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Gwangju Biennale Opens Without China’s Pavilion
Amidst a diplomatic storm over Taiwan, the Gwangju Biennale returns with a sprawling 16th edition of contemporary art
Does the Western Art Market Understand Seoul?
The rush into Seoul is over. As the market cools, the question is whether the Western art world ever really understood what it was buying into
Would Zack Polanski’s Wealth Tax Put Artists at Risk?
The Green leader says Britain’s artists are in crisis. But if his proposed 1% tax on wealth above £10m drives collectors elsewhere, what would it mean for the galleries and artists he wants to support?
News
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Gwangju Biennale Opens Without China’s Pavilion
Amidst a diplomatic storm over Taiwan, the Gwangju Biennale returns with a sprawling 16th edition of contemporary art

Toledo Museum to Return Five Objects to Ethiopia
A new 20-year partnership with Ethiopia’s heritage authority will investigate objects with incomplete provenance and establish a route for their return

Andy Burnham Fractures Hopes of Parthenon Marbles Restitution
The British Prime Minister has publicly cooled on his stance regarding the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece

Yayoi Kusama, Iconic Painter of Polka Dots, Dies at 97
The artist developed a body of work recognisable for its obsession with repetition

Gwangju Biennale Reinstates Taiwan Pavilion
Following accusations of censorship, the participation of Taiwanese artists will now be named the Taiwan Pavilion rather than the ‘NTMoFA Pavilion’

Helsinki Biennial Announces Theme and Artists for 2027 Edition
The fourth edition of the biennial will explore the ‘Unknowns’, and will take place from June to September 2027

Gwangju Biennale accused of censoring pavilion title
The Taiwanese participants as well as Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture have called the naming change an act of ‘political censorship’

Park Seo-Bo Museum Opens in Seoul
The museum of Dansaekhwa master Park Seo-bo (1931–2023) is set to open to the public on 21 August, the artist's foundation has announced

Brett Littman named director of MCA San Diego
Littman was formerly deputy director of MoMA PS1, executive director at the Drawing Center and director of the Noguchi Museum

V&A Workers Set to Strike Despite Hydration Break Concession
Staff at the museum’s new East Storehouse have attacked museum management about access to water and toilets during shifts, while a wider dispute over pay and working conditions looks set to roll on through the summer
Market

Does the Western Art Market Understand Seoul?
The rush into Seoul is over. As the market cools, the question is whether the Western art world ever really understood what it was buying into

Would Zack Polanski’s Wealth Tax Put Artists at Risk?
The Green leader says Britain’s artists are in crisis. But if his proposed 1% tax on wealth above £10m drives collectors elsewhere, what would it mean for the galleries and artists he wants to support?

Can Minor Attractions Grow Without Losing Its Intimacy?
The Art Journal talks to Jacob Barnes, Minor Attractions’ co-founder, about doubling down as the art market struggles to recover

Yayoi Kusama was Part Artist, Part Luxury Branding Machine
After decades fighting for recognition, Yayoi Kusama turned a deeply personal visual language into a global luxury product. Did her commercial triumph diminish her art?

‘I Saw the Blood Washing Into the Sea’: Dakis Joannou on Greece’s Contemporary Art Scene
Joannou, the eighty-six-year-old founder of the Athens-based DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, has been active in the Greek contemporary art scene since the 1980s. He tells George Nelson what’s changed and what’s happening now

Forget Paris: In Marseille, a New Art Ecosystem Emerges
Thirty-seven galleries, sixteen countries, €3,500 a booth and twelve prizes: for Messy Business, Jeni Fulton considers what Art-o-rama’s twentieth edition says about where the French market has gone

The New Economics of the Art Book
Gerhard Steidl’s financial difficulties prompted predictions of a wider collapse in art-book publishing. Interviews with publishers, editors and collectors suggest a different picture: not an industry in decline, but one undergoing a profound economic transformation

The Curious AI Case of a Kirchner Painting in Limbo
Artificial intelligence is playing a bigger role in artwork authentication, but how should AI results be weighed against good old human judgement?
Opinion

Help! I Hate My... Boss
Artworld Agony Aunt Charlotte Jansen answers a gallery employee whose boss is getting a little too comfortable in the office

Help! I Hate My... Dodgy Trading
Artworld Agony Aunt Charlotte Jansen answers a staffer whose gallery has been busy with some dodgy deals

The Forgotten Manifesto that Reshaped Native Performance Art
Rediscovered decades after it was written in 1969, Indian Theatre: An Artistic Experiment in Progress reveals how performance became a vehicle for Native self-determination

Help I Hate…Their Body Odour
Artworld Agony Aunt Charlotte Jansen answers a museum worker whose colleague is making them feel uncomfortable... because of how they smell

Help! I Hate My... Application
Artworld Agony Aunt Charlotte Jansen answers an artist wondering why their residency applications keep getting rejected – and how to nail the next one

If London Bans Vertical Drinking, What Happens to the Art Opening?
Westminster Council wants licensed venues to favour seats over standing drinkers. But in Mayfair, where artworld relationships are built amid the din of crowded openings, what might be lost?

Help! I Hate… My Copycat
Artworld Agony Aunt Charlotte Jansen answers an artist whose peer seems to be taking more than just inspiration from their work

The Growing Power of Museum Patrons
Public funding remains essential, but Britain’s leading museums are becoming increasingly reliant on patron schemes and private philanthropy to sustain exhibitions, collections and public access
Features
The Serious Business of Being Cute
Art history has often treated tenderness and pleasure as trivial. A new Louvre-Lens exhibition argues that cuteness deserves closer attention, not least for the possessiveness and power it can conceal
Should Britain have an OBR for culture?
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) scrutinises the UK’s public finances independently. Should culture and the creative industries have something similar – an OBR capable of looking beyond the immediate political horizon?
The Risks of Exhibiting Anti-War Art at the Venice Biennale
A pavilion bringing together Russian and Ukrainian artists opposing war and repression opened in Venice under police protection. An anonymous incident inside the exhibition showed why concerns over security were difficult to ignore
Hannah Barry Gallery: From Peckham to Patmos
The London gallery will stage the late Norman Hyams’ first international exhibition on the Greek island that inspired his final paintings, marking the start of a new site-responsive programme beyond the UK
The Hidden Crisis Inside Britain’s Museums
A major new report argues that shrinking budgets and commercial pressures have left museum storage at breaking point, threatening the long-term care of Britain’s collections
On Charles Ross’s Star Axis and Entering the Earth to Reach the Stars
After decades of myth and mystery, a monumental celestial observatory is finally nearing completion – but who will actually see it? Gabriella Angeleti reports for her column ‘Private Views’
Can Andy Burnham Secure the Return of the Parthenon Marbles?
For the first time, a British prime minister has publicly backed returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. But Andy Burnham’s historic break with political orthodoxy may prove easier to declare than deliver. Can he break the deadlock?
Should Museums Have a Duty of Candour?
As Andy Burnham pledges to implement the long-awaited Hillsborough Law, Joe Ware asks: what could a legal responsibility to tell the truth mean for arts institutions?
Places
Siena Puts Teodora Axente’s Madonna on Trial
The Romanian artist was commissioned to paint the Palio’s sacred banner. A standing ovation quickly gave way to controversy over her commanding depiction of the Virgin
Art in a Gilded Peak: the Aspen Festival for the One Percent
At the second edition of the Aspen Art Museum’s AIR festival, ambitious performances and pointed critiques of class and inequality unfolded to a select audience of extraordinary wealth
On an Ancient Hilltop, a Biennial Takes Root
Set among monasteries, archaeological sites and former prisons in Turkey’s southeastern borderlands, the Mardin Biennial is testing whether contemporary art can leave a legacy beyond an exhibition
In Corsica, a Biennale Finds Politics on the Dancefloor
From deserted nightclubs to former military barracks, Nimu Dormi examines how celebration has shaped the island's social and political identity
How Ghana’s Artists Built Their Own Ecosystem
From studios and galleries to residencies, artists have built the infrastructure sustaining Ghana’s flourishing contemporary art scene, stepping in where public support has failed
What Happened to the Glasgow Art Market?
Glasgow has built an international reputation without relying on collectors or commercial galleries. As artists face rising rents and dwindling public support, that enviable model is coming under serious strain
Can Cork Build an Art Market to Match Its Cultural Ambitions?
Artists, galleries and institutions have laid the foundations for a thriving cultural scene. The next challenge is persuading Cork's wealth to invest closer to home
Manila Beyond Institutional Capital
In Manila, the Philippines, the market ecology will simply collapse without the private sector due to a lack of sustainable public institution support
Profiles

Jean-Marc Bustamante Builds a Home for His 'Fourth Daughter'
In a restored medieval church in Arles, the French artist has created a foundation to house his work, archive and artistic relationships – and to shape what survives him

The Artist: Alessandra Sanguinetti Reveals the Magic of Childhood
Following the lives of two cousins growing up in the Argentine countryside, first through photography and now with a prize-winning feature film, Alessandra Sanguinetti captures childhood between documentary and fairytale

Alvaro Barrington Wants You to Stop Playing It Safe
At his latest exhibition, the Caracas-born, Brooklyn-raised, London-based artist explains why he refuses to make what the market wants

The Next-Gen Collectors: Linda Du
The collector, entrepreneur and investor tells The Art Journal why joy-led acquisitions can be just as valuable as those motivated by monetary returns

The Artist: Shirin Neshat Has No Time for Certainty
As her adopted country wages war against the nation of her birth, Shirin Neshat argues that art should complicate political narratives rather than reinforce them. She reflects on exile, identity, war and the enduring value of ambiguity

Betye Saar, Assemblage Pioneer, Dies at 99
Over six decades, the American artist used found objects to confront racism, memory and cultural identity, influencing generations of contemporary artists

The Next-Gen Collectors: Lucy Alice Sansom
The young collector’s first purchase cost 30 pounds, and now hangs alongside work by the likes of Beryl Cook, Grayson Perry and Robert Longo

The Director: Jessica Morgan Takes on Tate Turnaround
Jessica Morgan will succeed Maria Balshaw as Tate director in January 2027, returning from New York’s Dia Art Foundation to lead Britain’s largest museum network through a period of financial constraint and changing visitor habits



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