Bloomsbury at Tate Britain, Lagos Biennial and Brussels 1900: this week

Tate Britain has opened Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury, a major exhibition running until 11 April 2027 that revisits two pivotal figures of British Modernism. In the latest episode of The Art Newspaper's weekly podcast, host Ben Luke walks through the show with its co-curator, Thomas Kennedy, who frames both artists in a new light.

The episode, released this week, pairs the London exhibition with two other stories: the opening of the Lagos Biennial in Nigeria and the Paris show Brussels 1900 at the Petit Palais, on view until 25 April 2027.

What does the Lagos Biennial promise?

The fifth Lagos Biennial opens this weekend in the Nigerian city and runs from 14 November to 6 December. Its title is The Museum of Things Unseen. Three curators shape the edition: Furen Dai, Chinyere Obieze and Sam Hopkins. Luke speaks with Chinyere Obieze and Sam Hopkins about the concept behind their biennial.

What that concept delivers on the ground remains to be seen — biennials of this scale routinely promise more than their first week can show. The dates are fixed; the reception is not.

Who is Constantin Meunier and why Paris?

The episode's Work of the Week is a group of plaster sculptures the Belgian artist Constantin Meunier created for his magnum opus in Brussels, the Monument to Labour. Meunier's work sits at the heart of Brussels 1900, the vast new exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris.

Luke discusses the sculptures with Davy Depelchin, head curator of the 19th-century paintings and sculptures department at the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Belgium, and a member of the curatorial team organising the Paris show.

What does this change for gallery-goers?

Three exhibitions, three cities, one listening window. The Tate Britain show gives Bloomsbury's painters a fresh curatorial reading; Lagos offers a rare European-African curatorial trio led by Dai, Obieze and Hopkins; Paris repositions Meunier's labouring figures within the art of 1900. Anyone planning visits has long lead times in London and Paris — both shows run into 2027 — but only a three-week window in Lagos, closing 6 December.

Exhibition dates:

• Vanessa Bell & Duncan Grant: Inside Bloomsbury, Tate Britain, until 11 April 2027
• Lagos Biennial, 14 November–6 December
• Brussels 1900, Petit Palais, Paris, until 25 April 2027

Whether the curators' claims hold up will be tested by critics and audiences over the coming months; the podcast, at least, gives all three exhibitions their opening arguments.