Sumayya Vally designs a new home for the Elie Khouri Art Foundation, opening in 2028.
Architect Sumayya Vally and her Johannesburg-based practice Counterspace have been appointed to design the permanent home of the Elie Khouri Art Foundation (EKAF), converting an existing villa in Dubai’s Jumeirah 1 into a contemporary art institution set to open in late 2028. Founded by French-Lebanese collector and philanthropist Elie Khouri, the foundation draws on more than two decades of collecting. Under director Caroline Louca, its program will pair works from Khouri’s collection with rotating exhibitions, loans, institutional partnerships, and educational initiatives. Rather than erasing the villa’s domestic character, Vally’s scheme uses its doors, cornices, balustrades, and original room arrangement as the basis for a new architectural language, scaling the intimacy of a home up to a public institution. Alongside galleries, the plans include pavilions, gardens, hospitality areas, and outdoor spaces for seasonal events.
The Liverpool Biennial 2027 to explore childhood in “The Age of Magical Thinking.”
The 2027 Liverpool Biennial will be titled “The Age of Magical Thinking,” with curators Aimee Harrison and Lucía Sanromán at the helm. The theme takes inspiration from psychologist Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, which identified a stage in early childhood when imagination is especially vivid. Harrison and Sanromán frame childhood, a period of transition and creative possibility, as a lens for examining today’s global crises. Sanromán described youth as a time of constant change that also demands urgent questioning of the present. The exhibition, she said, responds to young people around the world calling to be taken seriously in political decision-making. Twenty-three artists and collectives are participating, among them Francis Alÿs, Rineke Dijkstra, Petrit Halilaj, Ad Minoliti, Amalia Pica, and Iván Argote. The exhibition will run from June 5 to September 19, 2027.
Novak Djokovic partners with Aman Group on wellness brand Atma.
Aman Group has unveiled Atma, a new hospitality brand centered on wellness, longevity, and sport, with Novak Djokovic as its global partner. The brand, whose name means “the true self” in Sanskrit, joins Aman and Janu in the group’s portfolio and will debut in Miami in 2031. Set in a waterfront tower on Brickell Bay Drive designed by SHoP Architects, with interiors by Studio Paolo Ferrari, Atma Miami will combine a hotel, branded residences, and an invitation-only private members’ club. At its core is a 120,000-square-foot wellness and sports facility featuring padel, tennis, and squash courts, a gym, training studios, recovery spaces, and a medical wellness center. The property will also include a private marina, multiple restaurants and bars, and residences ranging from one bedroom to six-bedroom penthouses.
Gentle Monster turns 23 Wall Street into a playground for smart glasses.
Gentle Monster has opened an immersive exhibition at 23 Wall Street in New York to showcase Intelligent Eyewear, its A.I.-powered smart glasses developed with Google and Samsung. The experience is open to the public through November 23. Created with French artist Jean Jacques Balzac, the exhibition swaps the traditional product demo for a series of surreal rooms, from “Chamber of Contemplation” to “The Mystery Ship” and “The Gym.” Each space highlights a different capability of the eyewear, including real-time translation, navigation, calls and texts, and visual understanding, all running on Android XR and Gemini AI. The brand calls it its first exhibition of this scale and the first of its kind in the U.S.
Art Basel Miami Beach launches a $4,500 Premium Discovery pass.
Art Basel Miami Beach has launched a new top-tier ticket, the Premium Discovery pass, priced at $3,600 for one day and $4,500 for two. The fair opens with previews on December 2 and 3 before welcoming the general public December 4–6. Despite the price, the pass does not include the first preview day. Instead, holders gain entry to the December 3 vernissage, held from 4 to 7 p.m., followed by a curated experience on December 4 or 5 for single-day buyers, or on both days for two-day buyers. Both versions include early entry on all three public days, concierge service, collectors’ lounge access, invitations to select VIP events, a guided tour led by fair director Bridget Finn, and an exclusive Art Basel gift.
Attractive Distractions:
More than 60 photographers donate prints to support emerging creatives.
Inside the Ault House, Eliot Noyes’ modernist home for art dealer Lee Ault.
Lewis Hamilton puts his zero-proof agave cocktails in a can.
Anyma and Jean-Michel Jarre to perform at the Great Pyramids in 2027.
