The Louvre Remains the World’s Most-Visited Museum, with Competition Coming from the Middle East and Asia in 2025

The Louvre maintained its position as the world's most-visited museum in 2025, drawing approximately 9 million visitors according to the Art Newspaper's annual ranking. The Vatican Museums and the National Museum of Korea in Seoul followed closely, rounding out a top ten list that includes major institutions in London, New York, and Shanghai. Overall, about 200 million people visited the top 100 museums globally, a figure still below the pre-pandemic 2019 peak of 230 million.

Is Dubai’s loss Palma's gain? Newly revived Mallorca fair offers ’sun, sand and safety’ for wealthy Germans

The Art Cologne Palma Mallorca fair has been successfully revived at the Palau de Congressos, attracting 88 exhibitors with a heavy concentration of Spanish and German galleries. The event capitalizes on Mallorca's status as a premier second-home destination for wealthy Europeans, particularly Germans, and benefits from significant local government backing of €500,000. Early sales reports indicate strong performance in the lower and mid-market price brackets, with artists like Neo Rauch and Brian Eno finding quick buyers, though seven-figure works by Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz moved more slowly.

Exclusive | The world's 100 most visited art museums in 2025: new venues a big hit with visitors

The Art Newspaper's 2025 survey of the world's 100 most visited art museums reveals a strong but uneven recovery from the pandemic, with total visits reaching over 200 million. New museums in the Middle East, East Asia, and major Western cities have been major hits with the public, driving significant attendance.

Art Dubai announces updated gallery list for postponed 2026 edition

Art Dubai has released a revised exhibitor list for its 2026 edition, which was rescheduled to May 15–17 following regional instability caused by the US-Israel war in Iran. The fair will feature 50 galleries at Madinat Jumeirah, down from its original roster after approximately 75 participants—including major Indian and Western galleries—withdrew due to scheduling conflicts and logistics. To support those remaining, the fair has introduced a flexible fee structure where galleries pay a percentage of sales capped at the original stand cost.

an up to the minute list of the all the art fairs taking place in 2026 2708747

The global art fair calendar for 2026 is taking shape with a mix of established blue-chip events and significant new international expansions. Key highlights include the debut of Pavilion in Taipei and Hong Kong, the expansion of Paris Internationale into Milan, and the highly anticipated return of the ADAA Fair to New York's Park Avenue Armory following a strategic hiatus.

Defying Soft Power: “Proximities” at SeMA

The Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) is hosting "Proximities: Contemporary Art from the United Arab Emirates," a major survey featuring over 110 works by 47 artists. Co-curated by Maya El Khalil and Eunju Kim in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), the exhibition eschews traditional chronological narratives in favor of a dense, non-linear exploration of Emirati identity. The show is organized into thematic chapters led by artist-curators, featuring works ranging from Shaikha Al Mazrou’s precarious sculptures to Raja’a Khalid’s olfactory installations.

Gulf art market feels the force of Middle East conflict

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, involving the US, Israel, and Iran, has disrupted the Gulf region's art market. Key events like Art Dubai have been postponed, and the inaugural Frieze Abu Dhabi faces uncertainty, as the area's stability—crucial for attracting international dealers and auction houses—is now in question.

Rirkrit Tiravanija to Assemble “A Gathering of Remarkable People” for Qatar Pavilion at Venice Biennale

Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija will headline the Qatar Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale with a collaborative project titled “Untitled (a gathering of remarkable people).” Curated by Tom Eccles and Ruba Katrib, the exhibition will be housed in a temporary tent in the Giardini on the site of Qatar’s future permanent pavilion. The presentation features a multidisciplinary roster including filmmaker Sophia Al-Maria, sound artist Tarek Atoui, sculptor Alia Farid, and chef Fadi Kattan, blending live performance, cinema, and Middle Eastern culinary traditions.

UAE art guide: 12 museum and gallery exhibitions to see, including Gallery Isabelle's 20th anniversary show

The UAE art scene is currently hosting a diverse array of exhibitions across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, despite regional disruptions. Key highlights include a major Picasso retrospective at Louvre Abu Dhabi, a 10th-century anniversary celebration at 421 Arts Campus titled 'Rays, Ripples, Residue,' and the inaugural photography exhibition at Sharjah Art Foundation’s new Al Manakh venue. These shows range from historical surveys of the human form to contemporary explorations of UAE’s urban development and climate change.

Art trade stays buoyant amid global turmoil

Major London auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's posted strong results in early March, with their Modern and contemporary art evening sales raising £131m and £197m respectively. These figures represented significant increases over the previous year, with high sell-through rates, despite concurrent geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East. Key lots included Francis Bacon's 'Self Portrait' selling for £16m and Henry Moore's 'King and Queen' achieving a record £26.3m.

'All the Lands from Sunrise to Sunset' at Green Art Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 18 Apr–1 Jun 2026

Green Art Gallery in Dubai is hosting 'All the Lands from Sunrise to Sunset,' a group exhibition featuring Alla Abdunabi, Fatma Al Ali, Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck, and Michael Rakowitz. The show explores the persistence of imperial logics and extractive economies through diverse media, including text-based collages, reconstructed artifacts made from food packaging, and archival interventions. By examining acts of naming, erasure, and symbolic circulation, the artists treat empire not as a historical relic but as a mutating contemporary condition.

Art Dubai to Present Significantly Smaller Event After Iran War Forces Postponement

Art Dubai has announced a significantly scaled-down 'special edition' fair to be held in May, replacing its postponed twentieth-anniversary event. The new iteration will feature just fifty exhibitors, down from the originally planned 120, and will be held at its traditional venue, Madinat Jumeirah.

Art Dubai announces details for revised 2026 edition

Art Dubai has unveiled the details for its 2026 "special edition," which features a significantly reduced scale in response to ongoing regional conflict. The fair will host 50 galleries—a sharp decline from the 120 participants in 2025—with a strategic focus on regional representation, as nearly two-thirds of the exhibitors hail from the Middle East. To compensate for the smaller commercial footprint, the event will deepen its ties with local institutions like the Sharjah Art Foundation and Alserkal Avenue through expanded collaborative programming.

Comment | The market grew in 2025 but ‘interest in art is waning’

The global art market saw a 4% growth in 2025 according to the latest Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report, yet the industry remains on edge. Despite the headline increase, the report reveals a sharp decline in the average number of buyers per gallery—reaching its lowest level since 2021—and rising operational costs for shipping and logistics. Protectionist trade policies and geopolitical instability, particularly escalating conflicts in the Middle East affecting oil prices, continue to strain the contemporary sector.

untitled 2026 (a gathering of remarkable people)

The National Pavilion of Qatar has announced its presentation for the 61st Venice Biennale, titled "untitled 2026 (a gathering of remarkable people)." Commissioned by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and co-curated by Tom Eccles and Ruba Katrib, the exhibition features a tent-like structure designed by Rirkrit Tiravanija. The space will host a collaborative program including a film by Sophia Al-Maria, performances by Tarek Atoui, a large-scale sculpture by Alia Farid, and a culinary program by chef Fadi Kattan.

An Era Ends When the Illusions Underlying It Are Exhausted

"Eine Ära endet, wenn die ihr zugrunde liegenden Illusionen erschöpft sind"

A media roundup covers several art world stories. The Art Newspaper reports that the ongoing Middle East conflict is unsettling the Gulf art market, causing fair postponements and shaking Dubai's image as a stable luxury hub, though galleries emphasize they continue to work. Meanwhile, the search for a new director for Germany's Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz continues after a protracted legal battle, with applications open until May 31. The New Yorker presents a reading of Johannes Vermeer's quiet scenes as fragile refuges from a violent historical context, while the Berliner Zeitung critiques the global commercialization of Frida Kahlo into a licensed brand.

5 Exhibitions in Avignon and its Surroundings to Shine from Spring to Summer

5 expos à Avignon et ses environs pour rayonner du printemps à l’été

A series of five art exhibitions are scheduled from spring to autumn 2026 in and around Avignon, France. The program includes a refreshed permanent display of 1980s art at the Collection Lambert featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat and Nan Goldin, a solo show by Julien Prévieux critiquing artificial intelligence at Le Grenier à Sel, a photography exhibition of South Korean landscapes by Michael Kenna at Galerie Rousset, and other shows focusing on artists from Asia and the Middle East.

Cover | DIA Welcomes Jewish Museum Treasures in ‘Guests of Honor' Exhibit

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has launched a long-term exhibition titled 'Guests of Honor,' featuring significant loans of Jewish ceremonial objects from the Jewish Museum in New York. Running through January 2027, the display includes intricate items such as Torah crowns, pointers, menorahs, and spice boxes sourced from Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The objects are integrated into various galleries, including the Arts of the Islamic World section, to highlight shared aesthetic motifs and historical connections between different cultures.

From Gaza to Syria: Stories from Middle East dominate art exhibition in Portugal

The Anozero – Bienal de Coimbra in Portugal is presenting a significant number of works addressing conflict and displacement in the Middle East. The biennial, curated by John Zeppetelli and Hans Ibelings, features projects like Taysir Batniji's "Just in Case #2," a series of 250 photographs of keys belonging to displaced Palestinians, and Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez's "Anchor In The Landscape," documenting destroyed olive trees.

Picasso’s most radical work returns through Bedri Baykam’s Istanbul exhibition

Turkish artist Bedri Baykam has launched a major solo exhibition titled “Baykam on Picasso: Les Demoiselles Revisited” at Piramid Sanat in Istanbul. Following its debut at Galerie S/Beaubourg in Paris, the show centers on a multi-layered reinterpretation of Pablo Picasso’s 1907 masterpiece, "Les Demoiselles d’Avignon." The exhibition features a mix of paintings and immersive installations, including a conceptual Turkish bath and historical recreations of brothels in Paris and Istanbul, all designed to bridge the gap between Western modernism and Eastern influences.

Fragility and Resistance of an Iranian Artist on Display in Rome

Fragilità e resistenza di un’artista dell’Iran in mostra a Roma

The Galleria Anna Marra in Rome is hosting "Assemblages," the first Italian solo exhibition of Iranian artist Sepideh Salehi. The show features works that blend collage, Japanese paper, photography, and drawing to depict Iranian women living in the United States who have shared experiences of displacement and political upheaval. Salehi’s figures often avert their gaze or conceal their faces, symbolizing a "calligraphy of refusal" and a quiet resistance against the historical traumas of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.

A Buddha Is Reborn on the High Line

Tuan Andrew Nguyen's sandstone and brass sculpture "The Light That Shines Through the Universe" (2026) has been installed on the High Line in Manhattan as the park's fifth site-specific commission. The 27-foot-tall work, selected from nearly 60 proposals, resurrects the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan, which were demolished by the Taliban in 2001. Nguyen sourced artillery brass from Afghanistan to cast the sculpture's mudra hand gestures, symbolizing fearlessness and compassion, and had the sandstone carved in Vietnam. The piece is on view through Spring 2027.

Saad Khan Archives the Detritus of Censored Culture

Saad Khan, a New York-based archivist, has developed Khajistan, an expansive digital and physical archive dedicated to preserving censored and overlooked mass media from South Asia to the Maghreb. The collection features a diverse array of ephemera, including homoerotic imagery, working-class street posters, and banned magazines that are often erased from official cultural records. By documenting everything from WhatsApp forwards to vintage film posters, Khan creates a space where the lived experiences of queer, trans, and working-class individuals in these regions are validated and archived.

‘When Crises Happen, That’s When The Arts Get To Work’: Inside The Dubai Gallery On A War Footing

The Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai has been forced to implement rigorous emergency protocols, including 'shelter in place' procedures, following a series of missile and drone strikes across the UAE. Director Antonia Carver, managing operations remotely from the UK due to travel disruptions, describes a new reality where staff must balance the physical safety of visitors with the institution's role as a sanctuary for the community. Despite a recent conditional ceasefire, the center remains on high alert while supporting a workforce deeply affected by regional instability.

The week around the world in 20 pictures

The Guardian's weekly photo feature presents a global visual summary of the past seven days, compiled by leading photojournalists. The selection includes powerful and sometimes distressing images covering major international events, from the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv to a Saharan dust storm in Crete and the launch of NASA's Artemis II mission.

Tokyo cherry blossom and Holy Week processions: pictures of the day – Thursday

The Guardian's picture editors curated a global selection of photographs for April 2, 2026. The images include scenes of cherry blossoms in Tokyo and Seoul, Holy Week processions in Costa Rica and Venezuela, a NASA rocket launch in Florida, political events in the US and the Middle East, and the aftermath of storms in Greece.

Maitland exhibit: Textures of Middle East come to life in paintings woven with cultural memory

Mär Martinez's first solo museum exhibition, “A loom, a fence, a wire, a thread,” opens at The Art & History Museums of Maitland, featuring paintings inspired by traditional Turkish and Middle Eastern textile practices. The works, developed during her 2024-2025 Fulbright research in Istanbul, weave together her Cuban and Syrian heritage, exploring themes of cultural memory, displacement, and resilience through imagery of carpets, barbed wire, and urban barriers.

UCF Alum and Fulbright scholar Mär Martinez exhibition in Maitland, FL

Contemporary painter Mär Martinez, a Fulbright scholar and UCF alum, presents her first solo museum exhibition, “A loom, a fence, a wire, a thread,” at the Art & History Museums of Maitland (A&H) in Maitland, Florida. The show features works developed during her 2024–25 Fulbright research in Istanbul and builds on ideas from her 2021–2023 Studio Artist Residency at A&H. Inspired by traditional Turkish and Middle Eastern textile practices, Martinez explores themes of urban life, surveillance, and cultural memory, using imagery from nighttime walks through Istanbul—fences, checkpoints, and barbed wire—combined with historic textile patterns. Her Cuban and Arab heritage and family’s experience of displacement inform her work, with weaving serving as a metaphor for endurance and resistance. The opening night is free to the public, with live music, food, and a cash bar.

Amid Iran war, Paterson Middle East art show carries layered meaning

Tehran-born artist and human rights lawyer Sanam Ghandehari is presenting a new body of work in Paterson, New Jersey, against the backdrop of escalating military conflict in Iran. Her multi-layered pieces reflect the duality of the current crisis, juxtaposing the hope for democratic liberation with the immediate trauma of seeing her childhood home bombarded.

Istanbul Bets on Contemporary Art: New Space Announced During CI Bloom Fair

Istanbul scommette sull’arte contemporanea: durante la fiera CI Bloom annunciato l’arrivo di un nuovo spazio

The fifth edition of CI Bloom, the boutique contemporary art fair organized by Contemporary Istanbul, recently concluded at the Lütfi Kırdar Congress and Exhibition Hall. Featuring 28 galleries and over 300 artists, the fair introduced aggressive financial incentives to support exhibitors, including a 30% reduction in participation fees, fixed exchange rates to mitigate currency risk, and a partnership with Turkish Airlines providing free art transport and customs coverage.