At least 34 Members of the European Parliament have signed a letter demanding the suspension of all EU funding to the Venice Biennale Foundation if Russia's participation proceeds. The letter, addressed to top EU officials, argues that allowing a state under extensive sanctions to participate in an EU-funded event contradicts the bloc's values and weakens its credibility.
A Russian drone strike on the historic center of Lviv, Ukraine, on March 24 damaged multiple buildings, including the 17th-century Bernardine Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site. At least 27 people were injured in the attack, which saw drones hit the area of St. Andrew's Church, part of the monastery complex.
A new analysis of damaged statues from ancient Egypt is reshaping the historical narrative of Queen Hatshepsut. Researchers have re-examined 3,500-year-old statuary, finding evidence that the deliberate defacement of her images occurred decades after her death, challenging the long-held belief that her successor, Thutmose III, orchestrated an immediate campaign of destruction against her legacy out of personal animosity.
Researchers have confirmed the identity of the Spanish galleon San José, which sank off the coast of Colombia in 1708 carrying billions of dollars in gold, silver, and gems. Using high-resolution photographs and digital models from remotely operated vehicle surveys, they identified hand-struck coins (cobs) minted in Lima in 1707, along with Chinese porcelain and cannon inscriptions, as key evidence. The findings were published in the journal Antiquity on June 10.
Georgetown University’s student organization No Lost Generation (NLG) partnered with the Afghan artist collective ArtLords to host a five-day exhibition at the Intercultural Center galleria. Curated by Omaid Sharifi, the showcase featured works by three Afghan refugee artists—Abdul Hakim Maqsoodi, Mohammad Younus Qani, and Fatima Wojohat—centered around the theme of "nawroz" (new day). The collection spanned traditional Afghan miniatures, scenes of displacement, and portraits exploring the resilience of female refugees.
British artist and art critic Matthew Collings has sparked intense backlash for his exhibition "Drawings Against Genocide" held in Kent. Critics and advocacy groups allege that the works utilize virulent antisemitic tropes, including depictions of Jewish people consuming infants and imagery that appears to deny the sexual violence committed during the October 7 attacks.
The University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program has launched “SARA,” a new art exhibition at the Rooting for Change Cafe in Palmer Commons. The gallery features over 10 works by local photographer Erick Díaz Veliz and student artist-curator Antonella Sara, ranging from agricultural photography to mixed-media pieces inspired by the “arte huanca” style of Peruvian painter Josué Sánchez. The opening event integrated culinary traditions with visual art, serving tamales and chicha morada to highlight the sacred role of corn in Andean heritage.
The Museum of the Cherokee People has launched "Unrelenting: Cherokee People and the American Revolution," a landmark exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. The show juxtaposes 18th-century historical artifacts, such as weaponry and archival treaties, with newly commissioned works by 14 contemporary Cherokee artists. Curated by Dakota Brown, Evan Mathis, and Brandon Dillard, the exhibition challenges traditional American nationalist mythologies by centering Indigenous perspectives on the Cherokee American War and the complexities of sovereignty.
The article is a Q&A with an artist and co-director of the Global Spanish Initiative at the University of Virginia (UVA), discussing the exhibition 'Fuego Eterno.' The show, which opened August 29, features artists from indigenous and Afro-descended communities across the Americas and its diasporas, exploring themes of indigenous sovereignty, Nahua cosmologies, border resistance, and diaspora. The exhibition includes the co-director's own artworks and is accompanied by a symposium, a workshop with Peruvian artist Venuca Evanán Vivanco, a film screening, and a closing party.
Dozens of arts and media professionals have set sail for Gaza aboard a flotilla called the Thousand Madleens, led by Bangladeshi photographer and curator Shahidul Alam. The group departed Otranto, Italy on 1 October and is currently in international waters, expecting to be apprehended by Israeli forces. Alam is traveling on the Conscience, the largest private vessel attempting to break the siege since October 2023, carrying 92 civilians from 26 countries, mostly medics and arts workers. The mission aims to challenge the legality of the siege and demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian journalists and medics, who Alam says have been specifically targeted by Israel.
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.
The Argentine Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale will feature a site-specific installation titled "Monitor Yin Yang" by artist Matías Duville. Curated by Josefina Barcia, the work uses salt and charcoal to create an unstable, walkable landscape that explores the coexistence of opposing forces such as light and shadow, waste and energy. The installation includes a sound composition developed with Centolla Society and Alvise Vidolin, integrating real-time environmental data from Venice. Duville's project was selected from 69 proposals in an open competition organized by Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Secretariat of Culture, and the Argentine Investment and Trade Agency.
Artists and photographers, both Cambodian and foreign, have donated works to an exhibition at Brown Coffee in Phnom Penh to raise emergency funds for Studio Images - House of Photography, Cambodia's only professional photography school. The school opened in 2024 but lost its funding for the next six months due to external circumstances, threatening the graduation of students in its two-year associate-degree program. The exhibition, titled "Art for the Future," is hosted at the café located in the former home of architect Vann Molyvann, with proceeds supporting the school's operations through the 2025-2026 school year.
« Restitutions » : le Parlement prêt à tout lâcher
The French Parliament is moving forward with an accelerated legislative process to pass a framework law governing the restitution of cultural property to foreign states. This bill aims to streamline the return of artworks and artifacts deemed to have been illicitly acquired, fulfilling a long-standing promise made by President Emmanuel Macron to address colonial-era acquisitions and other contested heritage.
The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) has opened “Ancient Splendor: Roman Art in the Time of Trajan,” a major traveling exhibition featuring a seven-foot-tall marble statue of Emperor Trajan and a vast array of artifacts from his reign. Organized in collaboration with the Italian organization StArt and curated by Roman expert Lucrezia Ungaro alongside SLAM’s Hannah Segrave, the show is structured into three thematic sections: the imperial household, the domestic lives of everyday Romans, and the public sphere. To enhance immersion, the museum has integrated sensory elements including scent stations that replicate ancient fragrances and a commissioned soundscape.
The British Museum in London is opening a major exhibition titled 'Hawai‘i: a Kingdom Crossing Oceans' (15 January–25 May), accompanied by a catalogue featuring over 150 works from ancient Hawaiian treasures to contemporary pieces. The show explores the historical and cultural ties between Hawaii and the UK, highlighting objects such as an 18th-century feather cloak gifted to a British captain, portraits of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu from their 1824 London visit, and a crested helmet. The catalogue includes an inventory of the entire Native Hawaiian collection at the British Museum, the largest outside Hawaii.
The Frost Art Museum at Florida International University in Miami has opened "MOSAICO: Italian Code of a Timeless Art," an exhibition featuring ancient Italian mosaics, including fragments from a ship belonging to Roman emperor Caligula and 11th-century stone slabs from the tombs of Saints Benedict and Scholastica. These artifacts, on view in the US for the first time, are loaned from the Capitoline Museums in Rome and are presented alongside immersive digital projections by Magister Art that recreate sites like the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Basilica of San Vitale. The exhibition is organized by region, highlighting Unesco World Heritage sites and spanning techniques from the Hellenistic period to Roman opus sectile.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is opening "Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times," an exhibition exploring the artistic and cultural legacy of Emperor Trajan (AD 98–117). The show features loans from major Italian institutions including the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli and the Vatican Museums, with standout works such as a 2-meter marble statue of Trajan and a colossal portrait of his wife Plotina. The exhibition, conceived in 2021 with Italian consultancy StArt, will travel to the Saint Louis Museum of Art in March 2026, with each venue offering a different focus—Houston emphasizing large-scale objects like a recreation of Trajan's Column, and St. Louis delving into the port city of Ostia.
Nigeria is preparing for its return to the Venice Biennale in 2028 with a fundamentally different approach, framing its participation as a structural intervention rather than mere inclusion. Curator Richard Vedelago, in conversation with Suzette Bell-Roberts, outlines a strategy focused on ownership, authorship, and building a self-sustaining cultural ecosystem, moving beyond seeking validation from global art structures.
The Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM) is launching "So We Leapt – Para I Hinanao-ta Mo’na," an exhibition centered on a rare archive of photographs taken in Guam between 1944 and 1946. Captured by U.S. Army photographer Frank Buchman and curated by Pulitzer Prize-winner Manny Crisostomo, the images move beyond traditional wartime documentation to highlight the daily lives and resilience of the Indigenous CHamoru people. The show is augmented by "Hasso," a contemporary portrait series by Johnny Cepeda Gogo featuring elderly CHamoru survivors of World War II.
The National Museum of Libya in Tripoli reopened on 12 December after being closed since 2011, following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi and years of civil war. Housed in the historic Red Castle (Al-Saraya Al-Hamra), the museum was originally established by Italian colonizers in 1919 and later expanded by the British. Gaddafi opened a modernized version in 1988. A comprehensive restoration project with UNESCO assistance began in 2023 to bring the institution up to international standards.
Mvskoke Waters Gallery, the first tribally owned art gallery in the Tulsa metropolitan area, announces its grand opening on December 13, 2025, in Jenks, Oklahoma. The inaugural exhibition, titled "Mvskokvlke: Road of Strength," features works by over 20 Muscogee artists and is co-curated by Muscogee artist Bobby C. Martin, who describes the project as an honor and a labor of love.
Warrington Museum and Art Gallery will host 'Foreign Bodies,' a solo exhibition by emerging artist Skye Baker, from July 18 to September 14. The show features performance and video works exploring Baker’s personal experiences with gender transition and broader societal perceptions of the trans community in the UK. Baker, an 18-year-old Warrington resident and recent Priestley College graduate, won the museum’s 2024 Open Exhibition, becoming its youngest winner, and the new show builds on her award-winning video 'Guttural.' Visitors can make choices after each video piece, shaping their own journey through the interactive exhibition.
Norman Teague is the subject of a documentary film produced by Firelight Media in association with The WNET Group for the PBS series 'American Masters.' The film, directed by Adewole A. Abioye and produced by Aderemi Abioye, explores Teague's life and creative journey as a visual artist. The program is part of the 'In the Making' series and is funded by multiple foundations including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation.
A Union flag from the Battle of Trafalgar, flown on the Royal Sovereign under Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, is being offered for sale at the Treasure House Fair for £450,000. The flag, newly identified by expert Martyn Downer, is one of only three known Union flags from the battle and is believed to be the most important such relic still in private hands. It was previously sold for a few hundred pounds in 2003 due to confused provenance.
Gitte Zschoch has been appointed as the new Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut, taking over the role and chairmanship of the board on July 18. She succeeds Johannes Ebert, who has held the position since 2012 and will now lead the institute's regional office in Athens. Zschoch, currently Secretary General of the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), previously worked for the Goethe-Institut in various roles, including founding director of its branch in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The appointment was confirmed by German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and approved by the institute's presidium.
EU plant Strafe für Biennale-Teilnahme Russlands
The European Union has threatened to cut funding for the Venice Biennale if it allows Russia to reopen its national pavilion at the upcoming exhibition. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated that Russia's return is "morally wrong" while the country is bombing Ukrainian museums and destroying cultural heritage. Russia, in coordination with the Biennale foundation, had announced plans to participate this year with works by Russian artists, marking its first appearance since the 2022 invasion.
Une cargaison romaine du Ier siècle mise au jour dans le lac de Neuchâtel
Archaeologists have completed two major underwater excavation campaigns in Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland, recovering over 1,000 artifacts from a Roman cargo shipment dating between 20 and 50 AD. The discovery, initially spotted via aerial photography in 2024, includes exceptionally well-preserved items such as Spanish olive oil amphorae, tableware, military weaponry, and rare organic materials like a wicker basket and chariot wheels. The site was kept secret for two years to prevent looting while divers meticulously retrieved the historical treasures.
Florian Sitbon, nouveau maire adjoint en charge de la culture
Florian Sitbon has been elected as the Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of culture, cultural sovereignty, and free media. The appointment, confirmed on March 29, places a theater director and cultural advisor in a key political role overseeing the city's cultural policy.
Extrait de l’Iliade dans l’abdomen d’une momie et langues en or : de rares découvertes effectuées en Égypte
Archaeologists working at the necropolis of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt have made a series of rare discoveries, the most significant being a fragment of papyrus from Homer's Iliad found inside the abdominal cavity of a Roman-era mummy. This marks the first time a Greek literary text has been found incorporated into the ancient Egyptian embalming process, suggesting a unique hybridization of funerary practices.