Museum openings: V&A East and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plus, William Blake in Dublin—podcast

Two major museum projects have reached completion as London’s V&A East prepares for its public debut and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) unveils its new $700m David Geffen Galleries. V&A East opens with a focus on community-driven programming and its inaugural exhibition, 'The Music is Black: A British Story,' while LACMA’s long-awaited Peter Zumthor-designed building begins member previews amidst ongoing debates regarding its scale and cost.

Like a concrete aircraft carrier: was LA’s giant new $724m gallery really worth all the carbon emissions?

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is set to open its new $724 million David Geffen Galleries, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The massive concrete structure, which spans Wilshire Boulevard like a bridge, represents a twenty-year effort led by director Michael Govan to create a non-hierarchical, single-level museum space. The building's design features eight massive pavilions supporting a sprawling 110,000 square foot gallery floor, intended to house the museum's diverse permanent collection in a transparent, fluid environment.

Big Crisis, Small Gestures

Große Krise, kleine Gesten

The article reviews the second edition of the Klima Biennale Wien, which opened in early April in Vienna. It notes that while the biennale aims to address the urgent triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, its execution falls short. The exhibition features symbolic works such as a beached whale, a broken boat, and a compostable SUV sculpture, but these motifs feel repetitive and lack the necessary impact. The author contrasts these with historical precedents like Menashe Kadishman's 1978 Venice Biennale installation and Joseph Beuys' "7000 Eichen" (1982), arguing that the themes of nature and sustainability are not new, only the urgency has intensified.

Daring and Dazzling, a New LACMA Floats Above Los Angeles

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled its new $724 million David Geffen Galleries, a long-awaited and controversial expansion designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The structure, which spans Wilshire Boulevard with its distinctive horizontal, glass-walled design, marks the culmination of a decade-long effort to modernize the campus and replace several aging buildings.

Inside LACMA’s Visionary New Galleries Floating Above Los Angeles

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) has unveiled the David Geffen Galleries, a $724 million concrete-and-glass structure designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. Spanning Wilshire Boulevard, the 110,000-square-foot horizontal gallery space floats 30 feet above ground and features a non-chronological layout intended to encourage wandering. The interior is characterized by pigment-infused concrete walls, floor-to-ceiling windows with specialized metal curtains by Reiko Sudō, and a lack of traditional white-cube galleries.

Steven Durland, Champion of Performance Art, Dies at 75

Steven Durland, a longtime editor of *High Performance* magazine and a champion of performance art, died on March 11 at age 75 after a brief illness. His life partner, Linda Frye Burnham, confirmed his death in Saxapahaw, North Carolina. Durland was born in Long Beach, California, raised in South Dakota, and trained as a ceramic artist with a BFA from the University of South Dakota and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He became deeply involved in performance and mail art, and from 1986 to 1994 served as editor of *High Performance*, a magazine founded by Burnham that featured thousands of artists including Nancy Buchanan, Carolee Schneemann, Paul McCarthy, Suzanne Lacy, and Ulysses Jenkins. Durland also maintained his own artistic practice, creating performances such as "Win Defeat/BID FOR POWER" (1978) and "Death and Taxis" (1982), and produced the micro-newspaper *Tacit*.

Dirty carpets to Palestinian skateboarders: a decade of Peckham 24 – in pictures

Peckham 24, a photography festival in south London, celebrates its 10th anniversary with a special edition titled "The Eras Edition," running from 15-17 May at Copeland Park and the Bussey Building. Founded a decade ago by artist-curator duo Jo Dennis and Vivienne Gamble as a fringe event of Photo London, the festival began as a 24-hour pop-up showcasing emerging talent. This year's edition explores the theme of time through works by artists including Kristina Yenza (documenting youth in wartime Ukraine), Vinca Petersen (rural community life on the Isle of Skye), Max Ferguson (the London College of Communication tower block), Julie F Hill (space telescope data visualizations), Mark Duffy (carpet detritus in the Houses of Parliament), and Maen Hammad (Palestinian skateboarders).

SPLENDID PLAYGROUND at Galerie Meyer Kainer

Galerie Meyer Kainer in Vienna is presenting "SPLENDID PLAYGROUND," a group exhibition featuring works by Ei Arakawa-Nash, Nikolas Gambaroff, and Nora Schultz. The show runs from March 20 to May 16, 2026, and includes 29 images documenting the exhibition, as published by Contemporary Art Daily.

Casabianca is the name of the new art space to visit in Como

Si chiama Casabianca il nuovo spazio per l’arte da visitare a Como

A new art space called Casabianca has opened in Como, Italy, housed in a 1930s building designed by Piero Ponci. The project is spearheaded by hoteliers Paolo and Antonella De Santis, who have transformed the former luxury villa and bank into a domestic-style exhibition venue for their contemporary art collection. The space features works by artists such as Giulio Paolini, Stefano Arienti, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, Marina Abramovic, and Joseph Kosuth, with no labels or didactics to preserve the feel of a private home.

art advisors advice new collectors

CULTURED has compiled advice from top art advisors for novice collectors, drawn from their 2026 Power Art Advisors List. The advisors caution against treating art as a financial investment, urge collectors to follow their own taste rather than trends, and emphasize the importance of looking at art extensively before purchasing. They also warn against impulsive buying, overvaluing social media, and chasing discounts that lead to poor acquisitions.

Kazakhstan Presents “Qoñyr: Archive of Silence” at Venice Biennale

Kazakhstan has unveiled details for its national pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, titled “Qoñyr: Archive of Silence.” Curated by Syrlybek Bekbota, the exhibition features nine artists including Smail Bayaliyev, Asel Kadyrkhanova, and Ardak Mukanova, and will be hosted at the Museo Storico Navale. The presentation utilizes the Kazakh concept of "Qoñyr"—a term encompassing specific colors, sounds, and scents—to explore themes of Soviet domesticity, nuclear trauma, and cultural heritage through sound installations, video, and archival assemblages.

Scandal in Florence's Skyline? After the Black Cube and the White Cylinder, the Prism That Impales Santa Croce Appears

Scandalo nello skyline di Firenze? Dopo il cubo nero e il cilindro bianco spunta il prisma che impalla Santa Croce

A cylindrical antenna installed by the telecom company Iliad in Florence has sparked controversy after it was reported that, from certain angles, it visually overlaps with iconic landmarks such as Brunelleschi's Dome and Giotto's Campanile. The article traces a pattern of periodic scandals in Florence, including a previous uproar over the so-called "Cubo Nero" (a new building replacing a decaying theater), and notes that the antenna has actually been in place since 2023 without earlier outcry. Local artist Giacomo Costa recently photographed another white prismatic antenna in Via Ghibellina, within the UNESCO zone, that obstructs the view of Santa Croce, fueling further debate.

Collapse Finance, Part 2: Longevity Capitalism—Life as an Asset Class

The essay explores the emergence of "longevity capitalism," a financial and biopolitical regime where biological duration and life expectancy are treated as assets for capital accumulation. As traditional welfare systems and collective pension schemes collapse, the uncertainty of human lifespan has been transformed into a speculative frontier, with retirement security increasingly tied to volatile private equity and cryptocurrency markets.

A Firenze nasce la “nuova” istituzione GAMB che riunisce la Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze e i Musei del Bargello (con nuovo logo d’autore)

A new museum institution called GAMB (Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze e Musei del Bargello) has been established in Florence, unifying seven cultural sites under a single autonomous museum system. The sites include the Galleria dell’Accademia, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Orsanmichele, Casa Martelli, Palazzo Davanzati, Cappelle Medicee, and the former Church of San Procolo. A new visual identity designed by Milanese studio Migliore+Servetto features a pictogram that maps the geographic distribution of the venues, along with a custom typeface and color palette unique to each location. The launch also coincides with the start of a public restoration project for the base of Benvenuto Cellini’s *Perseo* at the Bargello, open to visitors from May 12 to September 5, 2026.

Two spectacular libraries are under construction in Milan: photos of the construction sites

A Milano sono in costruzione due spettacolari biblioteche: le foto dei cantieri

Milan is currently undergoing a significant cultural transformation with the construction of two major public libraries: the European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) and the Lorenteggio Library. The BEIC, a massive 30,000-square-meter project designed by Onsitestudio and funded by the PNRR, is rising in the Porta Vittoria district as a national-level cultural hub. Meanwhile, the Lorenteggio Library, designed by a team led by Grau Magaña Urtzi, is taking shape in a strategic suburban area to provide essential community services and social integration.