The mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, has reopened four municipal museums in the southern French city, in defiance of national Covid-19 restrictions. The mayor, who is the deputy leader of the far-right National Rally party, issued a decree to reopen the museums on Monday 9 February; the local police prefecture promptly filed a motion to block the order. A summary hearing will be held in the administrative court of Montpellier on 15 February.
At Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai, Indian contemporary artist Manish Nai invites viewers to reconsider the materials that surround them. In In Search of Material within Material, a solo exhibition bringing together works created between 2021 and 2026, discarded objects, industrial surfaces and familiar everyday materials become the starting point for an exploration of form, memory and transformation.