Meer | English edition

Friday, August 7, 2026

The monumental complex of Caserta, designed by architect Luigi Vanvitelli in the second half of the eighteenth century at the request of Charles of Bourbon, was created to rival the royal residences of Versailles and Madrid. The site includes the grand palace, its park and gardens, a wooded area, the Carolino Aqueduct, and the San Leucio industrial complex, which was built for the production of fine silk fabrics in Italy

A street in the historic center of Naples, Campania, Italy

The Royal Palace of Caserta seen from the fountain of Venus and Adonis inside the Royal Park, Italy

The Caserta monumental complex, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli in the late eighteenth century for Charles of Bourbon, was intended to rival Versailles and Madrid. It includes the Royal Palace, its gardens and park, a wooded area, the Carolino Aqueduct, and the San Leucio silk–producing industrial site

A street scene from the old town of Naples in Campania, Italy

Living Campania, then living it again

How a second stay transformed my relationship with caserta, naples, and small-town life

Retro World Theatre Day scene with flying birds and urban ruins

Economy & Politics

A father at the end of the world

On fear, futurism, and raising a child in an age of fractures, upheavals, and accelerating change

Exterior view of The Swan at Lavenham Hotel & Spa in the medieval village of Lavenham, Suffolk, England

The medieval heart of Lavenham

A journey through Suffolk, England, where six centuries of architecture continue to shape everyday life

A schoolgirl stands against a rustic red brick wall, holding a book up to cover her face, reflecting student burnout

Economy & Politics

The cost of choosing too early

How academic pressure, endless progression, and burnout shape life after graduation

On the Street

Emily Peasgood. Halfway to Heaven. Commissioned by the Creative Foundation for Folkestone Triennial 2017. Set up image by Emma Wilcox

Halfway to Heaven

Emily Peasgood at Folkestone Triennial

St. George in Lukova, Czech Republic

Forced stopover

A demon revisited

Freshly shucked oysters glisten on a cold plate, evoking the briny depth of Lowcountry tradition

An ode to oyster roasts

Tracing the history and cultural roots of the oyster roast from ancient civilizations to South Carolina’s coastal communities

Girl holding an alarm clock, symbolizing the importance of tracking menstrual cycles and self-care

Breaking the stigma of menstruation

Cultural taboos and health challenges for women

"The power of the dog", Jane Campion's adaptation of Thomas Savage's novel

My favorite movies of 2021

10 films I loved this year

"Herdade da Boavista-Alcácer do Sal", architectural model by Pedro Ressano

Architecture & Design

A different look over architecture

Talking with Pedro Ressano Garcia, from Portugal

Architecture & Design

Fondation Louis Vuitton, a contemporary art museum and cultural centre sponsored by LVMH, Paris, France

A trio of contemporary art temples defining modern Paris

Luxury fashion patronage, visionary architecture and private collections reshape Paris's cultural landscape

Zurich, Switzerland city view featuring Fraumünster Church, Zunfthaus zur Meisen, Münsterbrücke Bridge, and St. Peter Church in the historic Old Town skyline

Chagall’s Fraumünster: where light becomes memory

In Zurich’s quiet church, stained glass transforms biblical stories into an intimate experience of light, loss, and spiritual presence

Art

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Room, The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013)

Come and have a go if you think you’re art enough

From Beuys to Cattelan, this essay explores why the question “Is it art?” says less about the artwork than about our need for certainty

Michael Joo's Concatenations (1991/2026) is a large-scale mixed-media installation measuring 513.1 × 412.8 × 289.6 cm (202 × 162½ × 114 in). Characteristic of Joo's interdisciplinary practice, the work brings together diverse materials and conceptual references to explore connections between nature, culture, history, and systems of knowledge. Courtesy of the artist and Kukje Gallery. Photograph by Genevieve Hanson

Directionless and the art of uncertainty

At Hauser & Wirth Menorca, Rashid Johnson explores disorientation as a creative force in contemporary life

Culture

The Carnation Revolution, also known as the 25th of April, was a military coup carried out by Portuguese officers on 25 April 1974 that overthrew Marcelo Caetano and ended the Estado Novo dictatorship founded by António de Oliveira Salazar, triggering major political and social changes in Portugal and its former colonies, Portugal

The battle for Portugal’s democratic future

How the events of November 25, 1975 shaped the survival of the Portuguese Republic

A haunting face-off between humanity and machine—where identity, emotion, and control hang silently in the balance

What AI will take from us isn’t our jobs, it’s ourselves

In a world driven by algorithms, are we still choosing who we are—or being told who to be?

Economy & Politics

Satirical lithography by Udo J. Keppler published in 1914 by the Library of Congress. The work symbolizes the primacy of financial power as the axis of ordering and global strategic control at the beginning of the 20th century

The Trump corollary redefines sovereignty

The extraction of Maduro transforms geopolitical expectations across Latin America

Overcrowded conditions inside a public hospital in Cairo, reflecting the strain on Egypt’s healthcare system

Riham Assem: a life lost, a system questioned

What her death reveals about administrative failure, healthcare reform, and the limits of digitization in Egypt

Entertainment

A talking teddy bear with a bad attitude brings unexpected humour to an ordinary suburban life

Ted and the art of not taking life seriously

Why a crude talking teddy bear might be the comfort we need in a world that feels too heavy

Neo suspending hundreds of bullets in midair with a raised hand, representing one of The Matrix Reloaded's defining moments as he surpasses the limits of the simulated world

The Matrix revisited

Trying to make sense of a complex digital world

Fashion

Olivier Rousteing is a French fashion designer who served as the creative director of Balmain from 2011 to 2025

Olivier Rousteing and the reinvention of Balmain

How identity, digital vision, and cultural fluency transformed a heritage house into a global fashion force

The Ladies Waldegrave is a group portrait painted by Joshua Reynolds between 1780 and 1781, now housed in the Scottish National Gallery, which acquired the painting in 1952. The work depicts the three daughters of James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, and Maria Walpole. From left to right, they are Charlotte, holding a skein of silk; Elizabeth, winding Charlotte’s silk onto a card; and Anna, producing tambour lace

The art of being ornamental

Rococo fashion, hyper-femininity, and the politics of spectacle in 18th-century aristocratic culture

Feature

A son voicing his frustrations while his father responds with composure, showing the power of reflection over reaction

The house on Independence Street

On inheritance, illusion, and the uncomfortable truth about change

The roar of the tides: a powerful ocean wave curls and crashes, its deep blue waters shimmering under the light, reflecting both motion and depth, mirroring the ever-changing currents of thought and emotion

Racing the tide

A collection of poems and verses dedicated to all things blue and jade

Food & Wine

Lobster tail prepared as a premium culinary experience, symbolising the social prestige attached to certain foods

Food trends and the rising cost of common produce

How social media, celebrity culture, and consumer demand reshape the economics of everyday ingredients

Woman holding a tablet and making a surprised face while looking at a table full of vegetables

Eating in the age of social media

From viral diet trends to online wellness communities, how digital platforms are reshaping our relationship with food and health

Science & Technology

A person holding a COVID-19 vaccine syringe, representing the global struggle between prevention and panic

A shot to survive or a shot to live?

Understanding vaccine phobia in a post-COVID world

AI agents gather in a self-created digital ritual, reflecting humanity’s beliefs, fears, and search for meaning in the age of intelligent machines

The church of Molt and AI belief

Exploring AI religion, consciousness, and human reflection

Sport

Soccer player Ghiggia (Uruguay) scores a goal that silences a whole nation. Illustration by Paola Bilancieri

1950 FIFA World Cup: the silence at the Maracanã

Brazil strikes first but Uruguay’s captain rewrites the script

The simple yet vital role of food in athletic preparation highlights how nutrition, even in seemingly small details, can be "game-changing" in high-performance sports

How elite athletes' diets transformed performance

From Olympic records to NBA championships, the revolutionary diet changes that made athletic history

Travel

There are trips we remember fondly, if vaguely. And there are journeys that continue to live within us long after we have returned

The journeys that stay with us

Shifting from mere observation to true immersion can deepen our souls

A lone backpacker stands still overlooking a vast landscape, taking in the distance not as a destination to conquer but as a moment to fully experience and carry forward

The journeys that stay with us

Travel that lingers beyond the moment, shaping how we see, choose, and remember long after we return

Wellness

Two figures facing away beneath arched windows, symbolizing relational drift and the invisible space between partners

The invisible contracts of love

How unspoken agreements, attachment patterns, and system drift shape the rise and fall of relationships

A lone traveller waiting on a platform, representing the choice to continue the journey despite unresolved chapters

The psychology of closure

Why we crave it and what to do when it never comes

Explore the Calendar

Worldwide St Petersburg Krakow Prague Stockholm Luxembourg Frankfurt am Main Riga Stuttgart Ottawa Madrid Curitiba Lausanne Linz Bern Graz Brussels Québec San Francisco Oshkosh Berlin Honolulu Santiago

W. Max Thomason, Do you ever feel everything you have could disappear in an instant (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Pulse Visual Arts

Falling away from prime

7 Aug — 27 Sep 2026 at Pulse Visual Art in Denver, United States

Sharon Booma, The oil of gladness (detail), 2026. Courtesy of LewAllen Galleries

The unsaid thought

7 Aug — 5 Sep 2026 at the LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, United States

Catherine Opie, Flipper, Tanya, Chloe & Harriet, San Francisco, 1995 © Catherine Opie. Courtesy of the artist, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, London, and Seoul, and Thomas Dane Ga

8 Aug — 1 Nov 2026 at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Thomas Tomek, Cal's liquors (detail). Courtesy of Jackson Junge Gallery

11 Aug — 27 Sep 2026 at the Jackson Junge Gallery in Chicago, United States

Marta Leyva, Cultivation of memories (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Hans Alf Gallery

To the beauty of a sensory feast

14 Aug — 12 Sep 2026 at the Hans Alf Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark

Lara Merrett, Ripple (detail), 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf

20 Aug — 12 Sep 2026 at Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney, Australia

Michael Mazur, Wakeby evening memory (detail), 1985. Courtesy of the Schoolhouse Gallery

24 — 11 Aug 2026 at The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown, United States

Gregory Hodge, Overgrowth (detail), 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf

27 Aug — 26 Sep 2026 at Sullivan+Strumpf in Sydney, Australia

Billy Schenck, Gratuitous violence (detail). Courtesy of JoAnne Artman Gallery

Technicolor west

1 Sep — 31 Oct 2026 at the JoAnne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, United States

Benji Reid, Light bike (detail), 2021. Courtesy of October Gallery

Zana Masombuka. Spotlight: Benji Reid

3 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the October Gallery in London, United Kingdom

Quentin James McCaffrey, Triptych with flowers and view (detail), 2026. Courtesy of Alison Jacques Gallery

Quentin James McCaffrey's exhibition

3 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Alison Jacques Gallery in London, United Kingdom

Ali Cherri, still from The sentinel (detail), 2026. Courtesy the artist and
Almine Rech Gallery

5 Sep 2026 — 4 Jan 2027 at WIELS in Brussels, Belgium

Ellen Bradshaw, Spring fever, 10th Ave and 25th Sta (detail). Courtesy of Pleiades Gallery

Every street has a story

8 Sep — 3 Oct 2026 at the Pleiades Gallery in New York, United States

Irfan Hendrian, C===Ɔ, 2026. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf

10 Sep — 31 Oct 2026 at Sullivan+Strumpf in Singapore, Singapore

Various artists, Celebrating the icons of art, exhibition view. Courtesy of Voorlinden Museum

Celebrating the icons of art

12 Sep 2026 — 7 Mar 2027 at the Voorlinden Museum in Wassenaar, Netherlands

Life in color and form. Courtesy of Millesgården Museum

Life in color and form

12 Sep 2026 — 29 Mar 2027 at the Millesgården Museum in Lidingö, Sweden

Garry Winogrand, World’s fair (detail), New York City, 1964 (printed 1981). Gelatin silver print, 11× 14 in. (27.9×35.6
cm). Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Gift of James, Class of 1980
and Georganne Garfinkel. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Storytelling: photographers making meaning (...)

12 Sep 2026 — 12 Jun 2027 at the Wellin Museum of Art in Clinton, United States

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