June has arrived, welcome to Summer. Today is June 14th, 2025.
On this day in 1775, the U.S. formed the Continental Army, today celebrating its 250th anniversary as demonstrations spring across the nation for “No Kings” protests, days ahead of the upcoming Juneteenth celebrations commemorating the ending of slavery in the U.S.
Today in history, Napoleon forms Ligurian Republic (1797). First Canadian Parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario (1841). Belgian Liberal Party forms (1846). Robert Bunsen invents the Bunsen burner (1847). Hawaii is constituted as a U.S. organized territory (1900), annexed two years prior. Norway adopts female suffrage for middle class women only in parliamentary elections (1907). Reinhard Heydrich (head of Nazi Gestapo to be) first meets with Heinrich Himmler, architect of the Holocaust (1931). Hitler meets Mussolini in Vienna, Austria (1934). German forces enter Paris (1940). Anne Frank begins writing her diary, two days after her 13th birthday (1942). French-allied State of Vietnam is officially formed (1949) during the First Indochina War, Bảo Đại installed as Emperor. The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris, later becoming the European Space Agency (1962). Russian cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky aboard Vostok 5 orbits earth 81 times in 5 days (1963). Then California Governor Ronald Reagan signs the Therapeutic Abortion Act, legalizing abortions in the state under certain circumstances (1967). Tansu Ciller appointed 1st female Prime Minister of Turkey (1993). China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (2001). The world’s first stem-cell assisted vein transplant is undertaken by Swedish doctors on a 10 year old girl (2012). Alexander Stubb becomes Prime Minister of Finland (2014). Denmark and Canada agree to split the arctic Hans Island (2022), ending their 50-year “Whiskey War.” Benchmark experiments by IBM quantum computers manage to simulate magnetic materials, working around previous problems of quantum noise (2023).
Two days ago, Air India Flight 171 crashes shortly after takeoff claiming over 240 lives. Only one lone survivor walks away from the crash.
Yesterday, Israel enters a new chapter with wide scale attacks in Iran, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and military sites, among others. Iran hits back.
Today is June 14th. On this day was born Che Guevara (1928), and died Jorge Luis Borges (1986). No Kings were born. Welcome to the 161st edition of Prescriptions. Here is our guide to current events in the arts.
Joe Laverty
Belfast Photo Festival 2025
Explore the Biosphere as Belfast Photo Festival’s 11th edition transcends documentation and creativity. Experience new imagery, commissions, and projects that spark positive change in how we view and inhabit our shared Earth. On view through June 30, 2025.
Plásmata 3: We’ve met before, haven’t we?
We live between reality and illusion. Plásmata 3, the grand exhibition by Onassis Stegi at Pedion tou Areos park, invites you into a world where the boundaries between reality and illusion dissolve and the everyday becomes magical. Through June 15, 2025 at Onassis.
Neo Norte 4.0 di Tere Chad
Neo Norte: Art, Migration, & the Power of Cultural Syncretism
“How do these diverse cultures integrate? And how do they create something entirely new and unique?” reflecting the ever-evolving nature of Latin American identity – shaped by centuries of colonisation, migration, and cultural blending. Interview by Chantelle Weir.
Svetlana Jovanovic, Netherlands, Shortlist, Open Competition, Portraiture
Sony World Photography Awards 2025
World Photography Organisation is a leading global platform dedicated to the development of photographic culture. Its programming provides valuable opportunities for artists working in photography. Winners & Shortlist Announced; Exhibition through May 5, 2025, Somerset House, London.
Sophie-Anne Herin
Sophie-Anne Herin: Mon Pays, C’est la Lune
Sophie-Anne Herin’s Mon Pays, C’est la Lune is a body of work exploring themes of the magical and the lunar, where the delicacy of an intimate and secretive sensibility intertwines with the hunting feeling of a dream interrupted midway. On view through June 7, 2025 at Weber & Weber. Article by Chiara Causo.
Jadwiga Sawicka, Było nie było, 2010–2014
Pursuing the Whole: The Katarzyna Kobro Award
This exhibition at Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi presents the winners of the Katarzyna Kobro Award, a major distinction that the arts community has given the most outstanding artists for twenty years. On view through August 3, 2025.
Isaac Julien, “After Mazatlán III,” 1999/2000 © Isaac Julien. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and Jessica Silverman
Isaac Julien: I Dream a World
Over the past twenty-five years, artist Isaac Julien has developed a singular, choreographic style of moving image exhibition in the form of immersive multichannel film and video installations. On view through July 13, 2025 at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Julie Bullard / Nadia Lee Cohen & Martin Parr
Julie Bullard / Nadia Lee Cohen & Martin Parr
Julie Bullard, a work of photographic fiction by Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr. The book is designed as a late-seventies photo album. It is very closely modelled on an example acquired from eBay, complete with faux leather spongy board covers. Published by IDEA, first edition of 2,500.
Corinne Day, The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola (ed.), Mack
The Virgin Suicides
Corinne Day’s representation of female beauty met its match in Sofia Coppola, whose debut with the film The Virgin Suicides marked the first of her unaffected, empathetic depictions of womanhood. The Virgin Suicides, Corinne Day / Sofia Coppola (ed.), Designed by Anamaria Morris for Joseph Logan Design. Just published this spring by Mack.
