There are many factors that force art institutions, small and big, to make their collections available to the larger public online. The British Museum, one of the biggest museums in the world, has a rather pressing reason to do so. It was recently announced that the institution will be digitizing its entire collection in the aftermath of the thefts of around 2,000 objects.

The Mona Lisa has always been a point of puzzlement for scientists and art historians. From disputes about the painting’s attribution to the identity of the woman depicted in it to fantastical stories about the eyes of ‘Gioconda’ following people who pass by her, it seems like there is always something we still do not know about this mysterious work of art. Turns out, the painting is not done with surprising the world just yet.

Madeleine van Manen is a South African artist who has come very close to capturing the isolation of big cities. BUILT, her first solo exhibition of mixed-media art with the Cape Town-based art gallery Nel, invites you to embrace the solitude and silence people are so used to running from in their daily lives.

Banksy, who chooses the streets as his preferred medium, is known to care very little about the preservation of his art. What happens to his murals after they are discovered does not appear to concern him. After all, the street artist often documents the demolition of his work. Banksy’s mural in Venice would have faced the same fate if not for the local administration intervening.

The Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany, is well-known among culture and history lovers for its vast collection of ancient artifacts and architectural structures, including the Pergamon Altar, an incredible testament to the greatness of the Hellenistic civilization. It has recently been announced that the Museum will soon be closed for fourteen years for a massive reconstruction.

The century-long discussion of what can be considered art has reached its boiling point in the modern world. While the validity of certain genres and movements that fit under the broad umbrella of contemporary art is questioned more often than others, graffiti remains the ultimate scapegoat. Not only is it criticized for its alleged lack of purpose and artistic value, but it is also considered a criminal offense in most countries.