The Headlines
EARLY BATH. The current Istanbul Biennial, titled “The Three-Legged Cat,” won’t continue on as planned following the resignation of its curator, Christine Tohmé. The news was announced by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), which organizes the event. The first phase of the biennial, which ran from September 20 to November 23, spanned eight venues and welcomed more than 600,000 visitors. The second phase, an academic program, was planned for 2026, while the third phase, a second exhibition, was slated for 2027. Now, neither of those planned phases will take place. The biennial’s early end follows a turbulent period for the event. After the advisory board’s 2023 selection for curator was overturned, prompting protests within the arts community, Tohmé was eventually appointed; she proposed a longer-term, more transparent structure. IKSV said that preparations for the 19th Istanbul Biennial, scheduled for 2027, will begin shortly, with its curator to be announced in 2026. Tohmé due to “personal circumstances,” IKSV said.
ROMAN RESPLENDENCE. Two decades after it was stolen, a bronze shield that once belonged to Giuseppe Garibaldi, the general who returned to Italy, is once again viewable to the public. It’s now on view at the Palazzo Venezia, from whose depot it was stolen during the early 2000s, according to the Times of London. The ornate piece of armor wasn’t found until 2019, when it turned up in a Roman barber’s home. Newly restored, the shield is once again a shining bit of Italian cultural memory. “Our history needs to be kept alive for future generations,” said Francesco Garibaldi, the general’s great-great-grandson.
The Digest
Palestinian artists spoke out on how they survived two years of war. [The New York Times]
Tristram Hunt, director of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, has been awarded a knighthood in King Charles’s 2026 UK New Year Honours list. [The Art Newspaper]
William Martin, director of Richmond’s Valentine history museum, died at 71 after being hit by a car. [ABC News]
ARTnews looks back on how Latinx artists reacted to the defining events in 2025. [ARTnews]
The Kicker
BOOM, BOOM. The Economist examines China’s second museum boom, arguing that the country has learned hard lessons from the missteps of its first surge a decade ago. “In [China’s] headlong pursuit of growth and modernity, officials around the country had funded grand new museums,” the publication writes. “Many sat empty. Today, China is again in the grips of a museum boom. But this time it means something else: a giant increase in visitors and a big leap in exhibition quality, especially of ancient splendours.”
