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TEFAF Maastricht, One Of The World’s Biggest Art Fairs, Postponed Yet Again

The last TEFAF that actually happened was (bad timing!) in March 2020, and it closed halfway through. The 2021 event was put off for six months and then called off. Now the 2022 fair, scheduled for March has been postponed with no target date. - Artnet

COVID And The Art Of Party Tents

Last year, as the pandemic isolated us into our respective domestic cocoons, designers took to their AutoCAD to imagine a brave new world of design “solutions” for the pandemic. - Los Angeles Times

The 16 Defining Art Events of 2021

In-person gatherings return, NFTs (or the people involved) go nuts, $20 billion-with-a-b worth of art donated in South Korea, major new museums in Paris and Hong Kong, a big departure in L.A. and a big mistake in Indianapolis, and, occasionally, justice is starting to be served. - ARTnews

Robert Indiana’s Foundation Sues Publisher For Forgery

The Morgan Art Foundation's filing in US federal court accuses publisher Michael McKenzie of "allegedly forging Indiana's artwork, defaming the foundation, and intentionally interfering with its exclusive contractual rights to reproduce the artist's 'Love' works." - Artnet

Cleaning Staff At Guggenheim Bilbao Stage Performance Art To Protest Appalling Wages

The artist Lorenzo Bussi (alias "Art Builders Group") and the workers devised the action, titled "Is Everyone's Work Equally Important?", at the top of the stairs leading to the Frank Gehry building's entrance. The pay rate they're protesting? €5 ($5.65) an hour. - Hyperallergic

AI-Powered Robot Could Help Rebuild Pompeii’s Ancient Frescos

"The project … melds robotics, AI and archaeology in an attempt to reconstruct architectural features of Pompeii that would otherwise remain incomplete, because they're either too complex or would require impossible amounts of human labor and time." - Scientific American

Piet Mondrian’s Heirs Sue Philadelphia Museum Of Art Over Painting They Say Was Looted By Nazis

The suit by the descendants of Harry Holtzman, the artist's heir and executor, argues that Composition With Blue (1926), having been seized from a German museum as "degenerate art" in 1937, should be returned to them. (No mention of returning it to the museum in Germany.) - Artnet

Louvre Agrees To Undo Renovation Of Room With Cy Twombly Ceiling Mural

When the museum changed the color of the walls and floor of its Salle des Bronzes, the Cy Twombly Foundation sued, arguing that the remodeling altered the character of the mural (designed specifically to be seen against the original colors). The Louvre caved. - ARTnews

Why Would Vladimir Putin Be A Sponsor Of An Art Show About European Unity?

The message is clear: We are all made up of the same fundamental parts. Biologically, that might be true. Yet, Russia has never quite fit into Europe’s politics and culture. - The New York Times

Banksy Is Selling T-Shirts To Help Four Protesters Accused Of Harming A Statue

The statue, in Bristol, was of a man who made the area rich through the triangle trade - "which kidnapped Africans and transported them to the Americas as slaves, then shipped the cotton and sugar they produced there to Britain to fuel the industrial revolution.' - The Guardian (UK)

Pour One Out For The Smallest Target In The World

It was performance art, a performance piece that stood for years, crumbling in the Texas desert and sun. - Glasstire

Two Seattle Artists Have Been Charged With Faking Native American Ancestry And Art

"By flooding the market with counterfeit Native American art and craftwork, these crimes cheat the consumer, undermine the economic livelihood of Native American artists, and impair Indian culture," said a law enforcement official. - NPR (AP)

France Okays Modernization Of The Interior Of Notre Dame

The plan is "to bring a more modern look to Notre-Dame before its planned reopening in 2024, including the installation of contemporary artworks and new lighting effects. Opponents say the changes will debase the 850-year-old cathedral and disturb the harmony of its Gothic design." - The New York Times

At Last: Met Museum Removes Sackler Name From Its Building

The decision, which came after more than a yearlong review by the museum, was reportedly mutual and made “in order to allow the Met to further its core mission,” according to a joint statement issued by the Sackler family and the institution. - Artnet

National Museum Of Afghanistan Is Open Again — With Taliban Guards

Twenty years after a previous generation of Taliban took over the country and looted and smashed its way through the collection, the new government, which took power in August, has reopened the museum, providing security officers and even encouraging visits. - AP

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