Biennials & festivals
California’s Desert X biennial to return in 2025 under Neville Wakefield and Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas
The curators previously worked together on a post-colonial landscape show
Seoul Mediacity biennial to open section early to coincide with Frieze and Kiaf
The exhibition, hosted at Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), focuses on media art
The Week in Art: The British Museum in crisis—an in-depth look
Plus, the Sāo Paulo biennial and Chaïm Soutine in Düsseldorf
Curator chosen for next Istanbul Biennial was told it is ‘not the right time’ for her to organise the show
Defne Ayas has spoken to the online Turkish newspaper T24 about being rejected in favour of Iwona Blazwick
Niger coup upends country’s Venice Biennale plans
Niger, which is participating in the current architecture biennale, had planned to show at next year’s art biennale for the first time
Istanbul Biennial rejected curator recommended by advisory board in favour of Iwona Blazwick
Defne Ayas was unanimously chosen to organise the next edition but was rejected by the foundation that runs the exhibition; Blazwick was selected despite sitting on the biennial advisory board
Iwona Blazwick announced as curator of 18th Istanbul Biennial
The current curatorial lead of Saudi Arabia's Contemporary Art Museum, AlUla, she will now oversee the artistic vision of the Turkish exhibition's 2024 edition
Kyiv Biennial 2023 to travel across Europe with focus on 'war and displacement'
This year's exhibition will first open in the capital and two other Ukrainian cities
Choctaw-Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson will represent the United States at 2024 Venice Biennale
Gibson will be the first Indigenous artist to have a solo exhibition for the US Pavilion
Guatemala’s Paiz Art Biennial considers language's power and limitations in addressing violence
The largest contemporary art exhibition in Central America features more than 130 works at venues in Guatemala City and Antigua
New York's Upstate Art Weekend returns for its biggest edition yet
If you are traveling Upstate New York for the fourth iteration of this sprawling art adventure, keep a look out for these featured exhibitions and events
Smithsonian under fire for abrupt cancellation of Asian American literary festival
The institution cited “unforeseen circumstances”, leaving angry participants with debt and many unanswered questions
Riga biennial cancelled after outcry over organisers' Russian links
The third Riboca had already been delayed twice because of the war in Ukraine
A Mata of Factory: Manchester's footballing legend goes avant-garde
The footballer turned curator Juan Mata makes a star turn at Manchester International Festival, which opens in the city's new Factory International venue
Venice Biennale curator unveils vision for next year's exhibition
The focus of the show will be foreign artists—including refugees, émigrés and members of a diaspora
Can biennials really be sustainable? Helsinki Biennial looks at issues around the climate crisis
Artists and curators grapple with creating works that draw attention to the problem while also relying on travel and shipping to share them
Liverpool Biennial takes on the city’s unique role in the transatlantic slave trade
The South African curator Khanyisile Mbongwa has some home truths for the people of Liverpool—but do the points land?
Venice Architecture Biennale curator criticises Italian government for denying visas for three Ghanaian curators
Lesley Lokko, the curator of the 18th edition of the event, said the decision showed the “ugly rear” of Italian immigration policy but should not be "the defining story of this exhibition"
French curator Nicolas Bourriaud appointed artistic director of 15th Gwangju Biennale
The South Korean exhibition has come under fire for its Park Seo-Bo art prize which has now been abolished
St Louis’s Counterpublic triennial puts action and land repatriation at the fore
The triennial considers the city’s history of displacement with public works by New Red Order, Anita Fields and Jordan Weber, among others
Soft power triumphs at this year's Gwangju Biennale
Many of the works are deeply but not overtly political in a festival created to commemorate the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and Massacre
Trio of Salvador Dalí sculptures to headline UK summer art festival
Shrewsbury Arts Trail in the west of England has secured the works on loan from the Swiss-based Dalí Universe
Greatest hits of Asia Pacific Triennial to tour to London's V&A in 2026
The exhibition is being co-produced with the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, home of the flagship Brisbane festival
Mindful of its footprint, Desert X returns to the Coachella Valley and mulls expansion
The California biennial, which controversially expanded to Saudi Arabia, is eyeing another international edition
The New Museum selects curators for its next triennial, the first following its $89m expansion
The triennial’s sixth edition, scheduled for 2026, will be co-organised by one in-house curator and another from Brazil’s Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
Abu Dhabi seeks to make waves with first major art biennial
The first "direct commission" unveiled by Public Art Abu Dhabi is a multimedia crashing wave display by the Seoul-based collective d’strict
Football's coming...to Manchester International Festival (with a little help from soccer player Juan Mata)
This summer's edition will also feature Yayoi Kusama’s monumental inflatables at Factory International's new building
Is Lithuania set to become the new centre of performance art?
The launch of the Vilnius Biennial of Performance Art builds on the Baltic country's success at the 2019 Venice Biennale, where its operatic art installation scooped the Golden Lion
Sharjah Biennial 15 delivers important postcolonial narrative—but loses its experimental edge
Exhibition "Thinking Historically in the Present" in the United Arab Emirates is the final brainchild of the late Nigerian curator Okwui Enwezor
First Nations artist Archie Moore to represent Australia at 2024 Venice Biennale
The exhibition, curated by Ellie Buttrose of the Queensland Art Gallery’s Gallery of Modern Art, will be the third in the Australian pavilion selected via an open call process