Il fotoreport Andy Rocchelli morto nel Donbass nel 2014 ha un giardino a lui dedicato a Pavia

On May 24, the Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia inaugurated the Giardino della Ricerca, a garden dedicated to photojournalist Andy Rocchelli, who was killed in 2014 in the Donbas region of Ukraine alongside human rights activist Andrei Mironov. The garden, opened on the twelfth anniversary of his death, features a commemorative plaque and includes speeches by Gherardo Colombo and Michele Serra, as well as a podcast by Agostino Zappia and Enrico Rotondi. Italian courts have ruled that Rocchelli and Mironov were killed by Ukrainian army fire, but no one has been convicted.

In Romagna, debate over the artistic legacy of the Fascist era

In Romagna c’è discussione attorno all’eredità artistica del Ventennio fascista

Recent developments in Romagna, Italy, have sparked debate over the artistic legacy of the Fascist era. The 102-meter-long Flight Mosaics at the former Aeronautical College in Forlì are now open to the public, and the Conad-Città di Forlì Auditorium, converted from a former GIL cinema, will inaugurate on May 13, 2026. Regional President De Pascale has announced initial funding to secure the Colonia Varese in Cervia, a Rationalist masterpiece, while long-awaited consolidation work has begun on the Casa del Fascio in Predappio, Benito Mussolini's birthplace. A 2010 plan to turn the Casa del Fascio into a cultural center documenting Fascism has stalled due to political changes and bureaucratic hurdles.

Dahiye, il quartiere di Beirut che non esiste quasi più. Nelle foto di un artista italiano

Italian photographer Armando Perna (born 1981 in Reggio Calabria) has documented Dahiye, a southern suburb of Beirut known as Hezbollah's stronghold, using a digital camera hidden inside a car and controlled remotely via Bluetooth. His project, initiated in 2013 and exhibited in 2017 at the Fondazione Pino Pascali in Polignano a Mare (Bari), creates a street-view-style mapping of a neighborhood that has been heavily bombed by Israeli forces, most recently in the past weeks. The work was promoted by Planar gallery, founded by Antonio Ottomanelli, with Perna and Anna Vasta as part of the #showcase project.

La Seconda guerra mondiale con gli occhi dei grandi fotografi in una mostra a Gorizia

Palazzo Attems-Petzenstein in Gorizia hosts the exhibition "Back to Peace? La guerra vista dai grandi fotografi Magnum," which presents the Second World War and its aftermath through two hundred photographs, video installations, and soundscapes by legendary Magnum photographers. The show features iconic works by Robert Capa, Eve Arnold, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Seymour, Eric Hartmann, René Burri, Thomas Hoepker, George Rodger, Wayne Miller, and Werner Bischof, covering the Normandy landings, the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, the atomic devastation of Hiroshima, and the return of French prisoners. Curated by Andrea Holzherr and Marco Minuz, the exhibition is divided into two sections: one focusing on wartime imagery and the other on the immediate consequences of the conflict, including the suffering of civilians and the fragile hope of reconstruction.

Saving the Street Art of the Bombs: A True Story from Ukraine

Salvare la street art delle bombe: una storia vera dall’Ucraina

A documentary titled "Arte vs Guerra – Banksy e C215 a Borodyanka, Ucraina" will air on Sky Arte on April 26, recounting how street artists Banksy and C215 created murals in Borodyanka, Ukraine, shortly after the Russian invasion began in February 2022. The works include Banksy's "La Ginnasta" and "Davide e Golia," as well as C215's portraits of war victims like Dmytro Kotsiubaylo. The film also follows three Italian restorers—Paola Ciaccia, Alessandro Cini, and Maria Colonna—who risked their safety to preserve these murals from war damage and landmines.

Kiss Me, Beneath the Milky Twilight

The article reviews the exhibition "Ahhh! Beije-me" (Ahhh! Kiss me) at Martins & Montero gallery in São Paulo, featuring the late Brazilian artist Hudinilson Jr. (1957-2013). The show presents works from the 1970s and 1980s, including photocopies, stencils, paintings, and personal objects from the artist's apartment, which was closed by his family for twelve years after his death. Highlights include a billboard artwork "Zona de tensão," newly discovered gouache and pastel works on photocopies of Michelangelo's "David," and stencil matrices made from laundry detergent boxes used in street graffiti. The exhibition also incorporates furniture, decorative objects, and photographs by Mauro Restiffe documenting the apartment before its dismantling.

Pilvi Takala at Kunsthall Trondheim

Finnish artist Pilvi Takala has opened a solo exhibition titled 'Breaking Ranks' at Kunsthall Trondheim in Norway. The show, which runs from February 19 to May 10, 2026, is documented with 28 images and is accompanied by guides in both English and Norwegian.

Through Reverie: Love and Memory | A Duo-solo Exhibition by Clasutta and C.K.Koh

Whitestone Gallery Singapore will present a duo-solo exhibition titled "Through Reverie: Love and Memory" opening on 9 May 2026. The show features Indonesian artist Clasutta and Malaysian artist C.K. Koh, each presenting a solo component: Clasutta's "Roommates?" explores the emotional stages of a relationship through fragmented, intimate gestures, while Koh's "Folded Glimpses" draws from his personal photographic archive to evoke memory as impression rather than documentary record.

The Politics of In-action: Review of In-action: Viennese Actionism and the Passivities of Performance Art

Caroline Lillian Schopp's new book *In-action: Viennese Actionism and the Passivities of Performance Art* (2025) offers a revisionist history of Viennese Actionism, a movement retroactively named in 1970 by Peter Weibel and Valie Export. Schopp introduces the term "in-action" to describe a politics of artistic action that emphasizes intimacy, hesitation, and vulnerability rather than the violent or liberatory extremes typically associated with the movement. She expands the canon to include women artists such as Anna Brus, Hanel Koeck, and Ingrid Wiener, and reexamines the work of Rudolf Schwarzkogler, whose death was mythologized as a suicide by self-castration but was actually a fall from a window. Through close readings of photographs, Schopp argues that Schwarzkogler's performances were characterized by passivity and "in-sincerity," challenging the dominant narrative of actionism as aggressive or heroic.

Notre-Dame : les travaux commencent, le combat se poursuit

Work has begun on replacing the stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, with scaffolding installed immediately after the work permit was posted. The project involves removing six ornamental windows created in 1864 by Alfred Gérente under Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and installing six new windows by artist Claire Tabouret and the master glassmakers Simon-Marq. The authorization, signed by the prefect, has sparked legal challenges from the heritage association Sites & Monuments, who argue the replacement is neither conservation nor restoration. The article details how the state's own authorization document inadvertently strengthens opponents' arguments by affirming that the entire cathedral, including Viollet-le-Duc's windows, is protected as a historic monument.

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.

Bard President Leon Botstein (Finally) Resigns, Following Epstein Revelations

Leon Botstein, president of Bard College since 1975, announced his retirement on Friday following the release of an independent report by the law firm WilmerHale, commissioned by Bard's board of trustees. The report found that Botstein had not been "fully accurate" in his public accounts of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, revealing visits to Epstein's private island, personal messages, a joint watch purchase worth $56,000, and invitations to campus. While no illegal conduct was identified, the report raised serious concerns about Botstein's leadership and judgment. Botstein will step down on June 30 but remain at Bard as a professor.

Italian Culture Minister Launches Inspection of Venice Biennale’s Russian Pavilion

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli has launched an official inspection of the Russian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, just days before the exhibition opens. An inspector has been sent to Venice to review all documentation related to Russia's participation, focusing on potential irregularities such as visa issues for Russian artists and delegation members. The investigation follows the Biennale's international jury decision to exclude Russia and Israel from awards due to accusations of crimes against humanity. The Russian Pavilion will be open only during the pre-opening vernissage, after which it will close, with digital documentation displayed in its windows.

Russia's Venice Pavilion to Close to the Public in Compliance With Sanctions

Russia will return to the 61st Venice Biennale with its national pavilion, but the exhibition will only be physically open to the press and select guests during the vernissage dates of May 5–8. From May 9 onward, the pavilion will remain closed to the public, with multimedia documentation of performances displayed on screens at the windows. The arrangement follows leaked emails among Biennale Foundation President Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, General Director Andrea Del Mercato, and Russian Pavilion Commissioner Anastasia Karneeva, revealing efforts to comply with EU sanctions while still allowing Russia's participation after two consecutive absences since its invasion of Ukraine.

Fade to black: inside the US’s abandoned movie theatres

Photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre have documented abandoned early 20th-century movie theatres across the United States, capturing the haunting beauty of their decline. These once-grand cinemas, converted from 1920s music halls and theatres, have been left as hybrid ruins due to the rise of television, streaming platforms, and individualized media consumption. The work is exhibited at Kyotographie 2026 in Japan until 17 May.

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.

Reaching for the stars: enduring symbols of Soviet science – in pictures

Photographer Eric Lusito documents Soviet-era scientific institutes across former USSR states in his book "Soviet Scientific Institutes," published by FUEL. The photo essay captures decaying facilities and enduring equipment at locations including the Institute of Radio Astronomy in Kharkiv, Ukraine; the Byurakan astrophysical observatory in Armenia; the Andronikashvili Institute of Physics in Tbilisi, Georgia; and the Fesenkov Astrophysical Institute in Kazakhstan, among others.

Ada: My Mother the Architect review – illuminating profile of brilliant builder balances work and family

Architect-turned-filmmaker Yael Melamede directs a documentary portrait of her mother, Israeli architect Ada Karmi-Melamede, who co-designed the Supreme Court of Israel building in Jerusalem in the early 1990s with her brother Ram Karmi and later created Ben Gurion Airport. The film explores Karmi-Melamede's architectural philosophy of "architecture of the ground and of the sky," her departure from her brother's brutalism, and a painful family split when she left her husband and children in New York after being denied tenure at Columbia University.

Births, deaths and a first kiss: life near the frontline in Ukraine – in pictures

British-Iranian artist Aria Shahrokhshahi's long-term photographic project "Wet Ground" captures daily life in Ukraine during Russia's full-scale invasion, focusing on moments of youth, subculture, and fragile continuity rather than traditional war imagery. The series, developed through repeated stays and volunteering since 2019, includes scenes from teenage discos, hospital wards, a birth during a missile attack, and a first kiss near the frontline, all shot in stark black and white.

‘It’s a huge, futuristic space with massive skylights’: Ali Zolghadri’s best phone picture

Ali Zolghadri, a Tehran-born fine art photographer, captured a composite image of the central atrium of the Iran Mall in Tehran—the world's largest shopping mall—which was shortlisted in the creative category of the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. The photograph, taken four months before the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, depicts the mall's futuristic architecture with sweeping curved lines, metallic surfaces, and massive skylights, and includes a lone passerby to emphasize scale. Zolghadri emphasizes that his process involves manual editing in Photoshop without AI, blending three frames and removing unnecessary elements to construct meaning.

World Press Photo 2026 winners – in pictures

The World Press Photo 2026 winners have been announced, with Carol Guzy awarded the top honor for her image of distraught girls clinging to their father as ICE agents detain him after an immigration hearing in New York City. Finalists include Saber Nuraldin’s photograph of Palestinians scrambling for aid in Gaza, Victor J Blue’s image of Achi women outside a Guatemala City court, and other powerful works documenting climate displacement in Mexico, a wedding during a typhoon in the Philippines, police detaining a priest at a pensioners’ protest in Argentina, and a social robot in Europe.

Australian photographer wins at world photography awards with ‘barefoot volcanologist’ image

Australian photographer Elle Leontiev has been named the Open Photographer of the Year at the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. Her winning image, titled 'Barefoot Volcanologist,' features Phillip Yamah standing on a lava bomb at Mount Yasur in Vanuatu. Leontiev captured the surreal portrait under challenging technical conditions, relying entirely on autofocus beeps after her camera screens shorted out due to volcanic activity.

Perna, Cruz-Diez, Otero, Barboza: Venezuelan Focus at ISLAA

PERNA, CRUZ-DIEZ, OTERO, BARBOZA: ENFOQUE VENEZOLANO EN ISLAA

The Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA) in New York has launched its 2026 exhibition program with a major focus on Venezuelan modern and contemporary art. The season features a significant solo exhibition of Claudio Perna—his first in New York—alongside a showcase of Carlos Cruz-Diez and digital 'Spotlight' presentations on Diego Barboza and Alejandro Otero. The Perna retrospective, titled 'Idea como arte,' gathers over forty works including photography, photocopies, and conceptual cartography created between the 1960s and 1990s.

A Photographer of Newark’s People Gets a Show Among the People

Manuel Acevedo, a photographer known for documenting the people of Newark, New Jersey, is having his works displayed across the city in highly visible outdoor locations. The exhibition places his portraits directly in the neighborhoods and public spaces where his subjects live and work, making the art accessible to the very community that inspired it.

Monopol Gives Away 5 x 2 Tickets for Photo Exhibition at Museum Rietberg

Monopol verlost 5 × 2 Tickets für Foto-Ausstellung im Museum Rietberg

The Museum Rietberg in Zurich is presenting the exhibition "Fast ein Paradies" (Almost a Paradise), which critically examines colonial-era photography as an instrument of power. The show juxtaposes historical photographs with contemporary artworks that recontextualize this material, featuring artists like Sasha Huber, Sammy Baloji, Raphaël Barontini, and Andrea Chung, who intervene in the archival images to challenge colonial narratives and restore agency to the subjects.

Manet Under the Magnifying Glass

Manet à la loupe

A new documentary film titled 'Le Monde dans un tableau : les lampes de Manet' offers a detailed investigation into Édouard Manet's final major painting, 'Un bar aux Folies Bergère'. The film features an eclectic mix of interviewees, from a Folies Bergère lighting technician to a Shintō monk and a Tokyo print editor, weaving together art history and broader historical context around the iconic work.

La Rocabella : une résidence d’artistes paradisiaque qui croise les disciplines près de Toulon

La Rocabella, a Belle Époque villa near Toulon, France, has been transformed into an interdisciplinary artist residency by Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, co-founder of Criteo. Built in 1898 by architect Hans-Georg Tersling, the estate now hosts ceramic sculptors, comic artists, documentary filmmakers, and musicians in two-month sessions, with themes like 'Les Gardiennes de la mer' linking their work. The residency, funded entirely by Rudelle, aims to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration in a serene Mediterranean setting.

D'Ette Nogle at Kunstverein Braunschweig

Kunstverein Braunschweig is presenting 'Let it R.I.P.', a solo exhibition by American artist D'Ette Nogle, curated by Junia Thiede and running from March 21 to May 31, 2026. The exhibition features 69 images documenting Nogle's work, with press releases available in both English and German, along with a booklet and venue website links.

Dominique White at Kunsthalle Basel

Dominique White presents her solo exhibition "All Great Powers Collapse from the Centre" at Kunsthalle Basel, running from February 13 to May 17, 2026. The show features a press release, floor plan, and 10 exhibition images documented by photographer Philipp Hänger, with images courtesy of the institution.

Resisting Death: Glitches and Ornaments at CASTLE

An exhibition titled "Resisting Death: Glitches and Ornaments" is on view at CASTLE in Los Angeles from March 21 to May 2, 2026. Curated by Oriane Durand, the show features works by artists Ull Hohn, Bod Mellor, and Bruno Pélassy, presenting 22 images and no videos in the documentation.