Print

Article appeared in TAN print edition

'In our current dystopian art market, the pervasive and persistent Damien Hirst may well have the last laugh'

The British artist has had a bumpy boom and boost history when it comes to sales, but his ubiquitous brand makes him a safer bet in uncertain times

Send art, not staff: more than half of Art Basel in Hong Kong galleries take 'ghost booths'

Of the 104 exhibitors at the fair next month, 56 will take remote participation stands instead of travelling in person

The cost of the cuts: what now for UK museums as the Covid-19 crisis bites?

Museum directors in London and the regions are cutting jobs and slashing budgets, raising concerns for the post-pandemic future of the sector

‘Mirror pandemic’: art’s vital role in tackling the mental health crisis

A multi-agency $15m initiative backed by the WHO and funded through a series of charity auctions at Christie’s will support artist-led projects to improve mental, social and environmental health

Mexico's culture crisis: pandemic leads to budget cuts that leave many workers unpaid while vanity projects receive millions

The ministry of culture has lost 75% of its funding, threatening the long-term survival of the country’s publicly funded museums and heritage sites

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

National Gallery London: new details of development plans revealed

A 1960s office block behind the Sainsbury Wing will be demolished to make way for a new building to provide more exhibition space

'Autism made me an art historian. But museums must do more to welcome disabled and neurodiverse communities'

Museums were quick to implement Covid-19 safety measures and now they need to apply that same rigour to improving accessibility

Walk through the 2,000-year-old Mausoleum of Augustus, Rome's first emperor

The circular tomb—used through history as a fortress, a sculpture garden and an entertainment venue—reopens as a museum after an €11m restoration

Fast forward: revamped Australian Centre for the Moving Image promises a high-tech experience

The Melbourne museum of screen culture reopens with a contactless device that allows visitors to curate virtual collections

Exhibitions at new $450m Hong Kong Palace Museum will offer ‘a fresh, contemporary interpretation of Chinese culture’

Director Louis Ng insists that the institution—due to open in 2022—will be distinct from its namesake in Beijing's Forbidden City

Adversity forces reinvention: Matthew Teitelbaum on turbulent times at the MFA, Boston

After charges of racism levelled at his museum in 2019, Teitelbaum had to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. And then there was the Guston controversy

Raphael Cartoons are ready for their close-up on V&A website

High-resolution images of Renaissance treasures go online, revealing the tiniest details of Raphael’s creative process

Pew! Sussex church may scrap plans to remove historic seating

Moves by parishes to replace pews with chairs for “flexibility” anger traditionalists

Has Turkey halted plans to turn Chora museum into a mosque?

Experts ponder the significance of the sudden scrapping of Islamic prayers by Turkish authorities at Istanbul’s historic landmark

New hope that ancient Palmyra will be rebuilt after Isis damage

Deal between the Syrian government and Russian masonry body builds on country’s research into state of archaeological site

Moderna vaccine billionaire Timothy Springer explains his love for Chinese scholar rocks

Gongshi—whose unusual forms are created by years of river erosion—have long been highly prized in Asia. Now they are garnering admirers in the West

From lockdowns to looting: how Covid-19 has taken a toll on world's threatened heritage sites

Sites of major importance—many in regions already ravaged by conflict—are contending with security problems and funding shortfalls

Death row inmate designs garden installation by instructing university students through letters

Timothy Young, currently incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison, is a key contributor to the University-led art project, Barring Freedom, that aims to put the US criminal justice system in the dock

Volunteers plan to return ‘Albert Hall of the North’ to its glory days

After years of neglect, ornate Victorian auditorium in northern seaside town of Morecambe is being saved

Brexitnews

Will new EU lighting rules pull the plug on neon art?

Artists producing neon works may fall foul of stricter EU lighting regulations that come into force this year

Bourse de Commerce: opening of Pinault's long-awaited Paris museum is—pandemic permitting—finally around the corner

Two decades since the billionaire started planning a home for his collection in the French capital, the spectacular space is due to open on 23 January

Auction houses have finally entered the Amazon age—and I’m addicted

I thought I’d kicked my online art and antiques buying habit but too much lockdown screen time has been my undoing

Major museum openings and expansions in 2021

From the much-anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum to the Frick’s move to a Brutalist landmark, here are the building projects aiming to change cultural landscapes around the world

Covid-19comment

As 2021 beckons.... I crave new art in the new year more than ever

With talk of vaccines dominating the airwaves, a return to regular contact with the latest works and upcoming artists may be on the horizon

Covid-19comment

'Museums had better not be planning for a return to the status quo'

If institutions keep admission limits in place, they’ll come out of the coronavirus crisis in better health, says art critic Blake Gopnik

Museumscomment

Gabrielie Finaldi: 'What is the National Gallery if you can’t visit and you can’t see the pictures?'

Museums have a responsibility to the people to protect and share the collection, says the London museum's director Gabriele Finaldi