Smithsonian Institution

Museum lawyers weigh in on diversity initiatives, joint acquisitions and more at industry conference

The annual gathering organised by the American Law Institute and co-sponsored by the Smithsonian took place recently in Philadelphia

Kimchi and K-pop: National Museum of Asian Art marks centenary with festival

The Washington, DC, institution wants to better connect with Asian American communities

Smithsonian women’s history museum names its first director

Nancy Yao, the director of New York’s Museum of Chinese in America, will take the helm at the in-development Washington, DC museum in June

Restitutionanalysis

Digital shadows: what happens to an artefact's data after it is restituted?

Museums are stepping up efforts to return physical objects to their original owners—but repatriation policies often do not consider the digital information associated with them

Smithsonian to display 77 looted artefacts from Yemen in shared stewardship agreement

The artefacts will go on view at the National Museum of Asian Art, rather than be returned to Yemen, due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis there

The Smithsonian and MTV are launching a reality television art competition

The winner of “The Exhibit” will receive $100,000 and a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum

Leaderscomment

'Black History Month is not a checkbox—museums need to work on yearlong, holistic programming'

As Black History Month begins in the US, arts administrator and historian Tsione Wolde-Michael gives three key points for institutions to consider

Biden picks rising star at the Smithsonian to head presidential arts committee dissolved by the Trump administration

Tsione Wolde-Michael, director of the Center for Restorative History at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, is the first Black leader of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

US campaign group sues Smithsonian over return of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

Restitution Study Group have lost their first legal battle but insist the case is still pending

Forthcoming Smithsonian American Women's History Museum receives $1m donation

The donation is the museum’s first corporate gift, from Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re

Jill Biden presides over groundbreaking party for Hirshhorn Museum’s controversial sculpture garden revamp

The project’s architect, artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, told attendees at the celebratory event that he repeatedly thought the project would be abandoned due to opposition

Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC picks architects for major revamp of its building and plaza

The renovation, to be executed in part by the architecture firm that designed the building’s original construction in 1974, comes after a contentious project to renovate its sculpture garden

Smithsonian selects preferred sites for long-awaited Latino and women’s museums

The site selections must be approved or rejected by the US Congress by the end of the year

Trove of Benin bronzes in US museum collections repatriated to Nigeria

The National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum marked the return of the sculptures with a ceremony in Washington, DC

Legislation to create national LGBTQ museum in Washington, DC introduced to US Congress

Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin introduced legislation to establish the National Museum of American LGBTQ+ History and Culture within the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian reveals shortlisted designs for $130m Bezos Learning Center at National Air and Space Museum

The institution is welcoming public feedback on proposals from five anonymous architecture firms bidding for the project on the National Mall

Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, ‘vibrant and revamped’, reopens following major conservation project

The historic interior, with its elaborate avian ornamentation, has undergone months of cleaning and restoration to shore up worn elements and return others to their original lustre

Donald Trump’s political action committee gives Smithsonian $650,000 to pay for presidential portrait commission

The funds will cover nearly the entire cost of commissioning official portraits of the former president and former first lady Melania Trump for the National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian's hunt for sites for national Latino and women’s museums narrowed down to four locations

The institution will announce the selected Washington, DC sites for the National Museum of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum by the end of the year

Smithsonian adopts new ‘ethical returns policy’ to handle artefacts with problematic histories

The new policy, adopted by all Smithsonian museums on 29 April, will allow each institution to tailor it to their particular collections and provenance considerations

Smithsonian lists potential sites for new Latino and women’s museums—including the FBI headquarters

The long list of possible locations also includes the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building

Smithsonian to return its collection of Benin bronzes to Nigeria

Restitution agreement must still be approved by the museum's Board of Regents

First director picked to lead Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino

Jorge Zamanillo, currently the executive director and chief executive of HistoryMiami Museum, will lead the new Washington, DC museum through planning and construction

Buddhist composer Philip Glass in dialogue with a storied Tibetan art collection

The Smithsonian commissioned the composer to create a performance responding to an exhibition of objects from the illustrious Tibetan Buddhist art collection of Alice Kandell

North American museums face a reckoning on Indigenous rights

An ongoing Indigenous protest movement is forcing museums across North America to confront a pressing question - who really owns the land on which they stand, and what should they do about it?

Futuristic dreams rub shoulders with everyday innovations in new Smithsonian show

‘Futures’ inaugurates the renovated Arts and Industries Building with an array of technological wonders ranging from the prosaic to the otherworldly

Smithsonian Museum of African Art removes Benin bronzes from display and plans to repatriate them

“We cannot build for the future without making our best effort at healing the wounds of the past,” the museum’s director says

Wanted: leaders with ‘stamina’ as Smithsonian tackles the creation of two new museums in Washington, DC

A turf battle may loom on the National Mall, but secretary Lonnie Bunch hopes to limit the hurdles for institutions devoted to Latino culture and women’s history

Wonder Women: Smithsonian appoints advisory council for budding women’s history museum in Washington, DC

Ranging from actor Lynda Carter and tennis star Billie Jean King to former US commerce secretary Penny Pritzker and television executive Abbe Raven, its members are expected to play a crucial role in fundraising