As Venice once again beckons, there's a new kid on the canal: Northern Ireland. Declan Long looks here at what both parts of Ireland will be offering at this year's Biennale.

In the United States, one private tragedy last year triggered an Orwellian chain of repressive official responses. In this article, Gregory Sholette describes the dynamic that may now characterise the American state and its attitude to artist–led 'political' intervention.

The exhibition of a portait of a convicted killer in Dublin in 2003 was held to be offensive by many, Maggie Deignan examines the context and the reactions.