The museum has become "the latest Western cultural institution — and one of the most prominent to date — to agree to explore returning items that were stolen in 1897 from Benin City, in what is now Nigeria." - The New York Times
Two ambitious new projects by leading architecture firms are at the forefront of the renaissance, using design to lift Memphis’s image in the eyes of its citizens and the outside world. - The New York Times
"Local divers exploring Indonesia's Musi River (on the island of Sumatra) have found gold rings, beads and other artifacts that may be linked to the Srivijaya Empire, which controlled sea trade across large swaths of Asia between the 7th and 11th centuries C.E." - Smithsonian Magazine
Using equipment designed for geophysics, researchers scanned the site of Karakorum, chosen by Genghis and built by his two successors, and found that the city was larger than previously thought, extending well beyond the walls, 40% of it was empty, and Mongols didn't live there. - Haaretz (Israel)
The Becoming B.C. gallery, which focuses on the story of European settlement in B.C. and has been widely criticized for pushing a colonial narrative, will be the first to close. - CBC
Museums should downsize storage for commercial, environmental, social and ethical reasons. Post-pandemic with their revenues ravaged, they need to take a hard look at the fixed and hidden costs of storage and weigh it against its academic objectives. - Hyperallergic
Normally, only some six to ten percent of collections at major museums around the world, the rest kept in closed storage depots. That will now change for the Rotterdam institution -- and visitors will even able to watch works being restored. - NDTV
“(The movement is) confront(ing) conditions that workers — from archivists and curators to those selling T-shirts — say are untenable: minimal wage increases, draining resources, lack of transparency from top administrators, and mass layoffs and furloughs resulting from the coronavirus pandemic." - The Washington Post
The ancient Jewish historian Josephus reported that Herod (reigned 37 BC-4 BC) built four temples: the Second Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem and three Roman temples, one each in Caesarea and Samaria and a third in an unknown spot. That is, until now? - Haaretz (Israel)
The 3,200-year-old monument was the burial place of Ptah-M-Wia, who was treasurer and chief scribe to Ramses the Great. It's one of many impressive discoveries made over the past few years in Saqqara, an ancient necropolis south of present-day Cairo. - Smithsonian Magazine
“I am at the General Staff building of the Hermitage right now and an employee broke the nose of the person I was with. Is this normal?” Mironova asked her followers on Instagram after the assault. - The Art Newspaper
Chicago loves its architecture and loves showcasing it to the world and tourists. But if everything you’re seeing is great and beautiful, you need to know the ugly to understand the beautiful. - Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)
Increasing the use of timber in the city's construction projects is hoped to reduce reliance on steel and concrete – materials that create large amounts of carbon dioxide during production. - Dezeen
Henry Grabar lays out the web of dysfunction, failure, and perverse incentives that leads to a respected state university accepting, with no changes, a design by a billionaire who's never studied architecture for a 4,500-student dorm building whose bedrooms have no windows. - Slate
