The US has finally appointed artist Alma Allen to represent the country at next year's Venice Biennale, following a delayed application process and an aborted initial commission. The Art Newspaper's Ben Sutton discusses the saga with Ben Luke. Additionally, the National Museum of Norway in Oslo opens 'Deviant Ornaments,' an exhibition exploring queerness in Islamic art over a millennium, curated by Noor Bhangu. The podcast also features Duane Linklater's work 'wintercount_215_kisepîsim' (2022), part of 'Winter Count: Embracing the Cold' at the National Gallery of Canada, which addresses the deaths of First Nations children in the Residential School system.
This episode matters because it highlights key developments in the global art world: the resolution of a high-profile national representation controversy at the Venice Biennale, the expansion of inclusive narratives in museum exhibitions with queer Islamic art, and the ongoing engagement with Indigenous histories and trauma through contemporary art. These stories reflect broader cultural shifts toward diversity, decolonization, and institutional accountability.