"Fewer art and cultural heritage works were stolen in Italy in 2020 compared with the previous year, according to the annual report of the Carabinieri TPC, the country's police force dedicated to recovering stolen art." (Well, except for antiquities, it seems.) "The drop was partly caused by the pandemic, which also forced dealers in stolen art online, but is...
"The looting of ancient art in Italy is … at least as old as the Roman empire, which not only contended with its own tomb raiders — or tombaroli, as they are known in Italy — but also pilfered riches from other nations. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has offered these thieves new opportunities to raid closed archaeological sites, churches...
Set to open in autumn next year, and operate virtually, online until then, the £4.5m Farrell Centre will occupy a former 19th-century department store close to the university’s architecture school, on a prominent corner facing the civic centre. It is planned to host exhibitions, events, office space for startup companies working in the built environment, and, most importantly, a...
Today, it’s possible to capture the average growth of the stock market through passive index funds, which if balanced with some government bonds, have realized 10% returns over the last 100 years. It’s hard to fathom why an endowment would spend so much time and money on actively managing its investments to do considerably worse than that. - Hyperallergic
"As part of the new programs strategy I developed in 2019, we reconceptualized our mission as providing emancipatory learning experiences about Palestine. A learning experience may be an exhibition, a virtual-reality simulation, a family open day, school visits, a young designer’s summer school, symposia, publications, concerts, a play. Learning experiences can also be aesthetic experiences, inasmuch as they affect...
Haring painted the mural inside a nightclub in 1989. The nightclub turned into a billiards hall, and the mural was preserved, but now the building is slated for demolition. What should, what will, happen to the mural? - The Guardian (UK)
Cinque, founded by Romare Bearden, Ernest Crichlow, and Norman Lewis in 1969, showed more than 450 artists of color during its 35-year existence. "The fact that Cinque sustained itself for more than three decades attests to an indisputable fact: the existence of at least two art communities, which were separated along color lines." - Hyperallergic
Though the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's new L.A. museum was delayed, and delayed and delayed again - the last delay coming from the pandemic - that worked in its favor for staying up-to-date: "While the 300,000-square-foot, $482 million museum, designed by Renzo Piano, has been under construction, the movie business has been going through a process of deconstruction,...
One artist says little free art galleries stir "feelings of 'cute aggression,' a term that describes the way our minds cope with the onslaught of positive feelings brought on by something adorable — you just want to squish/squeeze/eat it. Thankfully, no one has tried, but part of the popularity might come from the feeling that you could. Artists and...
And that's historic for more than her art; it's also unusual for Los Angeles to honor women artists in this way. Kent adapted silkscreen printing to the era of Pop. "In the wake of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which called for a liberalization and modernization of the Catholic liturgy to the realities of 20th century life, she...
Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara "is the leader of the San Isidro protest movement (MSI) of artists and intellectuals pressing for free speech and other rights" in Cuba. He spent nearly a month in hospital after an 8-day hunger strike, without his phone or any means of communication. - Yahoo News (AFP)
There's an argument raging in some circles about a new concrete walkway at the monument - but the culture ministry is not backing down. "In collaboration with Greek associations for people with disabilities, the ministry said signs in Braille and bold would be installed for visitors with visual impairments, in addition to scaled models of the monuments. Handrails and...
The Belgian government has dragged its feet - so "a group of Belgian experts have drafted a set of restitution guidelines for dealing with the nation’s colonial collections." - Artnet
