Catherine Hickley

'We've had a lot of museums reaching out': how Nigeria is getting ready to receive the world’s Benin bronzes

With institutions across the globe rethinking their views on restitution, the African country’s focus is now on making a home for its heritage

Museums weigh in on the vaccine passport debate, as countries are under pressure to open up their economies

As Israel and Denmark introduce Covid-19 status certificates, institutions are concerned that government schemes may keep visitors away

Rocket man: Uli Sigg on how he began collecting art while working in North Korea

“There will be some protests,” predicts the Swiss collector ahead of a Kunstmuseum Bern show of works from both sides of the Korean border

German parliament’s “emergency brake” closes Kusama show, threatens Gallery Weekend

Measures to counter the third wave of the pandemic force museums in high-incidence areas to close

Dutch museum settles with Jewish businessman's heirs on painting sold in Nazi era, defying government panel

The agreement overturns the Restitution Committee's 2013 rejection of the claim, which argued the painting was worth more to the museum than the heirs

UCLA’s Fowler Museum to reach out to Nigeria about returning its Benin bronzes

As restitution momentum builds, director of Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art says it could lead discussions for the return of looted Benin objects in US museum collections

Exhibitionsinterview

Humboldt Forum to show Britain’s 1897 violence and plunder in Benin exhibition next year

The exhibition will include around half of Berlin’s collection of Benin bronzes as Germany lays groundwork to return them to Nigeria

German Nazi-looted art panel recommends return of Franz Marc’s Foxes to heirs of Jewish banker

The decision on whether to return the painting, which hangs in Dusseldorf’s Kunstpalast, will be made by the city assembly in April

Podcastspodcast

Benin bronzes: looted treasures will return to Nigeria at last

Plus, the newly discovered Van Gogh is sold and artist Rana Begum on Tess Jaray

Hosted by Ben Luke and Aimee Dawson. with guest speakers Catherine Hickley and Martin Bailey. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Henrietta Bentall

German culture minister seeks 'national strategy' on Benin bronzes, including restitution

Monika Grütters says she will meet museum directors and trustees next month

University of Aberdeen to return Benin bronze looted by British troops to Nigeria

The sculpture of an oba’s head was “acquired in a way that we now consider to have been extremely immoral,” the university says

‘The movement is unstoppable’: African scholars and activists hail German plan to return Benin bronzes

“There is simply no moral ground for the confiscation of African artefacts in Western museums,” says the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe

Birthday Beuys: Stuttgart kicks off Joseph Beuys centenary events and exhibitions

Exhibition at Staatsgalerie revisits the artist's curated opening of the museum's new building, while 20 other institutions are planning shows on the artist

Germany moves towards full restitution of Benin bronzes

The head of the German foreign ministry’s culture department visited Nigeria last week for discussions with the Edo State Governor

Museums in Poland and Germany forced to close—again—as third pandemic wave hits Europe

Some countries are operating a system based on regional coronavirus case numbers while others have gone into full lockdown

Gerhard Richter to loan Holocaust works—that he vowed never to sell—to new Berlin museum

Loan of over 100 works to future museum of Modern art encompasses Richter’s Birkenau series, the fruit of a decades-long quest for an artistic response to the Holocaust

Berlin dealer Johann König opens new space in Seoul

Opening next month, the new space will include a sculpture garden on a roof terrace

Forging ahead with historic restitution plans, Dutch museums will launch €4.5m project to develop a practical guide on colonial collections

Researchers will consider “various modes of return” for museum objects and how the process can help to reconcile with colonial past

Paul Klee’s grandson Alexander Klee, artist and arts patron, dies aged 80

Bern's Zentrum Paul Klee will devote an exhibition to the artist this summer

Sotheby’s to auction Karl Lagerfeld’s collection in Monaco

The fashion designer, who died in 2019, was an enthusiastic collector of art and design

'It feels slightly surreal!' German museums can open from Monday—but with complicated caveats

In a surprise ruling, the government prioritises museum openings ahead of restaurants and sports facilities

Swiss museums can reopen from 1 March as country eases lockdown restrictions

Fondation Beyeler will shows Arp and Rodin while Kunstmuseum Bern has a show on Latin American political art

Bavarian frescoes are confirmed to be among the oldest in northern Europe

New examinations of John the Baptist wall paintings in Augsburg cathedral date them to more than 1,000 years ago

'Rarest' royal Chinese porcelain bowl—at least 900 years old—discovered in Dresden state collection

It is the 88th known surviving piece of Ru ceramic, one of which sold for $37.7m at Sotheby's in 2017

German Nazi loot panel urges return of Schiele work at Museum Ludwig to Jewish dentist’s heirs

In a unanimous decision, the government’s advisory commission says it is likely the work was sold under duress

Germany proposes law change to ease Nazi-loot returns from private foundations

Law change follows refusal by some foundations to restitute property lost due to Nazi persecution

Germany doubles pandemic aid for arts with an extra €1 billion funding

Some galleries received funding in the first package for exhibitions they can’t open in lockdown

Netherlands takes lead in Europe’s efforts to return artefacts to former colonies

The Dutch government adopts a committee’s “radical” guidelines, putting it at the forefront of European efforts to return colonial-era museum acquisitions

Roman bust seized in Germany after confusion around import laws for artefacts in transit

The bronze was taken because German law requires archaeological objects have export licences from the country of origin—but it was only travelling through to Austria from the US