Guggenheim deputy director Naomi Beckwith made history by becoming the first black woman to lead Germany's prestigious documenta exhibition and now she has done it again by bringing in the first all-female team to curate the event.

She will be joined by Xiaoyu Weng, Carla Acevedo-Yates, Mayra A. Rodríguez Castro and Romi Crawford for the show which opens in Kassel in June 2027.

The historic show runs for 100 days every five years and is regarded as having played a major role in revitalizing the modern art scene in post-war Germany.

The 2022 event brought almost three-quarters of a million people to the city - more than three times its population, but was marred by controversy when managing director Sabine Schormann left her post over allegations of anti-Semitism in some of the work on show.

A rare Barbara Hepworth sculpture will go on show in her hometown after it was successfully saved for the UK by a $5.1 million fundraising campaign.

The 1943 work, called Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red, is an early example of her use of strings with painted wood.

It was sold to an anonymous bidder at Christie’s a year ago but placed under a government-issued temporary export ban to allow time for funds to be raised to keep it in the UK.

The campaign, supported by more 2,800 members of the public as well as major grants from different foundations and charities, raised the money with a week to spare and the sculpture will now go on show at the Hepworth Wakefield in northern England.

Poet-turned painter Walter Swennen has died aged 79.

His death was announced on Instagram by his Belgian gallery, Xavier Hufkens, which described him as "one of Belgium's most influential artists" who "pushed the boundaries of painting".

He began as a poet and only turned to painting in the 1970s and many of his works continued to feature his trademark word play and fascination with language.

It is getting spooky in Switzerland where Basel's Kunstmuseum is hosting an exhibition dedicated to ghosts.

More than 160 exhibits, including works by Tony Oursler, Ryan Gander, Benjamin West and Cornelia Parker, have been brought together for the show which opens on September 20.

It also examines the rise of photography in the 19th century and how the new technology was used to promote old beliefs. Examples of spirit photography, which seemed to make the dead reappear and were held up as proof of life after death, will also be on show.

Ghosts: Visualizing the Supernatural runs to March 8 next year.

1 - Egypt's Alexandria Biennale is returning in 2026 after a gap of 12 years and will be curated by Moataz Nasr. Founded in 1955 to bring together artists from across the Mediterranean, it was suspended in 2011 then made a brief return in 2014.

2 - Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been in Ukraine visiting troops near Kharkiv and meeting artist Pyotr Verzilov - the ex-husband of Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova and former spokesman for the group. Weiwei's latest exhibition, Three perfectly proportioned spheres and military camouflage painted in white, opens in Kyiv on September 14.

3 - A new exhibition on the life and work of Jean-Michel Basquiat opens later this year in South Korea. More than 70 paintings and drawings by the American artist will be on show at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza Museum in Seoul from September 23 to January 31.