Proposed Loan of Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ Sparks Clash Between Spanish Authorities

A heated political dispute has emerged between the Spanish central government and the Basque regional government over a proposed loan of Pablo Picasso’s 'Guernica' to the Guggenheim Bilbao. The Basque government requested the masterpiece for a 2027 exhibition marking the 90th anniversary of the bombing of Guernica, but the Reina Sofia Museum and Spain’s Ministry of Culture have blocked the move. Officials cite a recent technical report warning that the painting’s massive scale and fragile condition make it too vulnerable to survive the vibrations of transport.

Weekly News Roundup: April 16, 2026

The art landscape in Asia is undergoing significant shifts with Art Basel renewing its five-year commitment to Hong Kong and the Centre Pompidou announcing a June opening for its new Seoul branch. Meanwhile, the Ayala Foundation unveiled designs by architect Kulapat Yantrasast for Kontempo, a major new contemporary art center in Manila slated for 2028, and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale appointed Jitish Kallat as president following the resignation of cofounder Bose Krishnamachari.

French Engineer Snags $1 Million Picasso With $116 Raffle Ticket

French engineer Ari Hodara has won a 1941 Pablo Picasso painting titled 'Tête de Femme' through a charity raffle after purchasing a single €100 ticket. The draw, held at Christie’s Paris, sold 120,000 tickets globally and raised €12 million for the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. The artwork was sourced from the Opera Gallery, which will receive approximately €1 million of the proceeds.

Jitish Kallat appointed Kochi-Muziris Biennale president

The Kochi Biennale Foundation has appointed contemporary artist and curator Jitish Kallat as the new president of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. He will chair the selection committee for the next edition's curator, succeeding co-founder Bose Krishnamachari, who resigned earlier this year.

Bose Krishnamachari’s resignation from Kochi Biennale came after sexual harassment allegations

Bose Krishnamachari resigned as director of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale and from the board of its foundation in January. The Kochi Biennale Foundation chairperson has now stated the resignation followed a December complaint alleging Krishnamachari sexually harassed a female employee at his apartment, making unwanted remarks and advances. Krishnamachari had initially cited family reasons for his departure.

LA museums to check out this Earth Month

Los Angeles museums are marking Earth Month with a series of exhibitions and events focused on sustainability and environmental consciousness. Highlights include the Hammer Museum’s exhibition, "Several Eternities in a Day: Form in the Age of Living Materials," which features works by 22 artists using organic substances like avocado, cochineal dye, and volcanic rock. Meanwhile, the Fowler Museum is hosting an immersive look at the indigenous rice cultivation practices of the Ifugao people in the Philippines.

40 Years Later, Houston's FotoFest Keeps Its Edge

Houston’s FotoFest is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a massive retrospective titled "Global Visions: FotoFest at 40," featuring over 450 artists from 58 countries. Founded by Wendy Watriss and Frederick Baldwin after a transformative trip to the Rencontres d'Arles, the biennial was established to combat American parochialism by introducing international photography to the U.S. The current iteration spans multiple venues, including the Sawyer Yards Galleries and Project Row Houses, showcasing the festival's history of thematic curation ranging from Russian Pictorialism to contemporary Arab media.

Hop into art and culture adventure on Redlands Coast

Redland City has announced the inaugural Redlands Coast Gallery and Museum Hop, a two-day cultural event scheduled for May 23 and 24, 2026. Part of the broader Redlands Coast AdventureFest, the initiative features 10 galleries and two museums across the mainland and islands, offering self-drive tours, specialized workshops, and exhibitions of local creative talent and cultural heritage.

Producing Cinema Inside and With Video Games: A 30-Year Festival in Milan

Produrre cinema dentro e con i videogiochi. A Milano ci fanno un festival (da 30 anni)

The Milan Machinima Festival recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of machinima, the practice of creating audiovisual works and films within video game environments. The event, curated by scholar Matteo Bittanti at IULM University, explored the medium's dual origins in 1996: the community-driven "vernacular" style seen in the Quake-based 'Diary of a Camper' and the artistic approach pioneered by Miltos Manetas in his work 'Miracle'.

RC Foundation Project Space Exhibition Series 2025–27

The Hayward Gallery in London, in partnership with the RC Foundation in Taiwan, has announced a new exhibition series for its HENI Project Space running from October 2025 to March 2027. The series features five solo exhibitions by artists Val Lee, Samuel Laurence Cunnane, Kulpreet Singh, Musquiqui Chihying, and Andrius Arutiunian, each exploring themes ranging from political violence and surveillance to climate change, ritual, and alternative cosmologies. The exhibitions are curated by a team including Yung Ma, Rachel Thomas, and others.

Springfield Art Museum opens annual All-School Exhibition

The Springfield Art Museum has launched its annual All-School Exhibition, a long-standing tradition that showcases artwork from public, private, parochial, and homeschool students across the Springfield area. Due to ongoing renovations at the museum’s main facility, the 2026 edition is being hosted at Missouri State University’s Brick City Gallery. The exhibition coincides with Youth Art Month and Women’s History Month, featuring a diverse range of student work selected to highlight educational depth rather than just technical skill.

Springfield Art Museum celebrates young artists at 2026 All School Exhibition

The Springfield Art Museum has launched its 2026 All School Exhibition, a historic community tradition that has showcased student artwork since 1932. This year's iteration, hosted at Missouri State University’s Brick City Gallery due to museum renovations, features selected works from elementary, middle, and high school students across 57 local public, private, and parochial schools. The exhibition is a collaborative effort, installed by a team of local educators and students alongside professional curatorial staff.

How the Edam exhibition is giving ‘edam’, or space, to Kerala’s women artists

The article reports on 'Edam', a collateral exhibition of the Kochi Muziris Biennale curated by Aishwarya Suresh and KM Madhusudhanan. Featuring 36 Malayali artists, the show consciously avoids stereotypical depictions of women as confined to home and family. Instead, it highlights deeply personal works by women artists such as Priti Vadakkath, Indu Antony, Nithya AS, and Devika Sundar, whose art reflects their individual struggles and lived experiences. The curators also faced challenges including financial constraints, spousal opposition, and helping recent art graduates gain confidence to articulate their work.

Open Call for Contemporary Art Commissions for the V&A South Kensington's new South Asia Gallery

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has issued an open call for contemporary artists and designers to create new carved wooden panels for a 19th-century coffered ceiling from a temple in Kochi, South India, which will be the centerpiece of its redesigned South Asia Gallery at South Kensington. The ceiling, measuring 6 by 1.7 meters and originally comprising 45 panels, has been in storage for over 70 years; more than half of its panels are missing. The commission invites applicants to replace the lost panels with sensitivity to the original materials, design, and craftsmanship, integrating them into the restored structure. Expressions of interest are due by 28 February 2026.

5 Artists on Our Radar in January 2026

Artsy's January 2026 edition of 'Artists on Our Radar' highlights five emerging visual artists: Elladj Lincy Deloumeaux, Xiaochi Dong, and Bobbye Fermie (with two others implied). Deloumeaux, born in Guadeloupe and based in Paris, paints solitary figures exploring identity and displacement; his work is featured in a group show at Loft Art Gallery in Marrakech and he has a solo show upcoming at Musée de la Parure de Marrakech. Xiaochi Dong, a Shanghai-born artist trained in classical Chinese painting, creates intimate works evoking gardens and ecosystems, currently in a two-person exhibition at Albion Jeune in London. Bobbye Fermie, an Amsterdam-born London-based artist, produces dreamlike watercolors and collages, with works available at Wilder Gallery.

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Bose Krishnamachari, artist and co-founder of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), has abruptly resigned, citing pressing family reasons. His departure comes during the 6th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, titled “For the Time Being,” which opened December 12, 2025, and runs through March 31, featuring 66 artists from over 20 countries. The biennial has faced multiple controversies since its 2012 debut, including financial mismanagement, sexual harassment allegations, and a recent closure in January 2026 due to religious protests over a painting by Tom Vattakuzhy referencing the Last Supper.

Kochi Biennale co-founder Bose Krishnamachari steps down as president

Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, has stepped down as president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation and as a board trustee after 14 years, citing pressing family reasons. His departure will not affect the ongoing sixth edition, titled "For the Time Being," which opened last month and runs until March 31. Krishnamachari founded the biennial in 2012 in Fort Kochi, Kerala, alongside fellow artist Riyas Komu, who left in 2018 amid sexual harassment allegations.

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One week after an exhibition tied to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale closed due to religious protests, the offending painting—"Supper at a Nunnery" by Tom Vattakuzhy—has been withdrawn. The work, shown in the side exhibition “EDAM” organized by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, depicts a naked Mata Hari as Jesus surrounded by nuns as disciples. Since December, Indian Christian organizations had accused the artist of insulting the faith, leading to the exhibition's closure and eventual removal of the painting after a meeting with local officials.

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India's Kochi-Muziris Biennale was forced to close briefly in late December 2024, just weeks after its mid-December opening, following protests by Christian groups over a painting of the Last Supper by artist Tom Vattakuzhy. The work was displayed not in the main biennial exhibition, “For the Time Being,” but in a side exhibition called “EDAM” at the Garden Convention Centre in Kochi. Christian organizations, including the Kerala Latin Catholic Association and the Syro-Malabar Church, condemned the painting as offensive and called for its removal, questioning the use of public funds. Vattakuzhy, who is from a Christian family, said he did not intend to offend and that the work was inspired by a play based on a poem about Mata Hari. The biennial's curators and president defended the work, refusing to remove it on grounds of censorship, and organizers announced the exhibition would reopen on January 2.

14 new art and culture spaces around India

The article highlights 14 new art and culture spaces that opened across India in the past year, including Muziris Contemporary in Kochi and Mumbai, Latitude 28 in New Delhi, and others repurposed from historic buildings like a royal palace in Jaipur, a former school in Bengaluru, and a family mansion in Kolkata. These spaces defy conventional gallery formats, blending exhibitions, workshops, performances, and reading rooms to create hybrid cultural venues.

Inside Kashi Hallegua House, The Historic Kochi Mansion Hosting One of the Biennale’s Most Provocative Art Exhibition

The historic 200-year-old Kashi Hallegua House in Kochi's Jewish quarter has been transformed into Ishara House, hosting the exhibition "Amphibian Aesthetics" during the Kochi-Muziris Biennale season. Running from December 13, 2025, to March 31, 2026, the show features 12 international artists including Shilpa Gupta, Michelangelo Pistoletto, and Dima Srouji, with works responding directly to the building's architecture and maritime histories. The exhibition is organized by Ishara Art Foundation and curated with an "amphibian" lens, exploring themes of transition, climate crisis, and cultural displacement.

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A charity raffle organized by France's Fondation Recherche Alzheimer offers participants the chance to win a Pablo Picasso painting valued at €1 million ($1.2 million) for a €100 ticket. The work, a 1941 gouache on paper titled *Tête de femme*, will be drawn on April 14, 2026, at Christie’s Paris. The raffle is the third of its kind involving a Picasso to support charitable causes, following previous editions in 2013 and 2020 that each raised €5 million for different organizations. The initiative was spearheaded by French TV host Péri Cochin, with the support of the artist's late son Claude Picasso.

Sixth Kochi Biennale: what’s on show and who is funding it

The sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) in Kerala, India, titled "For the Time Being," will open on December 12, 2025, and run until March 31, 2026. Curated by artist Nikhil Chopra and his collective HH Art Spaces, the biennial features 66 artists or groups, including Marina Abramović, Tino Sehgal, Otobong Nkanga, Ibrahim Mahama, and Adrián Villar Rojas. South Asian artists make up about two-thirds of the lineup, with works addressing political themes such as the Kashmir conflict and the Gaza genocide, despite a climate of censorship in India. The central venue, Aspinwall House, will be partially used after previous access issues with developer DLF.

‘Materials are so easily imported, but the people are not welcome’: Diana Eusebio’s show at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami tackles the realities of immigration

Diana Eusebio’s first solo museum exhibition, *Field of Dreams*, has opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, featuring over 30 works that combine hand-dyed textiles with digital prints. The artist, who grew up in Miami, uses natural dyes from materials like avocado, cochineal, and indigo to overlay portraits, family photos, and landscapes, exploring themes of identity, migration, and home. The exhibition includes a Q&A where Eusebio discusses her Peruvian Dominican heritage, the influence of baseball as a symbol of the American dream, and the current climate of fear for immigrants in the US.