- Chinese artists pulled out of the Gwangju Biennale in protest after organizers allowed Taiwanese works to be labeled the "Taiwan Pavilion," turning an art show into a political dispute.
- Organizers apologized, saying a contract with the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts and a later insistence on the "Taiwan Pavilion" name created confusion.
- The episode underscores broader China–Taiwan–South Korea sensitivities and could strain diplomatic ties, though any escalation remains uncertain.
Latest stories in Fine Art.
- Artist David Cotterrell has turned four old Ford Fiestas into water-filled cars whose interior water levels rise and fall in real time with Plymouth tides.
- He removed the engines and fitted tanks, pumps, sensors and bespoke software to create a tiny "intertidal" environment inside ordinary vehicles.
- The installations are displayed around Plymouth (Tinside Lido, Mount Batten, Tavistock Place and Mount Edgcumbe) to make people pause and notice the city's connection to the sea.
- The Trump administration warned it may halt collaborations, loans and grants to the Smithsonian, accusing the National Museum of American History of promoting "extreme political activism."
- Smithsonian leaders push back, saying the museums preserve and study history objectively and rejecting the report's characterization.
- The White House has launched a sweeping review and is pushing to reshape the Board of Regents, moves that could change oversight before the midterms.
- The striking modernist "Rike Tubes" arts complex in Tbilisi is being demolished, touching off debate about the city's skyline and the building's role as a symbol of the previous pro‑European government.
- Tourists are flocking to snap last‑minute photos while locals are split — some dislike the design but worry demolition money could be better spent on social needs.
- Italian architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas condemned the demolition as erasing history and said they’d received thousands of supportive messages.
- Yayoi Kusama has died at 97 (passed away Aug. 14 in Tokyo).
- She was best known for immersive "Infinity Mirror Rooms" and polka‑dot pumpkin sculptures that became global selfie magnets and led to luxury collaborations and blockbuster auction prices.
- Despite childhood trauma, hallucinations and years of obscurity (she lived and worked from a psychiatric hospital), she became a late‑life cultural phenomenon with a dedicated Tokyo museum and record‑breaking sales.
- Gao Zhen, a 70-year-old New York–based artist known for satirical sculptures of Mao, was sentenced in China to three years for "defaming national heroes" after a closed-door trial; he was detained in August 2024 during a visit.
- The U.S. State Department said it has "significant concerns," noting the charges relate to actions before the law was enacted, and reported that diplomats were denied entry to the sentencing hearing.
- Gao’s wife and his U.S.-citizen son have been blocked from leaving China since his detention, underscoring the personal and diplomatic fallout.
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