The item, found in the tomb of a young woman uncovered during construction on the highway between Moscow and Kazan, shows a deisis, a traditional depiction of Christ in Majesty flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. - Heritage Daily
The costume designer for Women Talking "found two consultants who helped her create the costumes authentically. They assisted her in sourcing fabric from stores used by Mennonite women, and ensured her designs adhered to the conventions." - The Guardian (UK)
"As it pinged from one reader to another, people argued about which aspect of the job, which offered to pay '$65,000 to $95,000,' was funniest or most insulting. The most frequently singled out absurdity was the phrase 'Manage dog systems.'" - The New York Times
"After World War II, prompted by the Allies, Germany underwent an intense de-Nazification program. Not so Italy — there was no equivalent de-fascistization. The country is still filled with buildings and street names that evoke its 20-year dictatorship." - NPR
Frustrated with Newark's ongoing water crisis, Wille Cole and his communities take the city's resulting trash and try to create something better. "It’s not always easy to 'open up perception' and see familiar objects in a fresh way, Cole says." - The New York Times
When editors said they couldn't find Black photographers during the George Floyd protests, journalist and photographer Polly Irungu transformed her social media and networking skills into a lifeline for hundreds of other Black photographers. - HuffPost
The E.U.-wide rule, which was quietly approved last April but will not take effect until 2025, could impose a 20 percent sales tax on artworks. The move has sent shockwaves through France’s art market, where art sales in many circumstances have benefitted from a reduced tax rate of 5.5 percent. - Artnet
In "The New Vermeer," "two professional painters and dozens of amateur artists compete to reinvent the lost works of the 17th-century master. The results are judged by Vermeer experts from the Rijksmuseum ... and from the Mauritshuis, a collection of old masters in The Hague." - The New York Times
"The center, endowed by trustee Ira Brind, will be dedicated to the acquisition, care, and study of art of the continent and its diaspora. The Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art also will broaden PMA's curatorial lens and make the institution a more well-rounded hub." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Daniel Elie Bouaziz ... pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, referencing a sale of counterfeit Warhol works to an unnamed victim. ... The court agreed to drop 16 other counts," related to sales of fake Liechtensteins, Basquiats, Harings and other works. - ARTnews
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly advancing to a point where it can generate the design of a building completely autonomously. With the potential to create designs faster and with more accuracy than ever before, AI has the potential to revolutionize the architecture industry. - Dezeen
During a press conference at the Iraq embassy in London on Friday, Tablet Hill was described as the “cradle of civilization” and “one of the most important heritage sites in the world that very few people know about.” - ARTnews
"In the ancient Turkish city of Antakya" — known in the early years of Christianity as Antioch — "the domes and walls of the 1st-century Antioch Orthodox Church, known as Antakya Church, and the 7th-century Habib-i-Nejjar Mosque have almost completely collapsed." - Euronews
"In January, the State Department and the Yemeni Embassy approached the National Museum of Asian Art with an unusual query: Would the Smithsonian museum be able to house 77 cultural objects that the United States had retrieved during smuggling attempts?" - MSN (The Washington Post)
