GLOBAL CULTURAL BULLETIN | HAPPENINGS | CABANA MAGAZINE

 Discover Cabana's picks of the art and design world’s most exciting offerings this March with our global cultural bulletin: a monthly guide to the events and exhibitions on Cabana’s radar and a must-read for anyone looking to keep their finger on the cultural pulse.

CURATED BY TEAM CABANA | HAPPENINGS | 1 MARCH 2024

TEFAF © Loraine Bodewes. Courtesy of TEFAF.

From a tour de force fine art and antiques fair in Maastricht - which many Cabana readers will have been waiting twelve months for - to a brand new design fair in Paris, Roman sculptures in Chicago, and a jubilant, characteristically thought-provoking exhibition from Sir Grayson Perry in London, March is certainly delivering. Read on for Cabana's carefully curated highlights, updated throughout the month. 

EXHIBITIONS

NEW YORK, USA

Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie 

Woman with a pipe ca. 1760–80 Reverse-painted crown glass, imitation lacquer frame. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Larry and Ann Burns Gift, in honor of Austin B. Chinn, 2022. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Opening March 24 at The Met, Monstrous Beauty: A Feminist Revision of Chinoiserie offers a bold reevaluation of European porcelain through a feminist lens. The exhibition explores how chinoiserie, born from early European fantasies of the exoticized East, shaped perceptions of women, sexuality, and race, and how these fragile, alluring objects became entwined with lasting cultural stereotypes. By critically examining this legacy, Monstrous Beauty reclaims the power of negative imagery and transforms it into a statement of female empowerment.

March 25, 2025 - August 17, 2025, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NEW YORK, USA

WARWICKSHIRE, UK

Towering Dreams: Extraordinary Architectural Drawings

Joseph Michael Gandy, cut-away perspective showing Soane's Church of Holy Trinity, Marylebone, c.1806 © Sir John Soane's Museum, London

This March, Compton Verney - an historic estate and arts venue in Warwickshire - will chart a grand tour of realized and imagined architectural designs from the collection of visionary and pioneering British architect, Sir John Soane (1753-1837).

The exhibition will feature 29 works from the Sir John Soane Museum, 14 of which have never been exhibited before, including designs for Soane’s own buildings, drawings by his contemporaries and students, and designs from famous practitioners, such as Piranesi and John Thorpe. They showcase the imaginative ways in which architects understood, and interacted with, the world around them.

March 15, 2025 - August 31, 2025, Compton Verney, WARWICKSHIRE, UK

LONDON, UK

Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur

Grayson Perry © Richard Ansett, shot exclusively for the Wallace Collection, London

Bringing his trademark wit and flair to the Wallace Collection, Sir Grayson Perry debuts Delusions of Grandeur, a jubilantly provocative exploration of craft, technology, and the pursuit of perfection. In over 40 new works – ceramics, tapestries, paper – Perry stages a lively dialogue between tradition and innovation, pairing laboriously hand-crafted objects with those conjured at the click of a button. 

Marking Grayson Perry's 65th birthday, this wide-ranging exhibition is both a celebration and a challenge – an invitation to question authenticity, artistry, and what it means to create in an age of infinite possibility.

March 28, 2025 - October 26, 2025, The Wallace Collection, LONDON, UK

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UK

Discovering Jewish Country Houses: Photographs by Hélène Binet

Villa La Montesca, June 2021 © Hélène Binet

A new body of evocative work sees Hélène Binet’s lens turn its poetic gaze to a world both reminiscent and deeply poignant: the Jewish country house. Capturing the essence of nine homes – at once grand and intimate – along with two mausoleums and a synagogue, Binet captures the quiet echoes of history in over 20 images that trace the interplay of architecture and memory, past dreams and present realities.

March 19, 2025 - June 22, 2025, Waddeson Manor, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UK

CHICAGO, USA

Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection

Sarcophagus Lid with Reclining Couple, second half of 2nd century CE. Roman, Imperial Period. Torlonia Collection. © Torlonia Foundation. Photo by Lorenzo De Masi.

The Art Institute of Chicago presents Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection – a unique opportunity to experience one of the world’s most important private collections of Roman marble sculptures. Featuring 58 rare sculptures spanning nine centuries, this exhibition offers the first-ever North American viewing of these newly restored works, many of which haven’t been seen in nearly a century. 

March 15, 2025 - June 29, 2025, The Art Institute Chicago, CHICAGO, USA

LONDON, UK

Edvard Munch Portraits

Model with a Green Scarf (Sultan Abdul Karim), Edvard Munch, 1916. Oil on canvas. © Munchmuseet. Photo/ Munchmuseet.

Edvard Munch Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery offers an intimate glimpse into the Norwegian artist’s world, revealing his deep connections to family, friends, and fellow creatives. Featuring over 40 works, many of which have never-before showcased in the UK, the National Portrait Gallery invites visitors to explore the profound emotional depth behind Munch’s portraits, from his early family scenes to his later life with close confidants and bohemian circles.

March 13, 2025 - June 15, 2025, The National Portrait Gallery, LONDON, UK

BASEL, SWITZERLAND

Medardo Rosso: Inventing Modern Sculpture

Medardo Rosso in his studio on the Boulevard des Batignolles, 1890, print from the original glass negative, 13 × 17.7 cm, © Archivio Medardo Rosso

Kunstmuseum Basel shines a long-overdue spotlight on Medardo Rosso, the Italian-French sculptor who redefined modern sculpture with his ethereal forms and radical explorations of light and material. The show brings together 50 of his elusive bronzes, plasters, and waxworks – alongside 250 photographs and drawings – offering an unprecedented look at his avant-garde vision.

Curated by Elena Filipovic and Heike Eipeldauer in collaboration with mumok (Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien), the exhibition situates Rosso’s legacy within a sweeping artistic dialogue, placing his work in conversation with over 60 artists from Brâncuși to Bourgeois, Degas to Kusama.

March 29, 2025 - April 10, 2025, Kunstmuseum, BASEL, SWITZERLAND

LONDON, UK

José María Velasco A View of Mexico

José María Velasco Cardón, State of Oaxaca 1887. Museo Nacional de Arte, INBAL, Mexico City © Reproducción autorizada por el Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, 2024 

José María Velasco: A View of Mexico brings the 19th-century Mexican master to the UK for the first time in a stunning monographic exhibition at the National Gallery. Featuring over 30 of Velasco’s magnificent landscapes, plants, and studies, including works from the Museo Nacional de Arte, Velasco’s detailed depictions of Mexico’s stunning scenery and rapid industrialisation offer a unique blend of art and science, reflecting both his artistic mastery and deep botanical expertise.

March 29, 2025 - August 17, 2025, The National Gallery, LONDON, UK

ATHENS, GREECE

Romuald Hazoumè - Les fleurs du mâle 

Romuald Hazoumè Ōsensei, 2024 © Romuald Hazoumè ADAGP 2025 Photo Thomas Lannes Courtesy the artist and Gagosian.

Gagosian Athens presents Les fleurs du mâle, the first solo exhibition in Greece of Beninese artist, Romuald Hazoumè. Transforming discarded materials into masks and sculptures, Hazoumè weaves together tradition and critique with wit and urgency. Plastic containers become faces, repurposed scooters tell stories of survival, and sacred Fâ symbols take on new life in vibrant compositions. The exhibition’s title, a nod to Baudelaire, plays on the dual meanings of mal (evil) and mâle (male), underscoring Hazoumè’s sharp commentary on power, conflict, and identity. 

March 11, 2025 - April 26, 2025, Gagosian, ATHENS, GREECE

CAMBRIDGE, UK

‘Here is a Gale Warning: Art, Crisis and Survival’

Candace Hill-Montgomery; Courtesy the artist and Kettle's Yard, Cambridge.

Kettle's Yard brings together eight contemporary artists to navigate the turbulence of our time. Rather than focusing on singular political events, their pieces trace the larger forces of power and resistance that shape our world. Curated by Dr. Amy Tobin, Here is a Gale Warning: Art, Crisis & Survival is both a call to attention and a space for reflection; an artistic weather report for an unsettled age.

March 22, 2025 - June 29, 2025, Kettle's Yard, CAMBRIDGE, UK

BATH, UK

The botanical world of Mary Delany and Georgie Hopton – A Domestic Arrangement

Left: Georgie Hopton, Royal Visitors, 2022, courtesy the artist and Lyndsey Ingram, London Right: Mary Delany, Centaurea Cyanus Blue bottle, 1779, © The British Museum

The past and present entwine in The Botanical World of Mary Delany and Georgie Hopton – A Domestic Arrangement, an enchanting dialogue between two artists separated by centuries, yet united in their devotion to flora. Delany’s exquisite 18th-century botanical collages, rarely seen due to their delicate nature, find new resonance alongside Hopton’s contemporary interpretations, including specially commissioned wallpaper and fabric designs. Curated by Ingrid Swenson, this evocative exhibition invites visitors to revel in the timeless beauty of botanical artistry, where paper, pigment, and pattern bloom in harmony.

March 15, 2025 - June 15, 2025, No.1 Royal Crescent, BATH, UK

Last Chance...

Read on for some notable exhibitions closing in March 2025.

PARIS, FRANCE

Moore and Malaparte: Rhythm and Form

Moore and Malaparte: Rhythm and Form, 2025, installation view © The Henry Moore Foundation; © Malaparte Photo: Thomas Lannes Courtesy Gagosian

Now on view at Gagosian's Rue de Castiglione gallery in Paris, this fascinating exhibition juxtaposes the great Henry Moore's freeform sculptures and drawings with furniture from the architectural masterpiece, Casa Malaparte on the island of Capri, designed by modernist architect Curzio Malaparte.

This inspired dialogue celebrates the pair's shared obsession with organic forms and harmonious spaces and is a real must-see.

Through March 27, 2025, Gagosian, PARIS, FRANCE

MADRID, SPAIN

A Botanical Stroll through the Prado

The Annunciation, Fra Angelico, Tempera on panel 1425- 1426 ROOM 56B Old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba).

A Botanical Stroll through the Prado is a thematic journey curated by gardener and researcher into art and botany, Eduardo Barba Gómez. Inviting visitors to connect with the past through plants, captured in art from Roman to 18th-century masterpieces, this immersive exploration through the museum's prestigious collection highlights works by masters like Titian, Velázquez, Fra Angelico and Rubens, revealing how flora in art reflects deeper symbolic narratives. 

Through March 30, 2025, Museo del Prado, MADRID, SPAIN

ROME, ITALY

FRANCESCO CLEMENTE ANIMA NOMADE

Francesco Clemente, Devil’s Tent, 2013-2014 (detail, interior) | Tempera on cotton, embroidery, hand stitching, bamboo poles, wood finials, ropes, iron weights. Collection of the artist. © Francesco Clemente Studio.

Palazzo Esposizioni presents Francesco Clemente. ANIMA NOMADE, on view through March 30, 2025. A journey through myth, memory, and self, Anima Nomade offers a glimpse into Clemente’s ever-shifting world, transforming the Palazzo's galleries into immersive installations, featuring Clemente’s Tents (2012–2014), twelve Flags, and the site-specific wall painting Ocean of Stories. 

Inspired by Indian and Eastern traditions, Clemente’s work blends symbolic imagery, poetry, and movement – his painted Tents evoke nomadic sanctuaries, while the Flags pair enigmatic figures with embroidered aphorisms. 

Through March 30, 2025, Palazzo Esposizioni Roma, ROME, ITALY

EVENTS

MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS

TEFAF, MAASTRICHT

TEFAF © Loraine Bodewes. Courtesy of TEFAF.

TEFAF, the undisputed tour de force of the art world, returns to Maastricht from March 15–20, offering an unparalleled panorama of fine art, antiques, and design. This prestigious fair will once again present masterpieces spanning 7,000 years of art history, featuring over 270 distinguished galleries and dealers.

With a meticulously curated selection that ranges from ancient treasures to contemporary marvels, TEFAF reaffirms its position as the global leader in fine art fairs. The 38th edition invites collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts to discover and acquire exceptional works, while engaging in thought-provoking discussions and events that celebrate both its storied past and visionary future.

March 15 - 20, 2025, MECC Maastricht, MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS

LONDON, UK

London Original Print Fair, 2025

A Jean Emile Laboureur print © the Artist and the London Original Print Fair, 2025.

This March, the London Original Print Fair returns to Somerset House for a landmark 40th edition. The world’s longest-running specialist print fair brings together over 40 leading exhibitors, from powerhouses like Hauser & Wirth to rising stars and new voices. Visitors can explore works spanning six centuries – from Old Masters to today’s most exciting contemporary artists – with exclusive anniversary editions by Tom Hammick, Peter Blake, David Shrigley, and more. 

March 20 - 23, 2025, Somerset House, LONDON, UK

PARIS, FRANCE

MATTER and SHAPE

Among the exhibitors; Laguna-B, photographed by Alessandro Trevisan.

Against the glorious backdrop of the Jardin des Tuileries, MATTER and SHAPE returns for its second edition during Paris Fashion Week, bringing together an impressive conclave of designers, artisans, and visionaries. Curated by Matthieu Pinet and under the creative direction of Dan Thawley, the salon continues its mission to celebrate innovation in form and function – where the decorative arts meet the rigor of modernist thinking. With bespoke pavilions designed by Willo Perron, a culinary interlude from WE ARE ONA, and a dynamic program of talks and events, MATTER and SHAPE is not to be missed.

March 7 - 10, 2025, Jardin des Tuileries, PARIS, FRANCE