José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes has reaffirmed his promise to pass an “Artist’s Statute” to improve working conditions and provide legal protections for members of Spain’s creative industries. Responding to criticism over delays, he told Congress that the legislation will be passed collaboratively. (Cope Cultura)
A collection of five dioramas that recreate life before the Armenian genocide are on display in the Armenian Museum of America. Some were made by immigrants, such as Diran Chorebanian’s model of his childhood home in Arapkir, and others by compatriots, to help survivors feel closer to their lost homes. (Hyperallergic)
The Japanese artist has wrapped trees in polka dots and launched more than a thousand mirrored balls into a pond as part of site-specific installations around the gardens of the New York institution as part of the 2021 exhibition "Kusama: Cosmic Nature."
The Friends of the Louvre Society, to which Marc Fumaroli had donated these photographs, will auction 2 prints by Carlos Freire (one of Mount Athos and the other Monastery of Dionysiu) and Miroir XXIX by Jean-Baptiste Huynh to benefit the museum, on April 30th by Auction Art Rémy Le Fur & Associés, at Drouot.
With the recent appointment of Nadim Samman as Curator for the Digital Sphere and coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Berlin institution, KW Digital opens with "The Last Museum" (April 30–June 6, 2021), a website-specific exhibition. Additional online programs are planned through 2021.
The emblematic art center of the Puy-de-Dôme in central France will expand to incorporate the adjacent building of the May Factory. The city of Thiers is sponsoring the project, which will transform the former razor factory into an exhibition space, reference library and workshop.
The event’s three-part series, curated by author Lemm Sissay, will mark the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May 2020. Normally the festival draws thousands of visitors to the town of Hay-on-Wye but, for the second consecutive year, COVID-19 has necessitated that it be held online. (BBC News)
Eight ivory artworks were seized on March 27 before their auction in the Lille region. In October 2020, inspectors had already confiscated 32 carved ivory objects, worth between €20 and €26,000, from another auction house. The investigation into their provenance continues.
Those with proof of a COVID-19 vaccination can enjoy free entry to the Everson Museum in Syracuse, NY until the end of May. Mask-wearing and social distancing remain obligatory, but director Elizabeth Dunbar says they get want to encourage people to “get those shots in your arms, come out and enjoy art.”
A Palestinian campaign has urged supporters to boycott the exhibition, claiming that Israel is using art to normalize “colonialism and repression”. The gallery says they didn’t intend any offense, writing that “the only difference between the artists is their artistic expression, not their nationality.” (Hyperallergic)
The Dutch Culture Ministry has been criticized for a controversial set of recommendations, including one that stipulates museums should not issue compensation in disputes with heirs. This is precisely what the Museum de Fundatie did, awarding €200,000 for a Strozzi painting sold under duress to the Nazis. (ARTnews)
Aiming “to show that anything is possible when science and art come together,” the University of Melbourne is opening a 40,902 square-foot permanent home for its Science Gallery. Focusing on immersive and experimental productions it will open with the exhibition “MENTAL: Head Inside.” (Art Asia Pacific)
The London museum is facing backlash over a controversial decision regarding its exhibition on climate technology. Its focus is utterly incompatible with its “greenwashing” sponsor, Shell, a move Scientists for Global Responsibility have called “staggeringly out-of-step and irresponsible.” (Hyperallergic)
Before galleries can open, artist Camille Walala has transformed the museum shop into an essential business, selling pantry staples designed by artists to raise funds for the institution. It is “an opportunity to rethink what we buy, who profits, and what we consider to be essential,” says director Tim Marlow. (Artnet)
A collection of 523 tools, arrowheads and knife blades were seized in Texas 5 years ago. Illegally imported into the US from Mexico, they predate the Spanish conquest. They have been repatriated following a ceremony at the Mexican Consulate in El Paso Texas. (The Art Newspaper)
The eco-conscious gallery group began last October in London with just 14 founding members. With membership having grown to 361, it is now expanding to Berlin, one step further in its aim to get the art industry carbon neutral and in line with the Paris Agreement. (Artnet)
The Manhattan district attorney and Department of Homeland Security handed over 33 items trafficked from Afghanistan in the past 40 years. Valued at $1.8M, they were part of a hoard of objects seized from a Manhattan art dealer currently jailed in India on smuggling and theft charges. (New York Times)
The London museum has acquired a fourth painting from the collection of the late banker George Pinto via a tax arrangement with his estate. The Dutch painter’s Portrait of a Girl was given to the museum in lieu of paying £46,818 inheritance tax. (Antiques Trade Gazette)
Researchers from the University of St. Thomas launched the George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art database to record tags, stickers, murals and projections of anti-racist art in the wake of Floyd’s murder last year. Indexed by geolocation, date and source, the database has over 1,800 artworks to date. (Hyperallergic)
With all US adults eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, New Yorkers can even get immunized under the famed whale model suspended from the ceiling of the museum’s Hall of Ocean Life. Anyone vaccinated there will receive a complimentary general admission voucher for up to four guests. (Artnet)
