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Prague is one of Europe’s centers of culture, but it was without a proper contemporary art center for far too long. In 2008 the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art opened, with exhibits of provoking art, educational and cultural events, and a mission to encourage critical reflection and dialogue through the presentation of works that speak to social issues of the day. The 32,000 square foot building, converted from a former factory by architect Ivan Kroupa, is a work of art in itself. And even if you tried to, you can’t miss Gulliver, a wooden zephyr-like airship that appears to have landed on the roof (it is used for literature-focused events.). Back inside, DOX also boasts one of the city’s best design shops and a cafe.

How do you make sense of diverse, dizzying São Paolo? Talk to the people who make the sushi, spray the graffiti, and build the giant watermelons.

Maxxi, Rome’s first major contemporary art museum, cost €150 million and took renowned architect Zaha Hadid 10 years to complete. The result—a vast, bold space with exhibits on architecture and art—proves that modern Rome can produce masterpieces, too.

But it’s not just the building that’s worth visiting. Inside, visitors can explore a rotating set of art exhibitions dedicated to paintings, sculptures, and more from the 21st century. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 am – 7 pm. It is closed on Mondays. You can get tickets in advance online.

This particular area of the Gold Coast is jokingly nicknamed the Viagra Triangle, but the Thompson Chicago doesn’t discriminate by age. The 247-room hotel is dark and moody, drawing artists of every generation to its swanky lobby bar at the back, peppered with colorful canvases and couples sneaking a snuggle in a booth. The whole town is awaiting the opening of Tavern on Rush, a reboot of the beloved steak house that used to reside just up the block. Rumors say this hangout will become a dining destination, what with its cocktail lounge, main dining room, patio, and private rooms spread across 16,000 square feet and multiple levels.


Set among all the best shopping in the Midwest, the Thompson’s midcentury-style guest rooms with hardwood floors provide the perfect minimalist location to unbox those favorite finds from Michigan Avenue around the corner. Digital nomads can book their work meetings in one of the rooms named after the Chicago Seven: countercultural anti-war protesters charged by the U.S. federal government with conspiracy and intent to incite a riot to stop the Vietnam War. The Abbie Hoffman room is a favorite.

Set on the western side of Circular Quay, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is the country’s leading institution for modern art. While access to touring international exhibitions from the likes of Tatsuo Miyajima and Annie Leibovitz incurs an entrance fee, the permanent collection of more than 4,000 contemporary works by Australian and Torres Strait Islanders, from Gary Carsley to Lena Yarinkura—plus a rare collection of artist notebooks, music, letters, and sketches—is always free. Come on Wednesday night when the gallery is open until 9 p.m., or for the adults-only Art Bar on the last Friday of the month. The rooftop café offers occasional live music and DJs plus glittering views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge after dark.

Palma’s most important example of early 20th century modernisme, this striking building with its richly crafted interior decor featuring stained glass and ceramic tiles was designed in 1903 by Catalan architect and Gaudí contemporary Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Originally built as a luxury hotel, in 1993 it re-opened as a cultural centre owned by the Spanish bank La Caixa.

The renovated Nanhui Power Station, situated on the banks of Huanpu River, is now home to China’s first state-run Contemporary Art Museum. From local artists to international icons such as Andy Warhol, the museum boasts a great selection of contemporary art. Open 9:00am-5:00pm, closed Mondays General Admission: Free

The museum’s collection and calendar of exhibits is a little more daring than you might imagine, but the permanent installation of James Turrell’s Knight Rise presents visitors with the biggest art jolt of all. The work, open to the public for free, consists of a circular bench beneath a luminous domed ceiling. An elliptical hole cut into the top of the dome contains a glimpse of sky. When observed in this manner, even the clearest desert sky seems to shift and pulse and fill the window with pure exuberant color. Come at dawn or sunset for the best (and often most solitary) viewing.

Somewhere between a hip designer’s loft and a rock star’s party pad, the Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles is located in the Spanish Gothic–style United Artists building built in 1927 for actor and producer Mary Pickford and her team of silver screen stars. The hotel was painstakingly designed to showcase both historic and contemporary artistry, from Noguchi lamps and Pendleton blankets in loftlike rooms to original art deco floors and hand-drawn portraits of famous Angelenos on the restaurant’s walls.

Prague is known for its baroque architecture, undamaged as it was in WWII, but the award-winning National Library of Technology, designed by Projektil Architects and completed in 2009, is a fine example of the city’s contemporary architecture. Look for the building’s measurements written on the outer façade of the rounded semi-transparent building. The ground floor has a bookstore, and space to relax, and an exhibition hall, and the library’s open atrium has walls are adorned with murals by Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi. The bright floors below are covered in a swirling pattern of bright reds, yellows, oranges, blues, and greens.

This funky venue for experimental art of all kinds—theater, visual art, dance, performance, music, even circus arts—began as a transformer station, then later sat empty for 40 years until a group of artists began squatting there in the early 1990s. The city of Budapest bought and officially renovated the spaces, opening Trafó in 1998. The wildly varied program has been going strong ever since with event spaces, an exhibition room, and even a basement club for discourse and literary nights. Expect cutting-edge performances and an intellectual, offbeat crowd.

The Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum is the first and longest running venue for contemporary and modern art in San Antonio. It features a plethora of exhibitions each year and always has something going on at the museum. It also hosts concerts and performance art events. The museum is a great place to visit and has had a significant impact on the surrounding communities and the city of San Antonio. One of the best things about the museum is that it’s accessible from the River Walk trail network and can be reached from downtown on a short bike ride. It’s located in a great neighborhood with no shortage of activities, so it’s worth the trip even if you aren’t a contemporary art lover.

Ludwig museums crop up frequently throughout Europe—the Ludwigs were avid German art collectors who were also generous enough to make large donations and establish institutions in places like Cologne since the late 1980s—and Budapest is no exception. The collection of this particular Ludwig Museum, like the others, focuses on art made since the 1960s. Unlike the others, it has a decidedly Hungarian focus. Rotating exhibitions feature much avant-garde and often Eastern European art not easily or often seen elsewhere. The museum itself, which is situated inside the Müpa complex, is an airy, unadorned space to view the works.

Located in a former rail services warehouse, Hangar Bicocca is a contemporary art space for site-specific projects funded by tire giant Pirelli. The space is more like a contemporary art concept that extends from the boards of its brick structure. The art gallery offers bicycle tours of the Bicocca area, as part of the “Bicocca Project,” a neighborhood reclamation project intent on showcasing the former industrial zone as vibrant neighborhood and equally vibrant arts scene.

Far above the city streets on the 52nd and 53rd floors of the Roppongi Hills building, the Mori Art Museum houses contemporary works by primarily Japanese and East Asian artists in a range of mediums, including photography, design, fashion, architecture, and video installations. There’s also an observation deck on the 52nd floor with an open-air Sky Deck, a lounge, a café, and a restaurant with outstanding views of the city. Keep in mind, though, that there are a myriad other dining options as well on the lower floors of the Roppongi Hills building, one of the tallest in the city.