Marina Abramović is one of those artists who has never stopped giving the art world something to talk about, from the early provocative performances that pushed the limits of endurance and transformed visceral traumatic catharsis into art to her later shift toward more spiritual and energetic rituals aimed at collective healing and reconnection. Over the decades, she has continued to reinvent the possibilities of performance, turning the body, her own and the audience’s, into a site of vulnerability, transformation and shared experience, in the process becoming both an icon of contemporary art and, in many ways, a shamanic healer for a troubled collectivity. In 2026, Abramović will make history as the first woman to receive a major exhibition at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Venice, which opens at the height of the art calendar during the 61st Venice Biennale. Marking the artist’s 80th birthday, “Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy” will stage a resonant dialogue between her pioneering performance practice and the Renaissance masterpieces that have shaped Venice’s cultural identity. Iconic works such as Imponderabilia (1977), Rhythm 0 (1974), Light/Dark (1977), Balkan Baroque (1997) and Carrying the Skeleton (2008) will appear alongside projections of early performances. One of the central highlights will be Abramović and Ulay’s Pietà (1983) shown in direct dialogue with Titian’s final unfinished Pietà (c. 1575-76), an unprecedented historic pairing that reframes Renaissance themes of grief, transcendence and redemption through a contemporary lens while underscoring the body’s enduring role as a site of suffering and spiritual elevation. Curated by Shai Baitel, artistic director of the Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai, in close collaboration with the artist, the exhibition will unfold across both the museum’s permanent collection galleries and its temporary exhibition spaces, a first in the institution’s history, embedding Abramović’s work deep within the city’s artistic patrimony. At its core, “Transforming Energy” is an encounter between past and present, material and immaterial, body and spirit, revealing how Abramović’s lifelong exploration of endurance, presence and transformation resonates powerfully within Venice’s centuries-old visual language.
If asked to name a Roman Emperor, most would probably spit out the monikers of Julius Caesar, Nero, or perhaps Caligula.
Statue of Trajan Credit: National Archaeological Museum, Naples/MFAH
Well, Ol’ ill-fated J.C. was never actually an Emperor, but “Dictata Perpetuo” (“Dictator for Life”). His successor, Augustus, was actually the first to hold the title. It’s Shakespeare (and salad enthusiasts) who have also kept the Caesar name going. Nero is more remembered for his fiddle playing than his cruel and extravagant reign. And Caligula for his, um, clothing-optional social gatherings.
Less on the tip of the tongue Trajan (pronounced Tray-jen). Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, he ruled from 98-117 AD and was known as the second of “Five Good Emperors” who oversaw the Roman Empire at its peak.
Now, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston brings the glory that was Rome to Houston with the exhibit Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times. It runs from November 2-January 25.
It will feature more than 160 objects including busts, statues, frescoes, helmets, furnishings, coins, mosaics, everyday household items, and a 100-foot reproduction of the still-standing in Italy “Trajan’s Column.” The items are on loan from museums in Rome, Naples, Ostia, and Vatican City.
“I feel like when people think about an exhibit [like this] from Imperial Rome, they think of those life-sized sculptures, and we have several of those,” says Danielle Bennett, the MFAH Site Curator for the exhibit. “But there is so much more here.” The exhibit’s original Curator is Dr. Lucrezia Ungaro, former director of the Imperial Forums Museum, Rome.
Murmillo’s Helmet with Muses,
Figural Scene with a Young Boy
with Musical Instruments and
Theatrical Masks Credit: National Archeological Museum, Naples/MFAH
One interesting point that the exhibit’s title cards mention is the difference between the type of art that a wealthy Roman would have in their homes versus that made for display in public and common areas of the city. Bennett says most of what has survived to this day are made of sturdier material like ceramic, stone, and metal—what the wealthy would have. Some will be displayed in a “house” setting.
Selene and Endymion Credit: National Archaeological Museum of Naples/MFAH
“What the most ordinary Roman citizens would have been using wouldn’t have survived, like leather, wood, and woven baskets. So [exhibitgoers] won’t have that perspective. It all comes down to the permeability of materials. But we intersperse it all.”
During his reign, Trajan was so respected by the people and those in government that the Roman Senate bequeathed him the additional title of “Optimus Princeps” (or “The Best”). It ended with his death from a heart attack at the age of 63.
And while the vast majority of contemporary writings by or about him have been lost to time, most accounts peg Trajan as an honorable soldier-leader with keen interests in philanthropy, art, and building infrastructure (including public baths!). And other accounts back that up, including the writings and correspondence of Pliny the Younger, of which this exhibit features some reproductions.
“We have some of Trajan’s written responses to Pliny. So, there are some letters where Trajan says ‘My only concern should be the welfare of the public,’” Bennett says. “After he died, from that point on, when the Senate did the blessing to the next Emperor, they would say ‘May you be as lucky as Augustus and as good as Trajan.’ And that never changed through the years.”
Colossal Portrait of Plotina Credit: Vatican Museums, Vatican City/MFAH
She adds that there are even Medieval tapestries from hundreds of years later which depict Trajan in some good or heroic way—even if they’re not exactly historically accurate.
“In one, Trajan’s son has pushed a kid into the river who was drowned. So, Trajan rules that his own son must be pushed into the river too. But he never had any sons!” Bennett laughs (Trajan and his wife Plotina had no children).
“So his reputation is kind of crazy in how it builds up. We get all the fun stories about the bad Emperors, but we don’t get them about Trajan. He fought with his soldiers and had no [pretension].”
During his time, other accomplishments included the revitalization of the Circus Maximus (home to chariot races, religious spectacles and—yes—gladiator combat), the building of a bridge over the Danube River, and the creation of “Trajan’s Forum” featuring a market, public piazza, and rooms.
It’s where Trajan’s Column stands, commemorating Rome’s victory in the Dacian Wars. The column shows 2,662 figures and 155 scenes and Trajan himself appears on the column 58 times. The MFAH exhibit’s 100-ft. reproduction will certainly be a highlight for many viewers.
And while we think they are missing a great marketing opportunity, Bennett says that docents for Art and Life in Imperial Rome will not be sporting togas or gladiator costumes during the exhibit’s run.
Group with Two Greyhounds Credit: Vatican Museums, Vatican City/MFAH
Finally, we ask Bennett our standard exit question for MFAH Curators: If Director Gary Tinterow walked into her office and said “Danielle, you’ve done such a great job with this, you can take one object home,” what would it be—and why?
“That’s such a challenging question for me, because I have a Ph. D in Archaeology, so I wouldn’t take anything!” she offers. Though when pressed, she does note her two favorite pieces. One is a giant drum that goes on top of a wooden ship to hold its oars and was recovered from a post-Trajan period sunken ship.
“There’s also this very charming chimera!” she says of a mythological, fire-breathing creature usually depicted as a lion with a goat’s head on its back and serpent for a tail. “That one is really fun!”
Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times runs November 2, 2025-January 25, 2026 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in the Audrey Jones Beck Building, 5601 Main. For more information, call 713-639-7300 or visit MFAH.org. Adults, $24, Children under 12 are free,
Immersive exhibitions in today’s art world are most often synonymous with pop-aesthetic displays or tech-driven entertainment. A.A. Murakami’s exhibition, however, offers something altogether different. Here, the immersivity of the multi-sensory experience and the artworks that expand into entire environments invite viewers into a more spiritual and contemplative dimension. A.A. Murakami—the Japan-based duo of Alexander Groves and Azusa Murakami—are pioneers of what they call “ephemeral tech,” employing cutting-edge technologies to create fleeting encounters where visitors engage directly with technology, unmediated by screens or keyboards. In contrast to the infinite replication and storage that defines our digital age, their practice draws on naturally transient materials such as smoke, bubbles and plasma to shape moments that exist only in the present, demanding a heightened awareness of beauty’s fragility and impermanence. Rooted in Japanese philosophy and aesthetics, “Floating Words” unfolds as a sequence of immersive, sensory landscapes where technology conjures natural phenomena, opening space for slow contemplation of their elusive beauty and mystery. In this exhibition marking their U.S. institutional debut, A.A. Murakami act not simply as artists but as orchestrators of impermanence, architects of experience who bring visitors back to the most genuine, universal sense of awe and wonder that nature can still awaken, inviting a creative and generative connection with it.
