May 3, 2022 • View in browser

Good morning. ⛅️ Today, everything you need to know about the art fairs opening in New York City this month, Ukraine accuses Russia of looting thousands of artworks during the invasion, a UK court recognizes NFTs as property, and reviews of Diedrick Brackens, Dry Ground Burning, and much more.

Also, read about the practice of “visible mending” of old garments in Rachael Schwabe's fascinating report.

— Hakim Bishara, interim editor-in-chief 

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Your Ultimate Guide to NYC’s May Art Fairs

This year, May 5–12 marks the inaugural “New York Art Week,” a citywide initiative involving a consortium of museums, nonprofit art organizations, auction houses, and four art fairs. Next up, from May 18–22, is Frieze Week, a battery of art fairs including, of course, Frieze New York along with VOLTA New York, 1-54 New York, and The Photography Show.

Ukraine Accuses Russia of Looting Over 2,000 Artworks

A handwritten Torah scroll and paintings by Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ivan Aivazovsky are among the works allegedly stolen from museums in Mariupol. | Elaine Velie

MORE IN NEWS

Bob Lerner for LOOK magazine, “Hungarian Refugee [Man with a camera standing with his back to the United Nations Building],” taken January 31, 1957 (image courtesy Museum of the City of New York)

• A new photography and video triennial is coming to New York City in 2023, and artists are invited to submit to the open call.
• In a major ruling for crypto theft, NFTs have been recognized as property in the UK, enabling litigants to bring the full power of the courts to seize stolen assets or compel repayment.
• Russian artist Oleg Kulik is facing a three-year sentence for a sculpture said to “rehabilitate Nazism.”

THE ART OF TEXTILES

What Does It Mean for Heaven to Be a Muddy Riverbed?

Diedrick Brackens deftly combines his weavings with his original poetry to create an atmosphere of reverence for the people, animals, and ideas that society demeans. | Nereya Otieno

The Tender Art of “Visible Mending”

Repair Shop founders Rachel Meade Smith and Sam Bennett invite us to commune with the vulnerability of garments and to comprehend the fragility of our own bodies. | Rachael Schwabe

ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC

An All-Female Gang Sells Black-Market Oil in Dry Ground Burning

A meticulous blend of fact and fiction, this film surveys the overlooked fringe of Brazilian society under President Bolsonaro. | Ben R. Nicholson

When Ukraine Was Newly Independent and Everything Was Possible

British photographer Martin Parr’s images from the resort city of Yalta in the 1990s capture Ukraine’s challenging transition toward newfound freedom. | Cammie Tipton-Amini

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