Scientists tested 11 strains of bacteria on marble before it was decided that three non-toxic varieties would be the most effective for Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Serratia ficaria, a bacterium that causes urinary tract infections, managed to remove dirt from the tomb in two days. - The Guardian
The open-source online project — started by Bangalore's Museum of Art and Photography, with entries written by Indian experts — will include textiles and craft arts as well as painting, sculpture, and photography and will range from ancient work to the 2010s. - The New York Times
Volo Bevza and several others have set themselves up in a metal workshop to build steel tank obstacles called "hedgehogs," which look like small Mark di Suvero sculptures. - Hyperallergic
“There’s a lot of structural change underway and nobody knows where this is going. I think there’s a strong desire from all the actors to rethink how these institutions should run.” - Artnet
"Akron police have arrested a man accused of breaking into the Akron Art Museum and starting a small trash fire Sunday. ... Executive Director Jon Fiume says there was no harm to the museum's collection, and the only real damage was to a small window." - WKSU (Akron/Kent, OH)
The Sacklers would also lose their naming rights at museums and other entities that have received their financial contributions a win for activists who have long accused the Sacklers of using philanthropy to “artwash” their complicity in the opioid crisis. - Hyperallergic
A spokeswoman for the Smithsonian, Linda St. Thomas, said most of the 39 pieces would be returned. But she said it was not clear exactly how many of the bronzes were linked to the 1897 raid and that it was possible some pieces in the museum’s collection had different ownership histories. - Washington Post
The newly renovated national museum had closed its doors in 2019 amid escalating anti-government protests in Baghdad. Home to artifacts dating from ancient Mesopotamian, Abbasid, and Persian civilizations, the institution was originally founded in the 1920s as a part of a cultural initiative led by a British archeologist. - ARTnews
"The Portland Museum of Art has embarked on an $85 million project leaders say will fundamentally transform the museum, bolstering its endowment and unifying its downtown campus with a physical expansion that will more than double the museum's current space." - MSN (The Boston Globe)
Awkwardly, the list was finalized before Putin's forces attacked Ukraine. The locations included range from world-renowned (Teotihuacán) to very ancient (cave paintings in the Amazon) to African Modernist (the People's Palace in Ouagadougou) to embattled (the old cities of Beirut and Benghazi) to offbeat (Kolkata's Chinatown). - Smithsonian Magazine
"The J. Paul Getty Trust, a nonprofit that oversees the Getty museum complex in Los Angeles, is suing the financial services firm Allianz Global Investors, alleging that the company 'recklessly' mismanaged the trust's investment fund, resulting in 'significant losses' for the organization's endowment." - ARTnews
"In one partially empty gallery of the Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum (in Lviv), employees placed carefully wrapped baroque pieces into cardboard boxes. A few meters away, a group walked down the majestic main staircase carrying a giant piece of sacred art, the 18th century Bohorodchany iconostasis." - AP
But the artist says the aftermath has made him calmer, and more focused on different goals. "I’ve been attempting to make paintings which speak to connection, reaching towards empathy. The noise of previous work gave way to something quieter." - The Guardian (UK)
“Vladimir Potanin has advised the Board of Trustees of his decision to step down as Trustee effective immediately,” the museum said. “The Guggenheim accepts this decision and thanks Mr. Potanin for his service to the Museum and his support of exhibition, conservation and educational programs. - Hyperallergic
According to the 2021 State of Artistic Freedom Report by Freemuse, Russia detained 17 artists in 2020, a number exceeded only by Cuba. Artists are regularly fined, detained, and sentenced to prison, usually for political dissent or falling foul of the notorious “gay propaganda” law passed in 2013. - Hyperallergic
