Nicola Moretti, Philippe Starck, and more open Venice’s Murano Illumina Il Mondo 2024.

At Murano Illumina il Mondo 2024, the chandelier is redefined as an art form through eleven creations by renowned talents like Kengo Kuma, Philippe Starck, and Joseph Kosuth, who collaborate with master Murano glassmakers like Nicola Moretti and Stefano Bullo. Highlights from this year’s edition, which runs in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square until March 2025, include reinterpretations of the chandelier inspired by Venetian landscapes, surrealism, and modern fabrication techniques.

Kengo Kuma and Associates completes a ceramic-clad UCCA Clay Museum in China.

Kengo Kuma and Associates has completed the UCCA Clay Museum in Yixing, China, which incorporates 3,600 handcrafted ceramic panels that reflect the area’s rich pottery heritage. Inspired by the Shushan mountains and local dragon kilns, the museum’s sculptural exterior shell houses exhibition and event spaces while honoring more than a millennium of regional clay artistry.

Business of Fashion unpacks its investigation linking luxury brands to Italian sweatshops.

An Italian investigation has exposed systemic labor exploitation in luxury supply chains, corroborating the findings of Business of Fashion’s own investigation implicating brands like Dior and Armani in sweatshop practices. New European due-diligence regulations promise stricter enforcement and hefty penalties, pressuring the industry to address deeply ingrained practices threatening its reputation.

Côme Di Meglio’s mycelium-based sound and sculpture installation lands at Reims.

Côme Di Meglio’s Song of the Origins installation in Maison Ruinart’s Sculpture Garden uses mycelium and oak to explore the interplay between sound, matter, and life. Its acoustically focused design features a golden gong, an evocation of ancient sacred spaces that highlights the vibrational interconnectedness of organic forms. 

The Venice-Simpleton Orient Express expands with a carriage by French street artist JR.

French street artist JR has transformed a carriage of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express into L’Observatoire: an opulent yet cozy train car inspired by pre-1945 aesthetics and Renaissance cabinets of curiosity. Hidden elements like a tea room and skylight create moments of discovery within a design that incorporates references to JR’s oeuvre. 

Today’s attractive distractions:

Cactus Jack rapper Don Toliver and Bape have a new streetwear collab.

The world’s oldest written  text is a Mesopotamian tablet dating to 3,500 B.C.

Ukiyo-e, or Japanese woodcut prints, deeply inspired the art of Henri Matisse.

With his new Smithsonian film, John Akomfrah meditates on 2020’s turmoil.