TEFAF New York is showcasing a group of artisans who are pushing the boundaries of traditional craft. Exhibitors include a couple who grow their own furniture, an artist who polishes metal to a mirror-like finish, and another who collaborates with insects in their creative process. These works challenge conventional definitions of craft and material use.
Three exhibitions in New York this spring are showcasing the works of artistic duos, pairing artists to highlight how their creations either complement or contrast with each other. The shows aim to explore the dynamics of collaboration and dialogue between artists, offering viewers a unique perspective on creative relationships.
Officials from the United States and Italy gathered near dozens of repatriated artifacts to celebrate their ongoing alliance against art looting, which has resulted in the return of thousands of artworks to Italy. The event highlighted collaborative efforts between the two nations to curb the illegal trafficking of cultural property, even as broader diplomatic tensions persist.
Artists and architects are increasingly designing and creating elaborate, artistic birdhouses, elevating a common backyard object into a subject of creative expression and public art. This movement reflects a broader trend of engaging with nature and public space, blurring the lines between functional design, sculpture, and environmental commentary.
Milan Design Week has become a primary stage for high-profile creative collaborations, where independent designers and major brands pool resources to debut experimental works. These partnerships range from limited-edition furniture collections to immersive installations, highlighting a shift toward collective production in the design industry.
Edoardo Pandolfo and Francesco Palù, the founders of the glass brand 6:AM, are revitalizing the traditional glassmaking industry of Murano with a contemporary, "punk" sensibility. By collaborating with master artisans and pushing the technical boundaries of the medium, the duo creates avant-garde pieces that challenge the island's historical aesthetic while maintaining its rigorous craftsmanship standards.
Cultural institutions across the United States are launching a series of exhibitions and preservation projects to commemorate the centennial of Route 66. From the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to local galleries along the 2,448-mile corridor, these programs examine the highway's evolution from a vital migration artery to a kitschy symbol of Americana. The initiatives aim to provide a nuanced look at the road’s history, including the experiences of marginalized travelers who relied on the Green Book to navigate segregated landscapes.
Artist Harry Nuriev has designed a new chandelier for the luxury crystal house Baccarat. The piece, titled "Everyday Chandelier," replaces a portion of the traditional, ornate crystal components with mass-produced, utilitarian objects like plastic cups, water bottles, and light bulbs.
Designer Giancarlo Valle and fashion editor Jane Keltner de Valle have completed a major renovation of their seven-story New York City townhouse. The project transformed the historic structure into a personal showcase of their collaborative vision, blending antique elements with contemporary design.
A descendant of one of Majorca's oldest families has preserved and now showcases a unique, sprawling collage within her 18th-century family estate. The artwork was created over hundreds of summer holidays by her mother and aunt, who meticulously assembled it using materials like magazine clippings, postcards, and fabric.
Film producer Dorian Grinspan collaborated with a group of artists and friends to design his upstate New York home, creating a space that blends Japanese handicraft aesthetics with what he describes as 'British whimsy.' The project was a collective, evolving effort rather than a single architect's vision.
Poet Ella Frears has composed a new literary work in response to Charlie Prodger’s 2024 drawing, 'Volcano Snake Sun, September'. The poem explores themes of observation, physical detachment, and the tension between tranquility and underlying violence, mirroring the shift in Prodger’s practice from conceptual film to representational pencil-and-pastel works on paper.
ArtReview's feature 'The Collaborative Museum' presents a diagnosis of the current state and future of museums from professionals within the field. The article highlights concerns about cultural amnesia in the United States, the need for diverse and accessible art spaces beyond large institutions, and the critical role of museums as public spaces for remembrance and reflection.
Artist Maja Malou Lyse will represent Denmark at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026 with her project 'Things To Come'. The work is a video created in collaboration with DIS, starring actresses from the porn industry, and explores the intersection of science, fiction, and pornography, inspired by a study on how virtual sexual stimuli affect the body.
CULTURED, Design Within Reach (DWR), and Flos co-hosted a salon-style panel discussion in DWR's Third Avenue showroom in New York, focused on the evolving role of lighting in modern interiors. Panelists included Barber Osgerby design studio co-founder Jay Osgerby, interior designer Clive Lonstein, DWR Senior Director of Merchandising Lizzy Sullivan, and moderator Sarah Harrelson, CULTURED's Editor-in-Chief. The event featured the new Flos Bellhop Lamp Collection and drew designers, collectors, and media figures such as Sarah Solis, Gray Davis, and photographer Frank Frances.
Copenhagen-based designer Helle Mardahl has launched a new hand-blown glass collection for Design Within Reach (DWR). The collection includes barware, serving dishes, vases, and lamps in a palette of rhubarb, plum, coconut, and creamy melon, inspired by Scandinavian and American design traditions and Mardahl's heritage as the daughter of an architect.
The New School in New York City plans to lay off 15 percent of its full-time faculty and staff by June. This follows a months-long conflict with faculty and a reported $48 million deficit, with the university previously offering voluntary separation packages to 40% of staff.
The article reports on the 2025 Met Gala, where celebrity guests showcased elaborate, art-inspired fashion on the red carpet. The event, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, featured designs that transformed the human body into living canvases, with many looks referencing the evening's exhibition theme.
Argentine artist Cecilia Bengolea has unveiled her latest project, "El Ruido que Habita" (The Noise That Dwells), at the Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía (C3A) in Córdoba. Developed during a residency in early 2025, the exhibition features site-specific drawings and ceramic works created in collaboration with the Dionisio Ortiz School of Art. The installation integrates visual art, technology, and performance, inviting visitors to engage with sound as a transformative language that bridges cultural and material divides.
The Kunsthaus Wiesbaden is hosting a comprehensive survey of Argentine artist Marcelo Brodsky titled "Memory in Action," running through June 2026. The exhibition showcases Brodsky’s unique practice of intervening in archival photographs to address global human rights abuses, political violence, and the persistence of historical trauma. Key series on display include his seminal work on the Argentine military dictatorship, "Buena Memoria," alongside explorations of 1968 global protests and African liberation movements.
DIALOGUES WITH THE LEGACY OF BURLE MARX AT MAC CCB
The Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Center (MAC/CCB) in Lisbon is presenting a major exhibition titled 'Lugar de estar: o legado Burle Marx' (A Place to Be: The Legacy of Burle Marx). The show features an extensive selection of landscape projects for public spaces by the influential Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx and his collaborators, tracing nearly seventy years of work through studies, sketches, photographs, and press materials. It highlights his role in shaping modern Brazilian cities like Brasília and Rio de Janeiro.
Alleanza culturale tra Roma e New York. Le due città siglano il primo accordo tra grandi centri storici
Rome and New York have signed the first cultural cooperation agreement between their historic centers, Municipio I Roma Centro and Manhattan. The protocol was formalized during the Forum Cultura Roma Centro at the Temple of Vibia Sabina and Hadrian, aiming to establish an international network based on collaboration between cultural institutions and governance models. It includes exchanges, youth programs, artistic initiatives, and public art projects involving museums, archives, libraries, universities, and educational entities.
L’arte urbana e la musica uniscono Amsterdam e Milano per tre giorni
MUROMi, an independent Milan-based company, is launching a special Milan edition of Here&Now, a cultural event originally created in Amsterdam by Tony Ant and Chinny Bond. Taking place May 21–23, 2026, at Spazio Diaz in Milan, the event combines live painting, music, and contemporary urban art, aiming to bring together creatives, brands, and key figures from the Milanese scene. The project is born from a collaboration between MUROMi and the Here&Now community, which is rooted in international street culture and music.
Milano si depavimenta: sta per arrivare un nuovo giardino per tenere insieme sostenibilità e cultura
Construction will begin in the coming weeks on Giardino Manifesto, an urban regeneration project at the historic Milanese cultural space Santeria Toscana 31. Presented on May 19, 2026, with Mayor Giuseppe Sala, Gruppo CAP President Yuri Santagostino, and architect Cristiana Cutrona of ReValue, the initiative transforms a fully paved external area into a green infrastructure applying sponge city (SUDS) principles. The design includes rain gardens, drainage surfaces, a rain-collecting amphitheater, and a sensory garden, aiming to reduce flood risk and lower perceived temperatures by up to 4-5°C through de-paving and resilient vegetation.
Due grandi studi di architettura puntano a rivoluzionare Roma nei prossimi 25 anni
A multidisciplinary team led by Italian architecture and urban planning firm IT'S and Dutch firm OMA has won the international ideas competition "Vision for Rome," promoted by the Fondazione Roma REgeneration. Their project, "Roma Continua," was presented at the Auditorium della Tecnica di Confindustria during the second ROMA REgeneration FORUM. The proposal aims to rethink Rome over the next 25 years through a paradigm shift in urban, social, and cultural planning, envisioning the city as a living ecosystem. It is based on five guiding principles—care, beauty, knowledge, movement, reuse, and grafting—and includes five green corridors anchored to the Tiber River, "Fori dell'innovazione" (innovation forums), and a continuous mobility network. The project also seeks to reduce tourist pressure on the historic center by creating new cultural itineraries and sustainable transport links.
Stefano Boeri Architetti has been commissioned to transform a former ATAC bus depot in Rome's Prati-Delle Vittorie district into a multifunctional hub called Depositi delle Vittorie. The project, owned by the family behind the Fondazione Memmo, will convert the 16,000-square-meter disused site into a mixed-use complex featuring commercial, cultural, and leisure spaces, along with a 8,000-square-meter rooftop park suspended 15 meters high that will host art installations. Construction is set to begin in late 2027 and conclude by 2030.
Triennale Milano, in collaboration with Qatar Museums, has launched a new educational program for recent graduates from Qatari universities. The initiative began with a selection call overseen by representatives of Design Doha, followed by a residency in Milan starting April 20. Five graduates—Reema Abu Hassan, Abdulrahman Al Muftah, Adriane de Souza, Maryam Hashim, and Meryem Omerspahic—participated in workshops, studio activities, and meetings during Milan Design Week. An open discussion about their experience will be held at Triennale on May 15 at 6 PM, featuring the participants and the bootcamp team.
From May 13 to 15, 2026, the MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma will host "Science Fashion," an event curated by Dobrila Denegri that explores the intersections of fashion, science, and new technologies. The program brings together international researchers and practitioners in experimental fashion to discuss urgent issues such as climate emergency, energy, and interspecies coexistence. It is part of the broader multi-year initiative "Experiments in Fashion and Art," launched in 2024 with "Critical Fashion," and involves collaborations with NABA, Sapienza University of Rome, and UnitelmaSapienza.
A Roma è nato un nuovo spazio culturale che lavora sulla memoria della città (anche attraverso le cartoline)
A new cultural space called URBS has opened in Rome's Testaccio district, founded by architect Andrea D'Antrassi in collaboration with Giovanni Colombara. The space debuted in 2024 as "The Smallest Museum by URBS," a 20-square-meter venue housing over 1,600 historical postcards of the city, creating a visual archive spanning different eras. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions, such as the current show "Not Mine, Not Yours" by Iranian artist Mehrdad Shadrooh, curated by Barbara Blasi, which draws from a family video-photo archive covering over eighty years of history. A commercial space has also been opened in Trastevere.
Artribune's newsletter "Render" is set to release its 57th issue on May 11, featuring stories on urban regeneration projects across Italy. Highlights include a new library under construction in Latisana near the train station, a square-shaped island in the Venice lagoon transformed into an exhibition space after decades of abandonment, participatory tactical urbanism initiatives in Torre Annunziata funded by a Ministry of Social Policies and Labor grant, and a post-war complex in Rome poised to become a cultural hub. The issue will also profile the Peruvian architecture duo Barclay & Crousse ahead of their exhibition at the Politecnico di Milano and include a reflection on contemporary green spaces inspired by a visit to a private English park.