NewsBeirut
Hope for a new future: Beirut's art world tell us how the city might be rebuilt
As the city's arts community mourns the loss of colleagues and assesses the damage to its museums and galleries, some believe change will come from the disaster—others are less optimistic
Featurecoronavirus
Personal stories of coronavirus: the widow who opened her husband's exhibition for a day
Diana Cohen, the 90-year-old wife of the late painter Alfred Cohen, travelled to London for the opening of the first show of his work in 20 years. Years in the making, it opened and closed within a few hours
NewsExhibitions
From Modernist nudes to present-day politics: British Museum to reveal its contemporary Middle Eastern art collection
Free exhibition at the London museum in October will show around 150 works that have been collected since the early 1990s
NewsExhibitions
As demonstrations return to Cairo, Egyptian protest artist goes on show in new London space
Exhibition of street artist Bahia Shehab's work opens at Aga Khan Centre Gallery in King's Cross
NewsWar & Conflict
Art in the time of airstrikes: Yemeni artists urge international donors for support
Symposium at the British Museum, part of the Shubbak festival of contemporary Arab culture, will include artists from war-torn Yemen and Syria
NewsArt market
Tehran's art fair opens despite sanctions and growing tensions with US
Second edition of Teer Art Fair aims to foster domestic Iranian art scene at a time when international sales increasingly difficult for the country's galleries
NewsCollectors
Sikh Empire collector hopes to open dedicated museum
The London-based collector Davinder Toor holds one of the most significant collections of Sikh works in the US and the UK
NewsArab Image Foundation
Arab photography archive releases 22,000 historic images online
Arab Image Foundation completes $255,000 digitisation initiative and will reopen its Beirut building this summer
NewsIndia
David Adjaye chosen to design 'game-changing' contemporary art museum in India
Planned Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi will open up 6,000-strong collection to the public
ReviewVenice Biennale 2019
Venice Biennale 2019: the must-see pavilions around the city
An indoor beach, Mongolian throat singing and ceramic vaginas—where to go beyond the Arsenale and Giardini
AnalysisVenice Biennale 2019
National pride, national shame and the ‘post-national’: the question of identity at the Venice Biennale
National pavilions in Venice have long been criticised as anachronistic. But for nations newer to the event, such quibbling can seem like a luxury
NewsVenice Biennale 2019
Iranian works will abound at the Venice Biennale despite US sanctions
Complications around shipping and insurance have not stopped artists and curators from the country to make their presence felt at this year's edition
NewsExhibitions
'Shameful scar': Centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre marked in New Delhi exhibition
Show exploring the fateful event that saw hundreds of people killed by British soldiers aims to commemorate "forgotten martyrs"
NewsOpenings
New contemporary art space opens in impoverished area outside Tunis
B7L9, founded by the Kamel Lazaar Foundation, shows works by international and Tunisian artists but also engages the local community
News
Major museum designed by V&A Dundee's architects to open in Turkey
Odunpazari Modern Museum designed by Kengo Kuma, which will show the collection of architect Erol Tabanca, will open in the university city of Eskişehir in June
NewsVenice Biennale 2019
South Africa finally announces Venice Biennale artists
Mawande Ka Zenzile, Dineo Seshee Bopape and Tracey Rose will explore themes of social, political and economic resilience in post-Apartheid South Africa
NewsAfrica
Zimbabwe makes Venice Biennale selections amid political turmoil
Cosmos Shiridzinomwa and Georgina Maxim are the first artists to be confirmed
NewsZimbabwe
Zimbabwe biennial postponed amid political turmoil
As civil unrest and internet shutdowns continue, organisers say they now hope to hold event in 2020
NewsAfrican art
Africa’s pre-colonial ‘crown jewels’ to find a home in new South African museum
Javett Art Centre at University of Pretoria will display 800-year-old gold collection excavated in the 1930s
NewsSyria
New London gallery shows work by only-known artist to have worked secretly under Islamic State
The Stories Art Gallery champions artists who take a non-political approach in their work to challenge violent stereotypes of Syria
NewsDiscoveries
Did Pieter Bruegel the Elder create the earliest Scottish landscape?
Coastal rock formation in 16th-century engraving resembles the famous Bass Rock at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, art historian argues
NewsPrivate Museums
Iraqi artist Dia Azzawi designs new Lebanese private museum
The Nabu Museum collection combines antiquities with Modern and contemporary art
NewsArt market
Abraaj Group liquidators to sell 200 works from art collection at Bonhams
Middle Eastern and South Asian works owned by embattled Dubai-based private equity firm carry much lower estimates than prices paid a decade ago
ReviewArt market
Beirut Art Fair gives helping hand to embattled Egyptian galleries
Lebanese event cuts 'special offer' to help Egypt's galleries exhibit abroad and invests $100,000 in outreach to encourage collectors from further afield
News
MoCA Toronto set to open in new industrial home that hosts both art and artists
New works by Barbara Kruger, Tania Bruguera and Awol Erizku will be presented in Canadian museum's first year
PreviewArt market
Lebanon’s history revealed in photo show at Beirut Art Fair
Across Boundaries is an exhibition of around 100 works of Lebanese photography from 30 collections
NewsLaw
Parviz Tanavoli banned from leaving Iran over legal dispute with former gallery owner
Maryam Goudarzi claims that the artist should return six 1972 sculptures worth $6m to her, but Tanavoli says they were swapped legally for five newer works
NewsOpenings
Edinburgh's Collective to unveil new art space in old City Observatory this autumn
Opening of restored 19th-century complex on Calton Hill has been delayed by dry rot
NewsLaw
Iranian gallerists released on bail after two years in Tehran prison
Karan Vafadari and Afarin Neyssari paid a bail of around $10m according to sources but still await appeal request
ReviewTheatre
Great Apes: when Planet of the Apes meets a White Cube opening
A new play in London based on Will Self’s 1997 novel is a viciously literate satire that imagines an art world populated entirely by chimpanzees
NewsExhibitions
New exhibition at Toronto's Aga Khan Museum shows irreverent side of the Fatimids
Too little of its art survives, but the World of the Fatimids still reveals a remarkable dynasty
ReviewExhibitions
From Hirst's Medusa to Quinn’s marble bust: new London show explores how classical art inspires contemporary artists
Exhibition at King's College draws largely on private collection of Christian Levett
NewsArt market
Abraaj Group's partnership with Art Dubai to continue, despite reorganisation
Founder Arif Naqvi's departure from the private equity firm's asset management business in February followed claims the company had misused investor funds
NewsArt market
Middle Eastern artists are charging a lot of money to certify—or condemn—their works
But when does protecting a creative legacy go too far?
NewsArt market
Bond Street gallery exodus continues as London's Fine Art Society sells lease after 140 years
Soaring rents due to competition from fashion houses leads to reluctant decision to move from historic five-storey townhouse
News
Iran’s first museum for a female artist honours nonagenarian
"Life’s work" of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian goes on show in former palace in Tehran
NewsEducation
New lease of life for life drawing classes?
Age-old practice is being ‘gradually reinvigorated', but new frontier is seemingly in 3D reprographic skills
NewsArt market
Middle East anti-fake drive triggers refund
Bonhams returns £176,500 for piece attributed to Egyptian sculptor
NewsPrivate Museums
Pioneers of Lebanese painting star in private museum near the Syrian border
Collector Emile Hannouche has opened his family mansion in the Bekaa Valley to the public
NewsArt market
Collectors tackle rise in fake Modern Middle Eastern art
Dalloul Art Foundation investigates authenticity of some Middle Eastern works before museum opening
News
Former Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis remaps Lisbon's Gulbenkian
Freed from Tate's "tough agenda" of blockbuster shows, sculpture scholar is opening up Portuguese museum's Islamic collections
News
Beirut’s Museum of Memory opens first exhibition—minus a director or board of governors
Against a backdrop of political wrangling, Zena el Khalil’s show focuses on the missing of Lebanon’s civil war
NewsExhibitions
Exhibition shines light on painter who gave up art to run London’s National Gallery
Frederic Burton spent late career acquiring some of museum’s best-known masterpieces
NewsBeirut Art Fair
Arab artists respond to dictatorship, surveillance and civil war at Beirut Art Fair
Strong showing of Syrian art across the event including by artist Saad Yagan whose Aleppo studio was destroyed in 2012
NewsArt market
In a troubled region, Lebanon is a growing hub for artists
Beirut Art Fair includes a loan exhibition drawing on the country’s rich collections
News
Scotland's pioneering Inverleith House gallery saved from closure
Exhibition space in Edinburgh's botanic gardens has reopened after public outcry
News
India's new Partition Museum opens near Pakistani border
Crowdsourced collection of survivors’ artefacts includes identity cards, steamer trunks and clothing carried by refugees
NewsExhibitions
Edinburgh Art Festival: artists look to Maori traditions, 19th-century botany and jellyfish
Jupiter Artland’s new permanent piece by Pablo Bronstein joins two ten-metre-high pavilions in a Gothic and Chinoiserie style
NewsConservation & Preservation
Protesters target Dutch firm involved in removal of 550-year-old tomb from ancient town of Hasankeyf
Site in Turkey is due to be flooded after completion of giant Ilisu Dam
News
National Gallery of Ireland’s grand reopening worth the protracted wait
Hundreds of works were restored during Dublin museum's refurbishment
News
Fourth Plinth artist Michael Rakowitz to serve up Iraqi-Jewish ‘ghost feast’ in London
Three-night event will be part of Shubbak festival in July
NewsExhibitions
Political art withers as Mamut 5 opens in Istanbul
All-Turkish art project sees artists retreat to their studios
NewsContemporary art
Polish artist Pawel Althamer creates first commission for Bangladesh sculpture park
Giant female figure made of bamboo was made with the help of the local community in Sylhet
News
Let there be light
The UAE’s first OMA-designed space launches with a survey of Syrian art
NewsExhibitions
Art world reels from Trump’s immigration ban
New policies on course to undermine exhibitions and exchange programmes
News
Exhibition offers antidote to Trump's view of Iran
Major survey of Iranian contemporary art opens in Toronto this week against backdrop of US President's immigration ban
News
The artists who have chosen to stay in Syria
While most have fled the conflict, some remained to document the suffering
News
Tapestry of Sabra and Shatila massacres could hang next to Picasso’s Guernica
Palestinian art collector has commissioned a wall hanging based on Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi’s drawing, which is now in the Tate
NewsRestitution
Two mosque lamps stolen from Egypt's national collection returned to Cairo
Medieval artefacts surfaced in the United Arab Emirates
NewsBiennials & festivals
India’s leading Kochi-Muziris Biennale overcomes country’s ‘demonetisation’ crisis
State government pledges to build permanent venue for the event
News
Looters exploit the political chaos in Libya
Illicitly excavated artefacts are “gushing out” of the country, experts warn
News
‘Rescue archaeologists’ head to Iraq
First group of Iraqis trained by British Museum staff return home
NewsExhibitions
Toronto's Aga Khan Museum to celebrate Syria's heritage
Foundation behind museum has committed $200m to post-war reconstruction
NewsAntiquities & Archaeology
Almost 70% of smuggled objects seized in Syria and Lebanon are fakes, antiquities chief says
In a wide-ranging interview, Maamoun Abdulkarim discussed the realities of illegal trafficking, restoration efforts in Palmyra and his concerns over destruction in Aleppo
NewsPolitics
Turkey’s Çanakkale Biennale to forge ahead despite attempted coup
Immigrant artists are due to take centre-stage in the September exhibition
NewsCollectors
Marion Lambert: collector with a cause
The independent-minded philanthropist whose life was touched by tragedy
NewsArt market
Sotheby’s moves Middle East auctions to London
News
German collector warns he will end loans to English institutions in event of Brexit
Heiner Pietzsch will lend works to Scotland instead
NewsPhotography
Tehran museum’s historic photography collection emerges from the shadows
Lewis Carroll’s photographs of Alice Liddell and Steichen’s portrait of Rodin among images collected before the Iranian revolution
NewsContemporary art
Wim Delvoye unveils plans for museum in historic Iranian city
Belgian artist restores palatial buildings in Kashan and creates works with Isfahan metalworkers
NewsExhibitions
Dry times: Tehran gallery show draws attention to national drought
As the Iranian President pushes to improve state water management, curators ask artists to respond to the environmental crisis
NewsExhibitions
Proposal to privatise Tehran’s Modern art museum causes alarm
Director denies that politicians want to transfer collection to private foundation
News
Indians and Pakistanis work together to realise Partition Museum
Project leaders announce fundraising goals before conference in Delhi
NewsConservation
Sea change in Turkey’s attitude towards its Byzantine heritage
Opening of two specialist study centres—a first for the country—begins era of Greek-Turkish collaboration
News
India’s rivers will flow through Kochi Biennale
Artist Sudarshan Shetty to curate exhibition that has drawn a million visitors
NewsContemporary art
Syrian photographer: 'We refuse to die as a number in the international media'
Issa Touma vows to return to Aleppo amid the fighting
NewsArt market
Stolen mosque lamps to return to Egypt as Cairo museum houses new database
Authorities confirmed the objects had been taken from national collection and fakes left in their place
News
Historic Koran show to open in US capital in time for election
What will Donald Trump think?
NewsArt
After stint in the doldrums, India Art Fair shows signs of picking up
Event has been repositioned as “the” place to see South Asian art
News
Traditional Afghan artists will bring ‘living art’ to the heart of the US
Artisans set up shop at Smithsonian for show championing Kabul’s talent as terrorist threats mount at home
News
Wim Delvoye goes to Tehran for surprise solo show
Belgian artist is at the forefront of improving relations between Iran and the West
NewsExhibitions
David Attenborough sings praises of overlooked Polynesian idols exhibition
Broadcaster and British Museum among lenders to London show
NewsExhibitions
Edinburgh and London host major Liotard shows despite ‘no fly rule’ for pastels
Many works by 18th-century portraitist deemed too fragile to travel from US
ArchiveSyria
The plight of Syria’s artists as the conflict enters its fifth year
Artists carry on, even on the front line, but exiles face an increasingly precarious situation