There are artists who make work to be looked at, and then there are artists who make work that looks back. Simona Ray belongs firmly to the latter. Through her practice under Sentient To Paint, Ray is building a body of work that is not concerned with decoration, trends, or surface-level beauty. Instead, it asks something far more uncomfortable and far more necessary: are we truly seeing ourselves and each other, or simply passing through? Image Credit: Honza Martinec Ray’s w

There is a particular kind of confidence required to work with history. Not the bravado of imitation, nor the nostalgia of replication, but the quieter assurance of knowing when to listen and when to reinterpret. At Saint Petersburg’s Evgenievsky residential quarter, Babayants Architects approach heritage not as something frozen in time, but as a living foundation for contemporary life. Set within a restored cultural landmark, the project reimagines public interiors as spaces

Nadezda Stupina is not an artist who paints to fill a canvas. She paints to reveal herself, to chart the contours of her soul, and to offer a window into the way she experiences the world. From the earliest days of childhood, when she found herself torn between art, singing, and writing, Stupina recognised that the language she was most fluent in was visual. Supported by parents who encouraged her and her twin sister to pursue their passions, she embraced painting with a clar

Dobrika Bay, Villa Brionka, built in 1957 by Vinko Glanz, and the Byzantine castrum from the 1st century BC. Photo: Tom Wagner There are places in the world that feel less like destinations and more like memories. The Brioni Islands, scattered like polished stones along Croatia’s Adriatic coast, belong to this rare and evocative category. They rise from the sea as emerald fragments, where pine forests soften into gentle meadows and Roman ruins sit patiently in the grass, unto

Potsdam is preparing for a landmark year in its cultural calendar as DAS MINSK Kunsthaus unveils an exhibition program that feels both deeply reflective and provocatively forward looking. Under the direction of Anna Schneider, the institution continues to establish itself as a place where the past is read through a contemporary lens and where art becomes a bridge that connects histories, ideas and communities. The 2026 line up speaks to this mission with clarity. It brings to

There are artists who mirror reality and those who build an entirely new one from its fragments. Marina Skvortsova stands firmly in the latter camp. Born in Irkutsk and now working between Estonia and Norway, she has developed a visual language that feels cinematic, intuitive and steeped in personal myth. Her work is instantly recognisable. Skvortsova’s figures occupy a world shaped by Eastern heritage, ancient storytelling and the delicate ornamentation of vintage chinoiseri