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
The Standard-Bearer, once owned by George IV of Great Britain, is one of the very few Rembrandts still in private hands. The Rothschilds are prepared to sell it to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for €175 million, of which €150 million will come from the central government. - Artnet
Critic Oliver Wainwright says that the architects of this east London project, called A House for Artists, have found a way to follow local regulations and codes and keeps building costs low while still creating living spaces that are flexible and filled with light. - The Guardian
In a project called "Swords Into Plowshares," the Confederate monument that was the excuse for the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017 will be recycled by the city's Jefferson School African American Heritage Center into a new sculpture. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Trueblood, who starts early next year, previously served as chief of staff at the American Civil Liberties Union and as director of White House operations for the Obama Administration from 2013 to 2015. - The New York Times
Selfie Wrld is a chain with 30 franchises from Anchorage to Tampa. Because the props encourage certain poses, your selfies might be identical to someone’s in Indianapolis or Boston or Denver. - Washington Post
Every day through March 22, 2022, a team of 80 actors and technicians is carrying out the vision of the Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson by re-creating, filming and editing episodes of that American soap opera in front of a live audience at the museum. - The New York Times
The Woodinville eighth-grader has made a name for himself in the art of “forced perspective” photography, a technique that creates an optical illusion by altering the perception between objects. Anthony takes photos of die-cast cars and makes them appear life-sized in retro settings. - Everett Herald
Unimaru, as it's called, opened in September in a former customs clearinghouse in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Visitors must get a permit from the South Korean government, and the curator wears a bulletproof vest. - CNN
"On November 24, Ibe posted a drawing of a Black fetus in utero on social media, calling for more diversity in medical illustration. The drawing struck a chord with viewers, many of whom had never realized they had never seen a Black figure in medical diagrams." - Artnet
Michael Steinhardt gave up for repatriation 180 objects that he had purchased from dealers over the years. In exchange for his cooperation, including never again purchasing antiquities, authorities agreed not to prosecute. - The New York Times
"In a move that has been roundly criticized by members of the Polish art community, the Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw announced that its new director would be Janusz Janowski, a painter and musician who has never before run an art museum." - ARTnews
Toek Tik, the Cambodian man known as "The Lion," helped plunder ancient sites - then, recently, spent years telling police and cultural workers about the thefts. He has died, after contracting COVID-19, at 62. He said, "I want the gods to come home." - The New York Times
Thomas Gavin stashed stolen antique firearms "in his hideout — a cluttered, non-descript barn in rural Pennsylvania. Gavin's crime spree was so under the radar, no one caught on until 2018, when he tried to unload a rare, Revolutionary-era rifle to a local antiques dealer." - NPR
For fine arts students, the pandemic has been rough. Colleges including the Massachusetts College of Art and Design "sent home 'care packages' tailored to different majors and rejiggered curriculums to prioritize in-person studio time for the students who needed it most." - MSN (Boston Globe)
