Art
Textile Artists Weave 21st-Century Stories
A new exhibit showcases contemporary takes on the millennia-old art of textile-making, from El Anatsui's shimmering bottle-cap tapestries to Nevet Yitzhak's renditions of Afghan war rugs.
Reviews
Books
Biennale Bitch Tells the Hilarious Truths of the Art World
Veteran culture journalist Nadja Sayej offers filter-free commentary on the art world, which, she thinks, "needs a dose of fun."
Art
The Photographer as Archivist
It is heartening to see the FotoFocus Biennial continue to gain ground as it endeavors to present a wider range of visions.
Art
Redrawing the History of Women of Color in Vibrant Hues
Firelei Báez: Joy Out of Fire, on view at Harlem's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, offers long-overdue recognition for a number of women activists, writers, artists, and politicians of color.
Performance
A Missed Chance for Female Empowerment in the Metropolitan Opera's Marnie
At first, the opera seemed relevant to today’s re-evaluation of gender norms. But the narrative does not bear out this interpretation.
Art
Giving Bruce Nauman a Makeover
Disappearing Acts finds a balance between the harmlessly nonsensical and the strangely aggressive parts of the artist's body of work, thus creating a more palatable Bruce Nauman.
Art
Only Art World Insiders Get These Jokes
Knock Knock throws art viewers into the weird situation of laughing at the overspecialization of our language in that language, deriding the exclusivity of in-jokes with further in-jokes
Art
A VR Experience Offers a First-Person View of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike
I Am A Man by Derek Ham is a VR interactive story set in 1968 Memphis that puts you in the shoes of a striking sanitation worker.
Film
In Cam, a Webcam Model’s Persona Takes on a Mind of Its Own
Former sex worker Isa Mazzei's much-hyped new horror film asks what you would do if the self you presented online became its own independent being.
Books
Examining the Suspended Present of Beirut's Cultural Geography
Judith Naeff argues that Beirut exists in a prolonged state of “protracted ‘presentness’ with limited access to past and future” — specifically, a prolonged state of precarity.
Books
A Graphic Artist Observes How Germany Is Not as Safe as It Promised to Be for Refugees
Ali Fitzgerald, an American expat in Berlin, began running art workshops for refugees in 2015. Her book Drawn to Berlin looks at their current difficulties as they seek and struggle for safety.
Film
40 Years of Margarethe von Trotta's Fiercely Feminist Films
A retrospective of the New German Cinema director's influential work marks the release of her latest documentary, Searching for Ingmar Bergman.