Je suis inculte ! revisits the legacy of the annual juried Salon d’Automne in Beirut from the Sursock Museum’s inauguration in 1961 — the year the private villa of Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock became the first, and only, public museum of modern and contemporary art in Beirut — until the present day. The salon served as an appropriate exhibition model for a newly independent nation, as an academy capable of training young artists, and as a tastemaker for audiences.
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Artist Yto Barrada will transform the MoMA PS1 courtyard with a large-scale installation, her first major outdoor work is composed of colorful concrete blocks stacked into pyramidal towers whose lower levels visitors can sit on and explore, providing an interactive experience in the courtyard and a setting for PS1’s signature summer music series Warm Up. The sculptures’ formations draw inspiration from multiple histories of surmounting barricades and retooling architectures: the construction of human pyramids in Morocco, Moroccan Brutalism, and Barrada’s family lore.
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Curated by Idil Tabanca, this exhibition features international artists and designers whose creations transcend traditional boundaries in painting, sculpture, installation, and furniture design, redefining the relationship between form and function. In an era where modern humans spend more than three-quarters of their lives indoors, nature feels more distant than ever. “Creatures of Comfort” explores works that create space for nature to re-enter our urban lives.
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The exhibition, presenting an up-to-date selection from the Borusan Contemporary Art Collection, focuses on how spiral cycles, which define human existence, are interpreted by contemporary artists. Evolving regularly since the 2000s through commissions and acquisitions, the collection provides viewers with an in-depth interaction with different formations, issues, and ways of seeing in today’s world, bringing together works by artists who navigate between the physical and virtual realms.
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Tala Madani’s first solo exhibition in Washington State presents all-new work commissioned by the Henry Gallery, continuing her exploration of symbols, language, and power dynamics in society. Known for her provocative paintings and installations, Madani blends humor with critical insight, often depicting vulnerable, violent, and perplexed human figures. Her characters inhabit detailed, dream-like spaces that evoke the unconscious. Madani’s use of light as a medium exposes and reveals, while new works, including mural-like paintings and film-strip animations, deepen her practice. Visitors are immersed in a multi-sensory experience, engaging with her fantastical characters and uncanny imagery.
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From Doha to Damascus, AI-backed tools are revolutionizing journalism, augmenting the creation, distribution and consumption of media. However, the motives behind AI’s use remain contentious, with concerns about deception, undermining public trust and perpetuating societal divisions. Through evidence-based storytelling, data visualization, case studies and artistic interpretations, the exhibition explores four key themes: Hindsight, Insight, Oversight and Foresight.
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A Shroud is a Cloth by Adrian Pepe explores themes of memory, renewal, and material transformation using a woolen textile that previously wrapped a building damaged in the 2020 Beirut Port Explosion • The Lebanon-based Honduran artist’s practice highlights the relationship between materials, cultural landscapes, and ecological intimacy, presenting a poetic dialogue on transformation and resilience.
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Sharjah Biennial 16, titled “to carry,” is a multivocal, open‐ended invitation to explore diverse formations and the many ways we bear histories, memories, and dreams. It challenges us to reflect on what we carry when we travel, flee, or remain, linking precarious present spaces with intergenerational legacies and imagined futures. Through a range of curatorial practices—from residencies and workshops to sonic experiments and expanded publications—the Biennial becomes a collective wayfinding process. In this threshold of dialogue and experimentation, art and community converge to share stories of resilience and transformation. Each work deeply echoes hope, and relentless renewal in fine art.
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