British Museum

Lootnews

Looted ancient temple sculpture—seized by UK police—will go home to Afghanistan

British Museum and Art Loss Register collaborate over recovery of ancient bull decoration that was consigned to an online auction

Top five museum acquisitions of the month

Our pick of the latest gifts and purchases to enter international museum collections—from an "erotic" depiction of Adam to a masterpiece by a female French painter

British Museum exhibition to challenge 'salacious stereotypes' around Tantra

Major show will unpick ancient Indian philosophy made famous by Sting’s “eight-hour lovemaking session” claims

The Big Review: Troy at the British Museum

With an impressive range of objects, this show evokes the eternal power of the greatest stories ever told

Climate activists urge British Museum to reject BP funding, as Arctic exhibition announced

Planned show seeks to raise awareness of climate change, but London museum dogged by controversy over partnership with oil and gas giant

The biggest exhibitions around the world in 2020

From Artemisia to Abramović, Old Masters to Olmecs, and Richter to Roman antiquities—here are next year's must-see shows

Podcastspodcast

Troy: the show and the problem with BP sponsorship

We talk about the myth and reality of Troy presented in the British Museum's show and to an activist about ongoing protests relating to fossil-fuel companies' sponsorship of the arts. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.

Hosted by Ben Luke. Produced by Julia Michalska, David Clack and Aimee Dawson

Protestors disrupt VIP preview of British Museum's Troy exhibition

Members of the climate activist group BP or not BP? blocked entry to the museum's show dressed as statues based on Greek mythology

Troy meets world: London show reconciles myth and reality of ancient city

British Museum exhibition will display work inspired by epic stories alongside artefacts from 19th-century archaeological excavations

British Museum to borrow the Nebra Sky Disc, the oldest portrayal of the cosmos

The artefact will be the focus of a joint exhibition with the Halle Museum of Prehistory

Top five museum acquisitions of the month

Our pick of the latest gifts and purchases to enter international museum collections—from Dorothea Tanning's Surrealist terrier to vintage prints by Vivian Maier

British Museum knocks Tate Modern off top spot as UK's most popular attraction after miscalculation

Over 300,000 visitors had been missed in the financial year 2018/19 because of 'incorrect light levels caused by a broken light fitting'

Lack of space at the British Museum sees major loan of Assyrian collection to Getty

Since the closure of a basement gallery in 2006 there is little room to store the whole collection

Ethicsnews

How ethical can museums afford to be? We ask five major UK art institutions about funding challenges

We find out how mounting public scrutiny of private money could affect the bottom line of London's National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery and the Tate

Loansnews

Greece in talks with Louvre to borrow Parthenon frieze as part of 'temporary exchange'

Move reignites debate over British Museum’s position on sculptures brought to Britain by Lord Elgin

British Museum to display hundreds of thousands of archived artefacts in new storage facility

BM Arc will provide the institution with 15,628 sq.m to show its objects in greater context and increase public access

Growing pressure on the British Museum as Jamaica is latest government seeking return of objects

Spokeswoman for the London museum says it has not been officially approached by the country over the return of the two objects made by the Taíno people in its collection

In damning online critique of British Museum's ethics, trustee Ahdaf Soueif announces resignation

Prominent Egyptian-born writer cites the institution's BP sponsorship, treatment of workers and its silence over restitution as key issues

British Museum director endorses controversial sponsor BP as part of future vision

The oil company will support one exhibition at the museum next year, but not a show dedicated to the people of the Arctic

Art in the time of airstrikes: Yemeni artists urge international donors for support

Symposium at the British Museum, part of the Shubbak festival of contemporary Arab culture, will include artists from war-torn Yemen and Syria

This carefully selected exhibition of the Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo is small and perfectly formed

The MA curatorial show at the Barber Institute, Birmingham, challenges many of our assumptions

Troynews

British Museum to finally display treasures of Troy in major exhibition—after failing to buy them 150 years ago

The Trojan antiquities went to Berlin after the London museum rejected an offer to acquire them

Top five acquisitions in June

Our pick of the most significant new gifts and purchases to enter museum collections worldwide, from Damien Hirst's placemat portraits to Nari Ward's recycled shoelace installation

British Museum must recognise its own powers in matters of restitution

Case of Ethiopian tabots shows that trustees' hands are not tied when it comes to the disposal of certain items from the collection

Podcastspodcast

Manga and Camp: the art of going over the top

We talk about Manga, the subject of the British Museum's huge new show, and we explore the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition Camp: Notes on Fashion. Produced in association with Bonhams, auctioneers since 1793.

Hosted by Ben Luke and Nancy Kenney. Produced by David Clack and Julia Michalska

British Museum considers loan of ‘invisible’ objects back to Ethiopia

Country has requested return of 11 tabots held in sealed storeroom that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believes should only be viewed by its priests

Edmund de Waal’s 2,000-book installation of exiled writers will tour to the British Museum

Ceramicist’s installation The library of exile, currently on show in Venice, will also travel to the Japanisches Palais in Dresden

Podcastsfeature

From Despair to The Scream: the genesis of Edvard Munch’s most famous work

On our podcast, the curator of the British Museum’s Munch exhibition tells the story of the Norwegian artist’s anxiety at the blood-red sky he saw above the Oslo fjord, and how it led to a masterpiece

Three exhibitions to see in London this weekend

From Munch's angst-ridden prints at the British Museum to Van Gogh's love affair with the UK at Tate Britain