ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

VISUAL

Turner Prize Winner Says UK Cut School Arts Funding To Cut Out Criticism From Artists

Artist Helen Cammock: "They’re trying to eradicate the subjects that encourage people to think, and the parts of culture that really loudly challenge the system that’s in place." - The Guardian (UK)

How Can The Uffizi Sue Over An Image In The Public Domain?

Italian law strongly protects its heritage. The definition of cultural heritage itself under Italian law is broad: any works which “are of artistic, historical, archaeological and ethno-anthropological interest”. - The Conversation

Cash-Strapped Mexico Reburies Petroglyphs

“The global health contingency caused by COVID-19 forced the institutions of the different levels of government to prioritize the allocation of resources for the health care of the population.” - Artnet

Judge Rules Controversial San Francisco School Murals Must Remain Uncovered

In 2019, alums and students at George Washington High School protested what they saw as racist imagery in a set of Victor Arnautoff frescoes there, and the school board voted to cover them up. Now a judge says that decision violated state law. - San Francisco Chronicle

After Yet Another Suicide, The Vessel At Hudson Yards In NYC May Close For Good

On Thursday, a 14-year-old visiting the attraction with his family jumped to his death; his was the third suicide there in less than a year. Said developer Stephen Ross, "We thought we did everything that would really prevent this." - The Daily Beast

Virtual Docents — The Best Museum Idea To Come Out Of The Pandemic?

The Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum developed a way to provide guides when COVID kept them from coming in: visitors can stop at strategically placed monitors and talk with offsite docents in real time. Folks on both sides of the screen seem to love it. - Slate

2,500-Year-Old Etching Of Last King Of Babylon Discovered In Saudi Arabia

Archaeologists found the 6th century BC rock carving of King Nabonidus, along with 26 lines of cuneiform, in the north of the country. - Smithsonian Magazine

Enough With The Era Of Visionary Museum Directors

That era should be over. The director’s job is to set clear priorities for staff, to mentor, coach, and be clear-sighted about what is next; to leverage the expertise of the board; to make hard choices when needed. - Hyperallergic

Design Museum Gets Its 11th Director Since 2013

Some employees said that a carousel of different directors bringing new approaches has exhausted staff, strained relationships with some artists and damaged trust in the board. Former directors described the institution’s woes as reflective of bad board governance. - The New York Times

Why Critics’ Opinions Matter

"I’ll claim that my response to art is more complex than the average museumgoer’s because it’s my professional responsibility—and passion—to be as well informed as I can about what I’m looking at (and where, when, and why I’m looking at it)." - Vasari 21

The Hermitage Hops On The NFT Train

Following in the footsteps of the Uffizi in Florence, the St. Petersburg museum will auction off digital tokens of five works in its collection, one each by Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Monet, van Gogh, and Kandinsky. - Artnet

UNESCO’s Latest World Heritage Sites

Among the monuments added are Madrid's Paseo del Prado and Retiro Park, the old port of Guangzhou, Peru's ancient Chankillo observatory, Mexico's 16th-century Tlaxcala Cathedral, Ramappa Temple in south-central India, Sudanese-style mosques in the Ivory Coast, and the city of Nice. - The National (Abu Dhabi)

We Need New Thinking About Looted Art

‘Looted’ is a contested term: it covers a spectrum from out-and-out pillage to ostensibly legal transfers of title that may have occurred under coercion or under rigged laws. - Apollo

Scattered Parts Of 14th-Century Triptych Reunited At Getty Museum

The exhibition of works by Paolo Veneziano includes the reassembly, for the first time in decades, of pieces of the so-called "Worcester triptych," which are usually housed at, respectively, the Getty, the Worcester Museum of Art in Massachusetts, and the National Gallery in DC. - Smithsonian Magazine

Stonehenge Could Lose UNESCO World Heritage Status, Too

Just days after the UN body stripped Liverpool's waterfront of the same title, UNESCO approved a report recommending that the prehistoric site be added to the World Heritage in Danger list if plans for a nearby highway tunnel aren't amended. - The Guardian

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