voting to the public. Iran withdrew its pavilion on May 4, and Russia's will close on May 9, with only exterior video projections remaining. ANGA and Italian unions have announced a 24-hour strike on May 8.

First Look at the “Costume Art” Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting a new exhibition titled "Costume Art," timed to coincide with the 2026 Met Gala. The article provides a first look at the exhibit, featuring images credited to photographer Masato Onoda of WWD, showcasing the intersection of fashion and visual art within the museum's galleries.

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.

Today’s war, tomorrow’s loot: attempts at stemming the illicit trade in art

The article examines the ongoing challenge of preventing the illicit trade in cultural property looted from conflict zones. It discusses the Hague Convention of 1954 and its protocol, which require signatory countries to prevent theft and pillage during armed conflict and to seize and repatriate unlawful exports. However, the protocol only applies to situations of 'occupation,' leaving a gap for looting that occurs in the chaos of war beyond formal occupation. The article also notes UN Security Council Resolutions that restrict unlawfully removed cultural property from Iraq and Syria, but no similar consensus exists for countries like Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, and Iran. EU Regulation 2019/880 is highlighted as a measure that prohibits introducing goods removed unlawfully from their place of origin into the EU, though its scope has expanded beyond its original anti-terrorist financing purpose.

Jersey Arts TV: Exploring Native Knowledge and Art at Montclair Art Museum

Jersey Arts TV has released a new episode exploring Native knowledge and art at the Montclair Art Museum. The episode highlights the museum's commitment to showcasing Indigenous perspectives through its collections and exhibitions, featuring interviews with curators and artists who discuss the cultural significance and contemporary relevance of Native American art. The segment aims to educate viewers on the intersection of traditional knowledge and modern artistic expression.

Fight in the Museum: Q&A with Sean Carney

Sean Carney, a painter and longtime art teacher at Lawrence High School, discusses his artistic journey and evolving practice in a Q&A with Thomas Kelly. Carney, who works with water-based wood stains on wood panels, recently shifted his subject matter from cityscapes to iconic automobiles in his "Driven by Design" series, inspired by a visit to the Saratoga Automobile Museum. His work has been exhibited at Barsky Gallery in Hoboken and other venues, and he credits influences including professors Ray Statlander and Ben Jones, as well as artist Mel Leipzig.

Anti-Russia Protests Spread Beyond the Biennale and Into Venice

Protests against the reopening of the Russian pavilion erupted at the Venice Biennale and spread across the city on the second day of the 61st edition. Visual artist Shalva Nikvashvili, who grew up in post-Soviet Georgia, began a silent performance wearing a muzzle-style mask and carrying a chair, holding a sign reading “La Biennale di Venezia” and “violence.” Shortly after, a group of about 20 protesters led by Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova gathered outside the Russian pavilion, chanting against Vladimir Putin, waving Ukrainian flags, and releasing a pink smoke flare. The protests followed the Biennale's decision to allow Russia to participate for the first time since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, despite calls from artists and politicians to exclude the country.

Here's when the 2026 Met Gala red carpet arrivals start and end

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on Monday, May 4, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with red carpet arrivals officially beginning at 5:30 p.m. and continuing for several hours as celebrities trickle in. The event raises funds for the museum's Costume Institute and celebrates the new spring exhibition "Costume Art," with a dress code of "Fashion is Art." Co-chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with a host committee chaired by Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, and the event is made possible by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos.

At the 2026 Met Gala, 'Fashion is Art.' Here's what to expect

The 2026 Met Gala will take place on the first Monday in May at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, supporting the Costume Institute. The spring exhibition is titled "Costume Art" and will be the first to occupy the new Condé M. Nast Galleries. The dress code is "Fashion is Art," inviting guests to explore fashion as an embodied art form. Co-chairs include Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos as honorary chairs. The event will be livestreamed by Vogue, hosted by Ashley Graham, La La Anthony, Cara Delevingne, and Emma Chamberlain.

Carnegie Arts Center opens annual youth art exhibition May 29

The Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock, California, will host its annual youth art exhibition, “Ready, Set, Show!”, from May 29 to June 27. The show invites students in grades K–12 to submit up to three pieces of artwork for display in the Ferrari Gallery, with free entry and a special section for the “Parks Are Fun!” banner contest. A free Family Friday reception will open the exhibition on May 29.

Erster Teil des Pergamonmuseum öffnet im Juni 2027

The first section of Berlin's Pergamon Museum will reopen to the public on June 4, 2027, after years of renovation. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK) announced the date, ending months of uncertainty. The museum has been completely closed since autumn 2023 for comprehensive refurbishment, and the reopening will finally make the famous Pergamon Altar accessible again. However, the south wing, housing the Ishtar Gate and Babylonian Processional Way, will remain closed until 2037, with full museum access expected that year.

From galleries to guest rooms: The best art-inspired stays in Europe

A number of European hotels are integrating art collections and museum-quality experiences into their accommodations, offering travelers the chance to stay within or adjacent to art spaces. Notable examples include MACAM in Lisbon, Portugal, which combines a contemporary art museum with a hotel featuring the private collection of founder Armando Martins, including works by Marina Abramović and Paula Rego; the Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amistà in Verona, Italy, blending Renaissance architecture with avant-garde art; and the Elizabeth Arthotel in Ischgl, Austria, which has showcased art and sculpture since 1976 and recently added a rooftop commission by the artist duo NONOS.

Venice Family Clinic’s Art Exhibition + Auction

The 47th annual Venice Family Clinic Art Exhibition + Auction will take place May 8–17, 2026, at 910 Abbot Kinney in Venice, Los Angeles. Founded in 1979 as the Venice Art Walk, it is the city’s longest-running charity art exhibition, featuring Signature Artist Alison Saar and over 150 established and emerging Los Angeles artists. Proceeds support Venice Family Clinic’s health care services for more than 45,000 patients across the Westside, Inglewood, the South Bay, and beyond.

Emerging artist Charlie Gosling is being compared to Frank Auerbach. Discover his haunting portraits in London

Emerging artist Charlie Gosling, a 2023 graduate of Camberwell College of Arts, is gaining attention for his evocative portraits that draw comparisons to Frank Auerbach and Willem de Kooning. His second solo exhibition at London's Incubator gallery, titled "Good Luck with Me Here," features intimate portraits of friends and family, created through a process of layering and scraping paint to achieve an almost abstract quality. The show runs until 24 May.

Guntersville Museum Welcomes ARTS Works

The Guntersville Museum hosted a recognition ceremony for the 18th annual ARTS Works All-County Student Art Exhibit, organized by the nonprofit Artists Responding to Students (ARTS). The exhibit featured around 100 artworks from K-12 students across Marshall County, including Boaz, Grant, Guntersville, and Albertville. For the second year, the show included special needs artists, with the Kamryn HeART Award presented in memory of a young artist. Additionally, the Lakeview Community Civic Organization displayed posters from its Black History Month contest. Winners were announced across multiple grade categories, judged by two National Board Certified Teachers from Decatur.

Vibrant Victorian-Era Transparencies Illuminate a Host of Microscopic Creatures

Osh Gallery in London is exhibiting 'The Hudson Transparencies,' a collection of 58 original illustrations by Charles Thomas Hudson, a 19th-century educator and amateur scientist. Created for his lectures, these large-scale transparencies (37.8 by 29.5 inches) combine painted paper and perforated pinholes to depict microscopic creatures such as rotifers, algae, protozoa, and marine organisms. When back-lit, the dark, seemingly unfinished images transform into vivid, detailed visions of life invisible to the naked eye, showcasing the intersection of Victorian-era optical innovation and scientific discovery.

Art exhibits open in Earlville

The Earlville Opera House Art Galleries in Earlville, New York, will open the second round of 2026 visual artist exhibitions on Saturday, May 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. The series features three artists: Bruce E. Webster with his retrospective "A Legacy in Wood" showcasing over 40 years of fine wood furniture; Linda Kays-Biviano with "From Clay to Character: Featuring Woodland Spirits," hand-sculpted fantasy figures in polymer clay and resin; and Lawrence Kinney. The exhibits run through July 2, with free admission and an Artist Talk at 1:45 p.m. on opening day.

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair highlights Afro-Brazilian art

The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair will return to New York's Starrett-Lehigh Building from May 13 to May 17, 2026, for its 12th edition. Featuring over 20 exhibitors from 12 countries, the fair introduces a curated section titled "1-54 Presents: Brazil Beyond Brazil," led by Brazilian curator and professor Igor Simões, marking the fair's first focus on Afro-Brazilian art and the cultural connections between Africa and Latin America. New participants include Adegbola Gallery (Lagos), Aura (São Paulo), and Black Pony Gallery (Bermuda), alongside returning exhibitors such as 193 Gallery and Galerie Myrtis.

Alphabet of bread and love for animals. Uri Aran's exhibition at the Museo Madre in Naples

Alfabeto di pane e amore per gli animali. La mostra di Uri Aran al Museo Madre di Napoli

Uri Aran's solo exhibition at the Museo Madre in Naples, curated by director Eva Fabbris, explores language, communication, and connection through a range of works including video, sculpture, and an edible alphabet made of bread. The show, titled "Untitled (I love love)" after a video work, invites viewers into a space where meaning is fluid and inclusive, challenging rigid linguistic structures. Key pieces include the video "Untitled (I love you)" (2012), where Aran addresses plastic animals, and "Untitled (Bread Library)" (2025), a bread alphabet that visitors can rearrange to create new messages.

Pussy Riot and FEMEN protest at the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. "Blood is the true language of Russia"

Le Pussy Riot e le FEMEN in protesta al Padiglione russo alla Biennale di Venezia. “Il sangue è il vero linguaggio della Russia”

On May 6, 2026, during the preview days of the 61st Venice Biennale, Pussy Riot and FEMEN staged a joint protest outside the Russian Pavilion. Led by Nadya Tolokonnikova, the activists denounced Russia's participation in the Biennale as a form of political normalization while the war in Ukraine continues. The action included chants and slogans such as "Russia kills, Biennale exhibits. Blood is Russia's art," and targeted the Russian ambassador present inside the pavilion. The protest was unannounced and caught Biennale security off guard, drawing a crowd of journalists, visitors, and art professionals.