Controversies

Removal of Welsh slave trader painting from National Museum Cardiff is ‘censoring history’, says BBC broadcaster

Newsreader Huw Edwards will now be invited to the museum to hear more about the reinterpretation process

Giant tribute to the Queen gets green light—but locals call 55m-high sculpture ‘invasive’

Artist Simon Hitchens says work planned for Northumberland moor is "inspired by the rugged and undulating landscape" but local campaign group says it is too "industrial"

Italian photographer dropped from prize after accusations he identified rape survivors in India without consent

By publishing full names alongside images, Marco Gualazzini stands accused of breaking child protection laws and putting his subjects in danger

Plaque added near controversial Cecil Rhodes statue polarises critics and academics

Oxford professor and curator Dan Hicks calls the sign an “embarrassment”

Book Clubinterview

‘Caravaggio was a major-league asshole’: the long tradition of scandal in art

According to Noah Charney’s new book, infamy in the art world—be it contrived drama to drum up publicity or genuine artistic rivalry—is as old as art itself

Male-centric and whitewashed: major photography brands Fuji, Canon and Kodak scramble to diversify following criticism

Camera companies pledge to promote more women, LGBTQ and photographers of colour in response to online pro-diversity campaigns

Whitworth Gallery in Manchester U-turns on decision to remove pro-Palestine statement after Forensic Architecture threaten to pull work

Exhibition addressing the use of tear gas in Palestine adjusted to “give voice to different perspectives” following intervention by Israeli legal groups

Israelnews

Manchester gallery accused of provoking racial discord over exhibition on environmental effects of Israel-Palestine conflict

Cloud Studies by Forensic Architecture on show at the Whitworth Gallery has been criticised by the UK Lawyers for Israel

Queen Victoria statue defrocked after ex-politician Nigel Farage blasts public art project addressing UK’s slavery history

Right-wing commentator says he is "tired of this endless conversation about the UK's complicity with slavery"

Macba in Barcelona dismisses key curatorial staff shortly after appointing new director Elvira Dyangani Ose

Museum's move to sack Tanya Barson and Pablo Martínez prompts art world backlash on social media

Podcastspodcast

Should the Science Museum stop taking money from oil companies?

Plus, Michael Landy's exhibition at Firstsite and artist Shahzia Sikander on a manuscript miniature

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'It has given legitimacy to transphobia': Students angered by Royal Academy's apology to artist Jess de Wahls

Royal Academy Schools, the London museum's art college, have taken to Instagram to express their dismay

‘One thing is clear to us now, we should have handled this better’—Royal Academy apologises to artist Jess de Wahls over transphobia row

The London museum says that pulling her work from their shop because of her views "betrayed our most important core value—the protection of free speech"

Royal Academy gift shop will not stock work of artist accused of transphobia

London museum posted an Instagram story explaining reasons for withdrawing items by Jess de Wahls

'In solidarity with the Palestinian people', photographers withdraw their works from Prix Pictet show in Israel

Prize-nominated artists Shahidul Alam and Gideon Mendel will not show their works at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv

'Geffrye must fall': Labour MP Diane Abbott leads protests demanding slaver statue be removed from London museum

Former UK shadow home secretary led protests at the Museum of the Home in Hoxton, which reopened to the public at the weekend

Imperialist statue must go: defying college's decision, more than 350 Oxford University academics demand Cecil Rhodes be removed

Oriel College's plan to keep the sculpture of "racist" 19th-century British mining magnate "does not reflect the Oxford we represent", say staff in a letter

Too woke? National Trust chair Tim Parker steps down

Rebel group of members planned to depose heritage chief following row over controversial research into charity’s historic ties to slavery

Christoph Büchel’s controversial migrant boat finally returns to Sicily after 2019 Venice Biennale display

The vessel was on loan from the town of Augusta, which intends to turn it into a memorial for the hundreds of migrants who died on board in 2015

After staunch criticism, Science Museum defends oil company Shell’s sponsorship of its climate exhibition

Director Ian Blatchford says that the Science Museum Group "retains editorial control" over London show

France's planned slavery memorial on hold over debate about naming 200,000 freed slaves

Shortlisted proposals by artists including Adrian Piper, Julien Creuzet and duo Sammy Baloji and Emeka Ogboh did not adequately adhere to the requirements, campaign group says

Vermont Law School can hide a mural that offended students behind a wall, court rules

A 1993 painting of the state’s historic role on the Underground Railroad depicts Black slaves as caricatures, while white abolitionists are idealised

National Trust's report on colonial and slavery history did not breach charity law, regulator says

Research commissioned by the trust provoked complaints from Conservative politicians amid UK culture war around controversial monuments

‘Things have to change’: third speaker pulls out of Science Museum Group climate talk in protest against oil sponsorship

Broadcaster Robin Ince joins George Monbiot and Mark Lynas in withdrawing from the Climate Talks event over the UK institution's funding from oil companies BP and Equinor

Bank of England wades into UK's escalating culture war on controversial monuments, saying it will remove images of slave owners

“Retain and explain” or restrain and refrain? Culture chiefs raise the alarm on government’s policy to keep problematic statues ahead of crucial meeting

Cy Twombly foundation ‘absolutely prepared to take legal action’ after Louvre ‘destroys’ artist’s ceiling painting in renovation works

The US artist's foundation says that it was not consulted over the French museum's changes to the Salle des Bronzes—the Louvre argues it does not have to

Keep problematic monuments and ‘explain them’, UK government to tell cultural leaders

Opponents argue that some public statues reinforce racism, chauvinism, sexism and homophobia

Podcastspodcast

Stonehenge: could a road tunnel ruin the ancient site?

Plus, French museums revolt against lockdown closures and artist Crystal Fischetti on Karla Black

Amid child sexual abuse accusations, Paris authorities turn off Claude Lévêque light sculptures

The French artist is under police investigation over claims that he abused minors under the age of 15