Weekly News Roundup: March 7, 2025
By The Editors
Portraits of Art Week Riyadh’s curators (left to right): VITTORIA MATARRESE, BASMA HARASANI, VICTORIA GANDIT LELANDAIS, and SHUMON BASAR. Courtesy the Visual Arts Commission of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s Visual Arts Commission Reveals Curators for Inaugural Edition of Art Week Riyadh
The Visual Arts Commission of Saudi Arabia has announced a four-person curatorial team for the inaugural Art Week Riyadh, which is scheduled to run from April 6–13. The team comprises Vittoria Matarrese as artistic director and curator, Basma Harasani and Victoria Gandit Lelandais as associate curators, and Shumon Basar as the curator of public programs. Themed “At The Edge,” the week-long event will be hosted at the JAX District with city-wide programming, presenting works from over 35 local, regional, and international galleries alongside talks and performances. In a press release, Matarrese—the former director of Lugano’s Bally Foundation and the performing arts department of Paris’s Palais de Tokyo—described the event as “an extraordinary opportunity to engage with a city undergoing profound cultural transformation.” The program aims to highlight the local and regional art scene alongside international connections. Organized by the Ministry of Culture’s Visual Arts Commission, Art Week Riyadh is part of broader efforts to establish Saudi Arabia as a global cultural hub.
Key visual of the Art Basel Awards. Courtesy Art Basel.
Art Basel Launches Its First Annual Awards
Art Basel has unveiled its first-ever annual awards program to recognize visionaries shaping the future of contemporary art. The initiative aims to celebrate boundary-pushing artists, curators, institutions, patrons, and cultural innovators worldwide, offering substantial support including exhibition opportunities, major commissions, and mentorship programs. The preliminary selections will be made by an international jury of nine distinguished art world figures, chaired by Art Basel’s director, Vincenzo de Bellis. The panel includes Hoor Al-Qasimi (Sharjah Art Foundation), Elena Filipovic (Kunstmuseum Basel), Koyo Kouoh (Zeitz MOCAA and 2026 Venice Biennale curator), Jessica Morgan (Dia Art Foundation), Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine), Adriano Pedrosa (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), Suhanya Raffel (M+ Museum), Franklin Sirmans (Pérez Art Museum Miami), and Philip Tinari (UCCA Center for Contemporary Art). The jury will select 36 Medalists—comprising both individuals and organizations—who will then vote among themselves to determine 12 Gold Medalists. The winners will be announced during Art Basel 2025 in Basel and Miami Beach.
PATTY CHANG, We Are All Mothers, 2022, video still: 20 min 2 sec. Courtesy the artist.
Shanghai’s Bank Gallery Launches New York Venue
Shanghai-based Bank gallery will open a temporary outpost in New York from March 21 to mid-August. Located at 127 Elizabeth Street, the “pilot” space will launch with a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Patty Chang—coinciding with her participation in the Metropolitan Museum’s exhibition “Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie”—alongside a group exhibition organized by writer and curator Yuan Fuca. Bank gallery founder Mathieu Borysevicz, who works between New York and Shanghai, also announced the gallery’s relocation in Shanghai to a cultural industry park in the Jing’An district. The move comes amid China’s economic slowdown and increasing logistical challenges, such as rising shipping costs and censorship concerns. The Shanghai space will reopen on March 30 with a solo exhibition of Chinese artist Lin Ke.
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View of The Shrine of the Book, a wing of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Israel Museum General Manager Resigns Amid Leadership Changes
Eva Madjiboj-Levy has stepped down as general manager of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, less than 18 months into her role. The departure, announced by the museum’s board and reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, marks the fourth major leadership change at the institution in recent years. The board acknowledged Madjiboj-Levy’s contributions “during one of the most challenging periods” in the museum’s 60-year history, without specifying reasons for her resignation. Her exit follows that of former director Denis Weil, who left last year after a brief tenure. Curator Suzanne Landau is currently serving as the museum’s acting director. The leadership turnover points to a pattern that began with James Snyder’s departure after two decades at the institution, followed by Ido Bruno, who guided the museum through the COVID-19 pandemic, and then Weil. The changes come as Israeli cultural institutions face increased international scutiny amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Portrait of FI JAE LEE. Courtesy of the artist.
Fi Jae Lee Becomes First Korean Artist to Win Dorothea Tanning Award
On February 26, the nonprofit Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York announced Seoul-based visual artist Fi Jae Lee as the recipient of its Dorothea Tanning Award, making her the first Korean to win the annual prize. Lee works across drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and performance, blending traditional Buddhist painting techniques with contemporary materials such as reinforced plastic and gold pigment. Her works resemble intricate shrines, centering on extinct species, imagined future beings, and sensory elements. Established in 2016 and dedicated to the American painter Dorothea Tanning, the USD 45,000 award honors artists who have demonstrated outstanding artistic accomplishments and potential through their practice. Lee has received multiple grants, including those from the Arts Council Korea in 2023, the Seoul Foundation for the Arts and Culture in 2018, and the Korea Arts Management Service in 2009. Her work is held in the collections of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul and the Seoul Museum of Art.
