International Art News

South Africa’s Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has withdrawn a performance mourning victims of Israel’s actions in Gaza from the country’s 2026 Venice Biennale pavilion. The decision prioritizes showcasing South African narratives over global conflicts, according to an official statement. In remarks to Hyperallergic, a department spokesperson explained that the pavilion “should not be […]

President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Wednesday its withdrawal from 66 international groups, conventions, and treaties, encompassing 31 United Nations-affiliated entities. This action targets organizations deemed contrary to U.S. interests, with several linked to arts, culture, historic preservation, and freedom of expression.​ Key Details of Withdrawal The Presidential Memorandum directs executive departments to cease participation

The Misk Art Institute’s ongoing exhibition, Art Across the Arabian Gulf, offers a sweeping exploration of the cultural and economic transformations that shaped the Gulf region from the 1950s to the 1990s. Running until March 31, the exhibition brings together paintings, sculptures, and conceptual installations by artists from across the Arabian Peninsula. Through its curated selection,

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture has announced that the Common Ground Festival, produced by Benchmark, will be held from December 24, 2025, to January 6, 2026, at Misk City in Riyadh. The festival forms part of the Saudi-Chinese Cultural Year 2025 and coincides with the celebration of 35 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

A new mural by the elusive British street artist Banksy has appeared in Bayswater, west London, marking one of his latest confirmed works. The piece, painted on a wall above a row of garages on Queen’s Mews, depicts two children lying on the ground dressed in wellington boots, coats, and winter bobble hats—one of them

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and a private US collector have agreed to return dozens of antiquities to Turkey, following investigations into their alleged illicit excavation and export. The works, which span multiple ancient Anatolian cultures, were identified by Turkish authorities and US investigators as having

Time magazine’s 2025 “Person of the Year” cover, dedicated to the “Architects of AI,” has drawn criticism for its visual reworking of the historic photograph “Lunch atop a Skyscraper.” The original 1932 image, shot during the construction of New York’s Rockefeller Center, shows eleven ironworkers casually eating and smoking on a steel beam 850 feet

The Tate announced today that Maria Balshaw, its director since 2017, will step down from her position in spring 2026. Balshaw succeeded Nicholas Serota, who led the institution for 29 years. Prior to joining Tate, she served successfully as director of Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth Art Gallery. Background and Achievements Balshaw’s tenure at

A number of artefacts from India dating back to the British colonial era are among more than 600 “high value” objects stolen in a burglary at a Bristol museum storage facility, Avon and Somerset Police said on Thursday. The items were taken from a building housing the Bristol Museum’s British Empire and Commonwealth collection in

Chanel has inaugurated Espace Gabrielle Chanel, a new library dedicated to contemporary art, at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai, marking the first public library of its kind in mainland China. The space is presented as a tribute to China’s vibrant contemporary art culture and as a long‑term investment in cultural infrastructure and research.​