
Russia-Ukraine war
Ukraine gives its troops a handbook on protecting cultural property
The guidelines aim to make international laws readily accessible to soldiers on the ground, and reflects Ukraine's experience in the war against Russia
Opinion
Comment | Why a country should invest in art—even when it’s under attack
While physically defending their country, Ukrainian artist’s work provides oxygen for urgent issues that demand attention and dialogue, writes Björn Geldhof, the artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
Sasha Skochilenko: I just happened to be the winner of the ‘Hunger Games’
The Russian artist, who was freed in a prison swap, on life under President Putin and spending more than two years in prison for an art intervention opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Now is the time to honour not censor Russia’s dissident artists
The director of the Zimmerli Art Museum, which is home to the world's foremost collection of Soviet nonconformist art, says recent calls to censor all Russian art in light of the war in Ukraine oversimplify the issue
'Scythian gold is at the heart of Russia’s identity war'
Art historian and curator Konstantin Akinsha asserts that Russian attempts to claim succession from the ancient Scythians date back to the 18th century
Podcasts
What will happen to Ukraine's museum collections after the war?
Plus, Okwui Enwezor’s Sharjah Biennial and Ming Smith at New York's Museum of Modern Art
Leigh Bowery at Tate Modern, Ukraine’s art world three years on, Max Beckmann and the Gothic Modern—podcast
Celebrating the life and work of the Australian performance artist, how Ukrainian artists and institutions are continuing to resist, and a close look at a pair of works from an Oslo exhibition
Kyiv Biennial 2023: a cross-European event put together ‘against all odds’
Plus, a project exploring the sounds of migration and Jem Perucchini’s Art on the Underground commission
Saving Ukraine’s heritage: an eyewitness account of relief efforts
Plus, the Cezanne blockbuster at The Art Institute of Chicago and Nicola L.’s Gold Femme Commode at Alison Jacques
Artists
‘Everything indicates’ murder of Russian dissident artist in Poland was a political killing
The Polish prime minister said the murder of Robert Kuzovkov would “constitute an act of state terrorism” if Russia was found to be behind it
Aleksandr Dotsenko, artist jailed in Russia over anti-war supermarket protest, dies
The Ukraine-born artist died of a heart attack, less than two years after being convicted for placing anti-war slogans in a shop in the Leningrad region
‘He is a hero to me’: artist speaks out after Ukrainian athlete barred from Winter Olympics for commemorative helmet
Iryna Prots, who created the imagery on Vladyslav Heraskevych’s helmet—which honours Ukraine’s war dead—says she feels the decision to disqualify him violates the Olympic spirit
‘Repressionist’ artist Pavel Krisevich forced to flee Russia
The performance artist, who has faced multiple arrests, now lives in Montenegro
Heritage
Russian drone attack on Ukraine damages several cultural sites
A monastery in Kyiv was set ablaze by a missile strike in the latest offensive against the country, with residential buildings also targeted
Unesco-protected monastery in Lviv damaged by Russian drone strike
The 17th-century Bernardine Monastery was one of several buildings hit in the Ukrainian city’s historic centre, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site
Ukraine adopts resolution to aid evacuation of artefacts from front line
The government's decision to simplify the process of removing millions of objects in high-risk zones comes as the war with Russia enters its fifth year
Ukrainian heritage fund takes shape as war enters fifth year
Countries including the UK and Denmark have pledged to contribute to the new Ukraine Cultural Heritage Fund
Museums
Barrage of Russian missiles damages museums, library and theatre in Kyiv
Among the institutions that were hit are the National Art Museum of Ukraine and the National Chornobyl Museum, Ukraine’s culture ministry reports
EU imposes sanctions on Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of Russia's State Hermitage Museum
The Putin ally has been a vocal supporter of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Russia's winter bombardment puts strain on Ukrainian museum workers
Targeted attacks on electric and water supplies amid freezing conditions are further complicating the work of cultural organisations
Banksy
Banksy in Ukraine: seven new works appear in war-torn sites
The pieces are located throughout the country, from Kyiv to Borodyanka
High-tech security systems installed on Banksy’s Ukraine murals
Ajax Systems has deployed $13,000 worth of security and monitoring apparatuses at four Banksy murals in and around Kyiv
Ringleader of group who attempted to steal Banksy mural in Ukraine could face 12 years in prison
The suspect has not been identified by police, but is likely to be an environmental activist who told press that he intended to auction the work in support of the Ukrainian army
Banksy shares behind-the-scenes video of his Ukraine interventions
The secretive artist has dropped a short making-of documentary chronicling his guerilla interventions in war-torn Horenka
Banksy creates mural on bombed out building in Ukraine
The secretive artist apparently created a stencil of a gymnast amid the wreckage of a building in a city northwest of Kyiv
Exhibitions
Members of European Parliament call on EU to pull Venice Biennale funding over Russian participation
Dozens of MEPs signed a letter decrying Russia’s plan to return to the Biennale and urging the suspension of all EU funding
‘It’s essential for understanding what is going on in Ukraine’: new exhibition explores wartime limb loss
Nikita Kadan's Kyiv show emphasises Ukrainians’ “optimism of will” after four years of war
Photographer Giles Duley brings images of historic and current wars into dialogue in Manhattan pop-up show
For a pop-up exhibition in a penthouse apartment high above Midtown, the British photographer is showing archival materials, his own photos and three room-sized installations
Venice exhibition of site-specific films aims to capture the hyper stimulating times we are living in
The show "Canicula" is the third in a series presented by Fondazione In Between Art Film
Art Market
Hauser & Wirth cleared of Russian sanction charges
The gallery was charged after selling a Condo work on paper to the collector Alexander Popov
Ukraine-Russia war remains front and centre for Viennacontemporary fair exhibitors
The fair continues to act as a bridge between eastern and western Europe
New York City’s ‘first Ukrainian art gallery’ highlights artists living in the war zone
“Some of the works that we’re selling here, I’m very confident that in three years they will double in price,” says Mriya gallery founder Artem Yalanskiy
Ukrainian dealer gives the country’s emerging artists a foothold in Hollywood
Lia Snisarenko launched Art Axcess in her home last September to showcase contemporary art from Ukraine
Interviews
‘These are terrible crimes’: A Ukrainian museum director’s fight to recover art
Alina Dotsenko of the Kherson Art Museum explains how her team is working to find stolen objects
‘There is no panic’: artist Pavlo Makov on working in the beleaguered Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
Meanwhile, the Royal Academy in London prepares to launch a major survey of Ukrainian Modernist art in the wake of Russia’s invasion
Sunflowers: the symbol of Van Gogh—and Ukraine
Vincent’s beloved bloom will eventually flourish again in the war-torn country
Chairman of Trump’s US Commission of Fine Arts participates in ‘Russian Davos’
Rodney Mims Cook Jr, the chairman of the commission overseeing Trump's makeover of Washington, DC is the first US official to attend in nearly a decade—and spoke on a panel calling for a “dialogue of cultures”
Venice Biennale’s jury resigns
The five-person jury resigned amid an escalating dispute over the participation of Israel and Russia at this year’s Biennale
The art of politics: how global conflicts are playing out in this year's Venice Biennale
Israel and Russia's return to the Biennale has sparked threats of disruption
Russia’s pavilion at Venice Biennale will be closed if it features propaganda, city’s mayor says
Luigi Brugnaro makes clear however that he feels the event should be a place for “diplomacy and openness”
EU threatens to pull funding from Venice Biennale over return of Russian pavilion
The move comes after Russia's participation sparked outcry from European governments and arts professionals
Pussy Riot slams Russia’s return to Venice Biennale
Russia’s decision to put on a show in Venice has prompted criticism from Russian dissidents and Ukrainian artists
Leading Russian archaeologist arrested in Poland over Crimean excavations
Ukraine has requested the extradition of the State Hermitage Museum’s Alexander Butyagin, who seized artefacts including ancient Greek coins
Dangling sculpture—‘evacuated’ from Russian-Ukrainian frontline—will be focus of Ukraine's pavilion at Venice Biennale
Suspended from a crane, the work is meant as a metaphor for the country's ongoing precarious situation during the war
More artists killed in Ukraine as anniversary of full-scale Russian invasion approaches
Artists Lana Chornohorska and Yurii Kostyshyn and philosophy student Timofey Anufriev have all died in recent weeks
Pussy Riot branded ‘extremist organisation’ by Russian court
The ruling will effectively ban the feminist punk protest collective's activities in Russia
‘An entertainment pavilion on bones’: new Russian museum opens in occupied Mariupol
Officially known as Pole Bitvy (Battlefield), Russian state media has described the space as an “interactive art facility”
Artist studios in Kyiv damaged by Russian drone strike for second time
Nahirna22, a 30-studio space led by Gen Z artists, had recently reopened following a similar attack in August
Performance artist and festival of culture added to Russian government's list of ‘foreign agents’
Pavel Krisevich and SlovoNovo festival were added to the list on 7 November
Italy condemns ‘shameful’ comments from Russia after medieval tower collapse
A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson linked the caving in of Rome’s Torre dei Conti—which led to the death of a worker—to Italy’s support for Ukraine, sparking backlash
‘Proof that life goes on’: meet some of the people working to rescue—and re-energise—Ukrainian culture
As Russian attacks continue, art is being made, commissioned—and saved—by citizens and organisations
Ragnar Kjartansson's politically charged soap opera—halted by the Russia-Ukraine war—goes on show in Reykjavík
Offering commentary on international relations and soft power, the ambitious video work features an 81-episode recreation of the American TV show, “Santa Barbara”
Pussy Riot members sentenced to prison in absentia over anti-war performances
Diana Burkot, one of the five members of the activist collective who have been handed prison terms by a Moscow court, has released a strong statement in response
Press photo of world leaders at ‘coalition of the willing’ meeting acquired by Dusseldorf's Kunstpalast
The unusual move will see the image displayed alongside contemporary art, highlighting the role of photojournalism in visual history
Ukrainian installation at Burning Man destroyed by dust storm
The support structure of “Black Cloud”, a 100ft-tall assemblage of 45 interconnected forms, was broken in half by the hurricane-force winds that swept across the Black Rock Desert
‘Their resolve is incredibly strong’: Ai Weiwei visits soldiers on Ukrainian front lines
As Ukraine’s president prepared for a high-stakes visit to Washington, DC, the Chinese artist and activist visited Eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian ‘artist of pain’ David Chichkan killed on frontline
Known for his anarchist ideals, Chichkan is the latest in a string of Ukrainian cultural workers killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion
A painting of a Russian soldier treating a wounded Ukrainian has been seen hanging in a church in Russia: what does it mean?
The picture came to light following a news broadcast on Russian state television last week
Russia charges Estonian museum director with ‘rehabilitating Nazism’ over Putin-Hitler banner
Maria Smorževskihh-Smirnova of the Narva Museum has been targeted over a poster featuring a composite image of the two men
‘A dialogue about rationality and irrationality’: Ai Weiwei to present new installation in Ukraine
The Chinese artist’s work, which is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci illustrations, will be housed in a former Soviet-era exposition hall in Kyiv
US billionaire Howard Buffett and Ukrainian Railways team up to create ‘art train’ exploring war-time resilience
The train—which is due to travel across Ukraine—features photographs Buffett took during his 19 trips to the country between 2022 and 2025
Lesia Vasylchenko wins the PinchukArtCentre Prize
The video and installation artist donated her prize money to the Ukrainian armed forces
Unesco raises ‘grave concerns’ for Kyiv's Saint Sophia Cathedral after Russian drone strike
The 11th-century World Heritage Site was damaged by a strike on Tuesday
‘Art is an important way of depicting these atrocities’: London show shines a light on sexual violence in conflict
The Imperial War Museum exhibition, which has been six years in the making, is the first major UK museum show to explore the under-reported topic
Fragility, resilience and humour: Wolfgang Tillmans and Boris Mikhailov to open photography show in war-torn Kharkiv
The exhibition, entitled Pairs Skating, is due to open later today at the Yermilov Centre
‘Message of solidarity’: Barbara Kruger to unveil new text work on Ukrainian train
The work will travel across Ukraine, emblazoned across a passenger train


































































