Hadani Ditmars

Canadian art museum gets $36m funding boost for expansion from provincial government

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the country’s largest museum devoted to Canadian art, has also received $18m from the federal government toward the renovation and expansion project

Architect Lina Ghotmeh to design Qatar Pavilion at Venice Biennale

Lebanon-born Ghotmeh—whose other projects include a forthcoming redesign of the Western Range galleries at the British Museum—is known for her work addressing themes such as history and nature

‘It’s all about tenderness’: Gazan artist known for her portraits reportedly killed by Israeli airstrike

Dina Khaled Zaurub was beloved for her charcoal and graphite drawings of Palestinians who have died as a result of attacks by the Israel Defense Forces

Patients can be prescribed visits to Emily Carr exhibition under new Vancouver Art Gallery mental health initiative

As part of Canada’s national nature prescription programme, healthcare professionals can send visitors to the gallery in support of their psychological wellbeing

Crime news

Public sculpture destroyed in apparent arson attack in Toronto

The public art piece in the shape of a canoe, by Douglas Coupland, was a tribute to the famed Group of Seven painter Tom Thomson

Vancouver Art Gallery parts ways with director and chief executive Anthony Kiendl

Kiendl’s departure comes a few months after the gallery pulled the plug on an ambitious but costly building project it had already spent C$60m on

‘First museum in Europe dedicated to contemporary Palestinian art’ to open in Edinburgh

The Palestine Museum US’s director hopes the institution will challenge “dominant narratives and showcase the rich cultural heritage of Palestine”

‘The missiles will not erase his mark on our hearts’: Palestinian artist killed in Israeli strikes

Dorgham Quraiqi, was working with the UK charity Hope and Play, when the remains of his house were bombed

Ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets discovered in Iraq reveal intricate details of how empire was governed

The finds, which also include dozens of clay sealings, contain details of a metric system used to measure resources, as well as evidence of a cult of personality around a particularly charismatic ruler

Awardsnews

Artist Kent Monkman and curator Daina Augaitis among winners of Canada’s Governor General’s Awards

Also honoured in the visual and media arts category this year are the AI artist Sandra Rodriguez, the furniture-maker Peter Pierobon and the film-maker Bruce LaBruce

Unesco completes restoration of Mosul heritage sites damaged under Isis

The UN body has brought several religious and other buildings in the Iraqi city back to life as part of an $115m programme

Egyptologists raise ‘mismanagement’ concerns after worker seen hammering at Great Pyramid of Giza

Viral footage of a worker apparently using a hammer and chisel to chip at the stones of the pyramid has prompted debate across Egypt's heritage sector

Vancouver Art Gallery invites proposals from Canadian architecture firms as it restarts building project

The gallery recently cancelled a project designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron after its budget ballooned by 50%

Vancouver Art Gallery gifted collection of 122 Modern and contemporary works

The gifted works, collectively valued at C$10m ($7m), come from Vancouver collectors Brigitte and Henning Freybe and include pieces by Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg, Julie Mehretu and more

Palestine Museum US launches NFT collection in support of Gaza artists

The museum released a non-fungible token of a work by the Gazan artist Mohammed Alhaj to kick off the new initiative

Joe Average, Canadian artist and Aids activist, has died, aged 67

Known for his bold, bright-hued paintings, prints and murals, Average was a pillar of Vancouver’s creative community

Could Israel’s shuttered embassy in Dublin become a gallery for Palestinian art?

Fresh off a pop-up show in Ireland, the director of the Connecticut-based Palestine Museum US hopes the former Israeli Embassy could become a permanent European outpost

Vancouver Art Gallery scraps plan for new, $444m Herzog and de Meuron-designed building

The institution ended its partnership with the Swiss firm, begun nearly a decade ago, as it reassesses its plans

Artists protest at Toronto Arts Foundation gala over funding from Israeli real estate company’s charitable foundation

The protests are part of a broader campaign pressuring Canadian arts organisations to cut ties with the Azrieli Foundation

Vancouver’s floating artist residency finds safe harbour in new location

The Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency, based in the refurbished former home and studio of Carole Itter and Al Neil, is now moored near Vancouver’s Maritime Museum

Vancouver Art Gallery expands Asian art programme with $1.1m gift

The museum’s renamed Centre for Global Asias seeks to “recognise the many Asias that exist, within the geography of Asia itself and in the global diaspora”

Project to put art on the moon seeks Indigenous music recordings

The Lunar Codex has partnered with the estate of Canadian Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau to collect contemporary and traditional music that will be sent into space in 2025

Prizesnews

Anishinaabe artist Nico Williams wins Canada’s top art prize

The Montréal-based artist, known for his intricate sculptural beadwork, received the C$100,000 Sobey Art Award for 2024

Leila Zelli foregrounds Iranian women’s protest movement at the Toronto Biennial

The artist’s videos and installations reinterpret acts of resistance staged in the streets and on social media

Sameer Farooq’s library of flatbreads at the Toronto Biennial serves as a map of the city’s diasporic communities

The artist has been researching flatbreads and tandoors, the community ovens where they are often baked, in countries around the world since 2020

Art Toronto offers moments of connection, catharsis and commerce for Canada's art world

The country’s biggest art fair, with more than 100 exhibitors, is both a centre of commercial activity and a sprawling diorama of a national aesthetic

An exhibition at the pyramids of Giza invites artists and visitors to become modern-day archaeologists

In its fourth iteration, Forever is Now continues its tradition of installing contemporary works next to ancient sites

Early Emily Carr watercolour acquired by Canada’s Audain Art Museum

The museum already owns a subsequent, oil-on-canvas work depicting the same subject; both versions of “War Canoes, Alert Bay” will now be displayed together

Filmsreview

New Niki de Saint Phalle documentary chronicles her personal struggles and aesthetic triumphs

Michiko Matsumoto’s film “Viva Niki”, which recently premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival, also attests to the artist’s enduring popularity in Japan

Avoiding the mistakes of the past: symbolic sculptures by Indigenous artists unveiled at site of historic Canadian battlefield

The permanent sculptures by Chief 7IDANsuu James Hart and Wendat Nation artist Ludovic Boney were unveiled in Québec City’s Cap Diamant on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation