There are a lot of social, political, economic, and ecological unknowns going into 2018. The future of art in the coming year, in contrast, is pretty much set in stone.
Visitors the world over have museum, biennial, and nonprofits’ advance programming to thank: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for instance, can schedule an exhibition as much as four years in advance.
A lot of these exhibitions require years of planning. There are loans from other museums and private collectors to negotiate, wall text and catalogs to write, shipping to arrange, and, often must crucial of all, special funding to secure to make the exhibition possible.
In short, in an increasingly tumultuous world, culture remains the one constant. For anyone in need of reassurance, check out 10 of the most exciting exhibitions on the horizon and take heart.
1. “Uprisings” at the Contemporary Art University Museum in Mexico City
Feb. 24–July 29
Although this was planned well in advance, “Uprisings,” a sweeping show curated by the star French art historian Georges Didi Huberman feels awfully topical. Ostensibly a highly theoretical show, the exhibition features documentation of literal revolt—paintings, films, photographs, even engravings—set within the largest public institution in Mexico.
2. “The World of the Fatimids” at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto
March 10–July 2
The Fatimid dynasty’s staggeringly sophisticated caliphate reached its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries. Stretched along North Africa and the Middle East, its capital in what’s now Cairo, Egypt, fostered a boom in arts and sciences, eventually surpassing virtually any other contemporaneous civilization. The Aga Khan Museum’s show will include an array of delicate, intricate objects that include ceramic lusterware, rock crystal, and ivory.
3. “Painted in Mexico, 1700-1790” at the Met Fifth Avenue in New York
April 24–July 22