The coronavirus continues to throw the global art and design calendar in disarray. Over the weekend, Art Basel and Design Miami announced plans to call off their delayed flagship editions in Basel, Switzerland. Both fairs were originally scheduled for June, but were postponed to September due to ongoing concerns about Covid-19. “We are acutely aware that our galleries are facing unprecedented challenges and economic difficulties, and we had fervently hoped to support the art market’s recovery with a successful fair in September,” says Marc Spiegler, global director of Art Basel. “Unfortunately, the uncertainties that we face remain too high.”

Jen Roberts, the CEO of Design Miami, echoed Spiegler’s concerns. “While we’re disappointed not to welcome the global design and art communities to Basel this September, we recognize the responsibility in this decision,” she says. “Soon, the brilliant designers, artists, gallerists, and curators that make our fair possible will be together.” Design Miami still plans to stage its Miami edition in December.

The decision follows a letter from Art Basel participant Claes Nordenhake that asked for the fair’s cancellation. “Art Basel is the most important and powerful art fair in the world,” the letter reads, “but even in the best possible scenario, an edition held this year would be a shadow of its established stature and imperil its reputation.” This marks the third Art Basel to be canceled in 2020, after the Hong Kong edition was nixed due to Covid-19 and pro-democracy protests, and Art Basel Inside, set to take place in Abu Dhabi in February, was called off over logistical concerns.

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Amplifying black voices has become critically important as protests against systemic racism and police brutality have swept the nation. Revisit our cover story on Ini Archibong, who is embracing the tenets of spirituality and mysticism to bring beauty back into the design lexicon.

Design in the 21st century often toggles between slick, high-tech experimentation (aided by computers and 3D printing) and whimsical fantasia (the many recent reworkings of Memphis). To some, the oeuvre of Switzerland–based designer Ini Archibong might seem heretical for its sheer celebration of—wait for it—beauty. “I have focused on the blissful potential of reality with a lot of the work that I do,” he says, “exposing the beauty and getting people to try to step into the sublime, or the surreal, or the magical.”

It is neither inaccurate nor presumptuous to associate Archibong’s work with this notion. Spirituality is integral to his practice of making and informs the products of his inspiration. In everything Archibong designs, he strives to find a unity among varying possible approaches to an object.

“It’s important because I want to be an accurate practitioner of my own craft,” he says, “to understand these different perspectives of the exact same thing and try to make sense of how they’re saying the same thing and why they’re saying it in the way they’re saying it.” His own aesthetic voice has evoked this unity through a preponderance of fluid line: his forms showcase graceful curves, rounded corners, and arabesques that communicate how varying perspectives can flow into one other rather than remain at perpendicular, irreconcilable odds.

Drawing inspiration from contemporary art and the outdoors, Amanda Assad Mounser crafts sculptural jewelry that ruminates on themes of balance, proportion, and movement. These are wearable sculptures that reflect the inner workings of an artist truly in touch with her own creative vision and nature’s boundless beauty—the forest, the trees, and everything in between.

In 1873, John Michael Kohler, the founder of Kohler, purchased a foundry in rural Wisconsin that produced a variety of cast-iron and steel products. Ten years later, Kohler took a product in his line, heated it to 1700°F, and sprinkled it with enamel powder. From those humble beginnings, the company has grown into a multifaceted global family of kitchen and bath brands that help enhance people’s sense of living.

Surface Says: Kohler is able to balance a massive global presence while producing a wide range of design-conscious products.

A new documentary sheds light on Ursula von Rydingsvard’s sculptures.

Shepard Fairey unpacks what makes a successful public health poster.

Moshe Safdie’s horizontal skyscraper officially opens to visitors in China.

An eerie Black Mirror ad suggests that season 6 is happening in real life.