Politics

Second presenter from right-wing GB News channel appointed trustee of a UK museum

Former Brexit Party candidate Inaya Folarin Iman joins board of the National Portrait Gallery in London

'Putin's been my person since the 90s': ahead of Russia's parliamentary elections, Hermitage director Mikhail Piotrovsky talks politics

The outspoken museum chief is leading the St Petersburg ticket of United Russia, the pro-Putin ruling party, in national parliamentary elections this weekend

Should the art world boycott China over its treatment of Uyghur people?

Plus, Van Gogh’s final months and master printer Kenneth Tyler on Helen Frankenthaler

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Nadine Dorries named UK culture secretary

The right-wing politician, who appeared on the TV programme I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, replaces Oliver Dowden

Cultural activist Osman Kavala remains imprisoned in Turkey without conviction almost four years after his arrest

Turkish authorities behind the legal saga have been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights

Unesco calls for Afghanistan’s heritage to be protected—but how will it seek enforcement?

UK government agrees that new regime must "safeguard the full diversity of Afghan culture"

Pussy Riot members leave Russia after facing multiple arrests amid crackdown

Rita Flores is the most recent member of the feminist collective to have been sentenced

Make politicians wear hats and Banksy carry the Olympic Torch: we look back at ten years of e-petitions to the UK government

Of the 169 online campaigns related to the arts since they were introduced, only three have been debated in the House of Commons

Cubanews

Cuba cracks down on protestors with summary trials and prison sentences

Artists and writers are among those targeted by the government, causing human rights groups to raise an alarm about abuses

As regimes are challenged in Cuba and Haiti, a timely exhibition on power and resistance opens in Miami Beach

A group show at Oolite Arts explores the ways government power plays out and can be counteracted by those under its influence

Italy bans cruise ships from the Venice lagoon from 1 August

Unesco and citizen action groups have campaigned for the move for years

Cubanews

'Patria y Vida': anti-government protests sweep Cuba, as artist-led movement gains ground

The 11 June protests, the largest seen on the island in 30 years, were sparked by years of economic hardship and a lack of government support for its people

Appointment of former UK Chancellor George Osborne as new British Museum chairman draws criticism

Ex-politician, who presided over austerity cuts to culture, takes up the position on 4 October

Cubanews

Ahead of G7, Cuban artist Tania Bruguera addressed the Geneva Summit on Human Rights and Democracy

The activist spoke about her own experiences with state repression and the growing movement for political change in the country

Chinanews

Uyghur tribunal reveals horrific abuses inside Xinjiang detention camps

Museums who partner with China need to know about the violence, says panel investigating alleged crimes against humanity

Kirill Serebrennikov, film director and ousted arts complex chief, banned from leaving Russia for Cannes

His film Petrov’s Flu has been nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival

Door still open to Hermitage Barcelona after city council calls for revised project

Ongoing negotiations for a new satellite of the Russian museum will focus on a collaboration with the Barcelona opera house

Fuelling culture war, UK government forms new 'retain and explain' board for controversial monuments

"Independence cuts both ways," UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden warns museums and heritage bodies

Museum directors and art school leaders demand that UK government ‘scraps cuts to arts education’

"Art is essential to the growth of this country," say 300 art world figures and academics in open letter

Germany pledges to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria starting in 2022

“We are facing up to our historical and moral responsibility”, says culture minister Monika Grütters

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

Cubanews

Despite Raúl Castro's retirement, Cuban artists don't believe the country will change any time soon

"As long as the Communist Party is in power, Cuba will be a ‘dictatorship’," some believe as Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel takes over leadership

Cubacomment

A feeble congress and the raising up of poetry in Cuba

While the Eighth Congress of the Cuban Communist Party ignored the needs of the people, the activist group 27N published a manifesto encapsulating their aims for the future

Plans to build new Museum of Brexit move ahead with plea for funds and objects

Institution initially called the Museum of Sovereignty will present a balanced picture of the divisive EU debate, say founders

Russianews

Russian culture figures fear new law change will require government approval for museum tours, exhibitions and lectures

Artists and curators says the amendment to the eduction law, which is intended to stop anti-Russia propaganda, will restrict cultural activity

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