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Writer and curator Laura Raicovich is organizing a weekend-long festival called the "Circus of Life" in St. Louis, Missouri, taking place October 24–26 at the Big Top circus grounds in the Grand Center Arts District. The event is part of Counterpublic, a triennial civic exhibition founded in 2019 by James McAnally, and will feature artists, writers, theater groups, performers, and activists. Raicovich leads a team of four "ringleaders" including Kenneth Bailey, Galen Gritts, Jeanne van Heeswijk, and Nontsikelelo Mutiti, with additional participants such as Chloë Bass, Hilma's Ghost, and Kameelah Janan Rasheed. The program includes performances by Bread and Puppet Theater, conversations with Roxane Gay and Nermeen Shaikh, workshops, a parade, and communal meals, all free and open to the public.

Bugarin + Castle Lead a Parade of Shame

Emile Rubino highlights seven must-see exhibitions during Art Brussels, including Richard Tuttle's restless assemblages at Galerie Greta Meert and an expansive show of Lutz Bacher at WIELS. The guide offers a curated selection of standout shows across the city during the art fair period.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: ONE Art Space Hosts Celebrity Packed Chuck Connelly Art Show!

ONE Art Space in Tribeca is hosting "Tribeca’s Midnight Parade — When Art Runs Wild," a solo exhibition of paintings by Chuck Connelly. Co-curated by Adrienne Connelly and MaryAnn Giella McCulloh, the show features the 1994 painting "Animals in the Street," which depicts Tribeca figures as animal archetypes, including a lion judge and the artist as a horse. The private opening drew a celebrity guest list including Princess Tina Radziwill, orchestrated by PR powerhouse Norah Lawlor.

Join The Art Parade 2026 at LACMA

Jeffrey Deitch is reviving his celebrated Art Parade for a special Los Angeles edition on June 20, 2026, to mark the grand opening of the David Geffen Galleries at LACMA. Originally held in New York’s SoHo from 2005 to 2008, the large-scale public procession invites artists, performers, and students to create floats and spectacles that will transform Museum Row into a living gallery.

From Africa to the Arctic Circle, this public artwork is stampeding into cities with a cry for climate action

A mobile public artwork called *The Herds* is traveling from the Congo Basin through Africa, Europe, and up to the Arctic Circle, featuring life-sized animal sculptures made from recyclable materials. The project began in April in Kinshasa and will pass through eighteen cities including Lagos, Marrakech, Madrid, London, and Copenhagen, culminating in Trondheim, Norway on July 30. Created by South Africa-based artists and led by artistic director Amir Nizar Zuabi, the herd grows as local species are added in each region, engaging communities through parades, performances, and workshops.

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Maria Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova, the director of the Narva Museum in Estonia, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison by a Russian court. The charges stem from her hanging banners on Narva Castle that label Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” including one that fuses Putin’s face with Adolf Hitler’s and another showing a bloodied mug shot of Putin. The court cited laws against disseminating “war fakes” and “rehabilitating Nazism.” Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova has been displaying such banners since 2023 on Russian Victory Day, and Russian authorities have projected Victory Day parades toward Narva from the nearby town of Ivangorod.

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On Saturday, demonstrators across the United States took part in No Kings rallies protesting President Donald Trump, with artists playing a key role in creating protest visuals. In New York City, activists including Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo carried a yellow banner by graphic designer Ange Tran reading “People Over Billionaires,” while Brooklyn artist Julie Peppito led an art build with Indivisible Brooklyn, producing around 100 signs featuring slogans like “people power” and a red sun design. The protests, organized by the 50501 movement alongside Indivisible and MoveOn, drew an estimated 5 to 13 million participants nationwide, making it the largest action since Trump took office in January.

Bugarin + Castle on Representing Scotland at the 61st Venice Biennale

ArtReview published a questionnaire response from Bugarin + Castle, the artist duo representing Scotland at the 61st Venice Biennale (2026). Their exhibition, titled "Shame Parade" and curated by Mount Stuart Trust, explores charivari—medieval public shaming rituals involving sound, costume, and cross-dressing. The work draws on the artists' research into how noise and music have been used as tools of control, with particular attention to the Filipino legal definition of charivari as a punishable public disturbance. The exhibition includes sculpture, print, moving image, and a musical score created with Manila-based band Kalye Teresa, and is housed at the Olivolo, Castello pavilion.

Contemporary Art Studio Castle Gallery Is Opening in Middleburg

Castle Gallery, a new contemporary and local art space, will open this weekend in Middleburg, Virginia, timed with the town's Christmas parade. Founded by art advisor Catherine Dolaher, the gallery is her first permanent location after a successful Georgetown pop-up. The opening features works by local artists Caroline Jean Gray, Lydia Marie Elizabeth, Megan Elizabeth, and Tara Andris, with prices ranging from under $200 to $10,000. Dolaher, who previously worked at the Hirshhorn Museum and other institutions, aims to blend contemporary art with a welcoming, home-like atmosphere, partnering with The Paradise Antiques for furnishings.

Shrewsbury Arts Trail: Open Exhibition Wows at SM&AG

The Shrewsbury Arts Trail Open Exhibition has opened at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, showcasing 144 works selected from 347 submissions by 148 local and regional artists. Organizers Phil Langstaff, Jessica Richards, and Pat Wilcox curated the show without a specific theme to encourage creative freedom. The exhibition also includes works by internationally recognized artists such as Halima Cassell MBE, Ian Rayer-Smith, Laura Ford, James Tapscott, Jacob Chandler, Picasso, and Andy Warhol in a separate 'Inspirational Exhibition.' The Open Exhibition continues at The Parade Shops with an additional 48 works on display.

'First-of-its kind' Houston park reveals 6 murals by local artists

Untitled Art, the contemporary art fair, is returning to Houston for its second edition this October. To kick off plans, the fair has commissioned two artist projects that will be unveiled at the city's 39th annual Art Car Parade.

Sunday's floating art exhibition in Norfolk is a love letter to its waterways

Lindsay Horne, inspired by the Bosch Parade on the Netherlands' Dommel River, has organized the Hague Parade, a floating art exhibition on Norfolk's waterways. The event debuts on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at the intersection of Mill Street and Mowbray Arch, ending at the Chrysler Museum of Art. Nine artist teams designed sustainable, leave-no-trace floats using canoes, kayaks, and rain barrels. Participants include students from the Governor's School for the Arts, the Barry Art Museum, and California artist Stan Clark. The parade aims to celebrate water rather than lament rising sea levels, with hopes to grow into a larger community weekend featuring a boat race and family activities.

Once a Year: Shock Trauma!

"Ein Mal im Jahr: Schock-Trauma!"

Artist Nik Nowak is exploring the "Sound Horeg" phenomenon in East Java, Indonesia, where massive DIY loudspeaker systems are mounted on trucks and boats for extreme mobile discos. These parades, characterized by towering walls of speakers and intense bass, represent a global evolution of sound culture influenced by social media rather than traditional folklore. Nowak's research into these unregulated, high-tech spectacles has culminated in a new body of work featuring sculptures and photographs.

A Parade of Floating Artworks Honors Hieronymus Bosch in the Netherlands

The 2026 Bosch Parade will return to the Dommel river in ’s-Hertogenbosch from June 18 to 21, featuring nineteen new floating artworks inspired by the theme "Powered by Defects." This biennial event pays tribute to the surrealist legacy of Hieronymus Bosch, the city's most famous son, by inviting international artists to create fantastical aquatic installations. The program includes the "Garden of Earthly Delights," an open-air studio at the Citadel where visitors can interact with artists as they develop their contemporary interpretations of Bosch’s fascination with human imperfection and the absurd.

Creating positivity out of toxicity

Artists from Good Bank Gallery in McLaren Vale are collaborating with The Wild South on a series of events called TOXIC SURF (Mid Coast) as part of South Australia's Nature Festival. The program includes workshops, exhibitions, a lantern parade, film screenings, and a choir performance, all aimed at addressing the ecological crisis caused by the harmful algal bloom Karenia Mikimotoi along the state's coastline. Community members can participate in ocean lantern-making workshops, a roving lantern performance, a community art exhibition, and an art and eco-resilience workshop, with contributions from local artists, Ngarrindjeri elders, and environmental groups.

Union Public Library & Arts Center hosts a grand opening

The Union Public Library & Arts Center in Union, New Jersey, held a grand opening celebration for its newly renovated three-level facility. The event featured an art gallery unveiling with works by acclaimed artist Winston Young, a Black Box Theater plaque unveiling with live performances, a parade from the interim library location, a ribbon cutting, and activities including LEGO workshops led by Corey and Travis Samuels, origami, caricature drawing, face painting, and a book sale. Library director Kassundra Miller expressed excitement about offering new amenities such as a sensory room, creativity lab, study rooms, podcast room, and musical instrument lending.

Peep the Wildest Costumes of This Year’s Easter Bonnet Parade

New York City’s Fifth Avenue was transformed into a vibrant public gallery on April 5, 2026, for the annual Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival. Participants gathered outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral to showcase elaborate, hand-crafted headpieces ranging from Eduardo Escobar’s rotating 'Trip to the Moon' hat to Shayna Strype’s hot-air balloon ensemble. The event featured a diverse array of creators, including climate-conscious artist Cristian Pietrapiana and mixed-media sculptor Gail Trunick, who utilized the street as a stage for avant-garde millinery and performance art.

Tiny Gallery Trail in Elmwood opens this Saturday

The ElmArt Collective is launching the Tiny Gallery Trail in Elmwood this Saturday, April 25. The one-mile trail features five custom-built boxes hosting rotating exhibitions, with the inaugural show titled 'Elmwood!' featuring work by five local artists. The opening event includes a beer garden kickoff, an art bike parade, artist meet-and-greets, and family-friendly activities.

Parades, art installations and ruined rooms filled with rubble: photos of the day – Monday

The Guardian's picture editors curated a global selection of photographs from March 30, 2026. The images depict a wide range of events, including a carnival parade in Mexico City, a Palm Sunday procession in Madrid, an art installation at California's Bombay Beach Biennale, scenes of conflict and its aftermath in Gaza, Tehran, and Lebanon, and political moments like Donald Trump showing renderings onboard Air Force One.

A young artist has designed exhaust pipes to be played like trumpets: A traveling concert in Milan

Un giovane artista ha progettato delle marmitte da suonare come trombe. A Milano il concerto itinerante

Emerging artist Aronne Pleuteri will debut a mobile performance titled "Mototrombe!" during Milan Art Week on April 17, 2026. The event features a parade of sound sculptures crafted from salvaged automotive exhaust pipes, which have been welded and reconfigured into hybrid instruments. Led by composer Dario Buccino, the procession will travel from Milan’s Central Station to the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, where the sculptures will remain on display through April 26.

Tucson Artists Protest group unveils art exhibit on tail of No Kings Day

The Tucson Artists Protest group has launched an unjuried exhibition titled "Expression Against Repression" at the Historic Y arts space in downtown Tucson. The show opened Sunday with a parade, film screening, and poetry reading, featuring 82 works including a paper mache effigy of President Donald Trump, a comic strip about healthcare, and a portrait of a father and child. Founder Betty Harris, also first vice-chair of the LD20 Democratic Committee, organized the exhibit to merge art and politics without campaign advertising, inspired by an earlier "Roots of Resistance" show at Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery and Workshop.

In Romagna for over a century there is a "serious" spring carnival. The story of the plaster and thought floats

In Romagna da oltre un secolo c’è un Carnevale “serio” di primavera. La storia dei carri di gesso e di pensiero

A small town in Romagna, Casola Valsenio, has been hosting a unique spring festival for 125 years, featuring massive allegorical floats made of plaster and wood. Unlike traditional carnivals, this event—called the "serious carnival"—takes place in late April/early May and focuses on social and political themes. The floats, up to seven meters long and nine meters high, are built by local youth and paraded twice (day and night) with performers frozen in tableau vivant poses. A jury, this year chaired by Roberto Cantagalli, director of the MAR museum in Ravenna, awards a winner.

New Austin museum exhibit tells stories of 27 festivals across Texas

The Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin has opened a new exhibition called "Texas Festivals," running through September 27. The show features artifacts from 27 festivals across the state, including a gown from Fiesta San Antonio, a sand sculpture from Sandfest in Port Aransas, an art car honoring Stevie Ray Vaughan from Houston's Art Car Parade, and mascots from the Texas Onion Fest, Hogeye Festival, and Texas State Forest Festival. The exhibition is divided into three sections exploring how festivals create community, and includes a short documentary, interactive activities, and a talk with historian Dr. Michaele Thurgood Haynes on May 3.