The artist and former lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Arabian army, Abdulnasser Gharem, has released a photomontage in solidarity with the people of Brussels following yesterday’s (22 March) terrorist attack in the Belgian capital. Gharem tweeted the image accompanied by a short text speaking out against violence in the name of religion. The image shows the Belgium flag superimposed onto the Masmak fort in the centre of Riyadh, where the artist lives and works.
Speculation in art is taken for granted today, so does art still have a higher purpose? What is its role in these troubling, dangerous times? On 28 October, The Art Newspaper celebrated its 25th anniversary with an investigation at the British Museum of what art is for. A famous lawyer interrogated the witnesses for art, while the museum’s director played the part of the judge and summed up at the end. This is a shortened version of what they said
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Monáe is due to perform at the museum’s MCA ArtEdge: 50 gala
