Museums & Heritage

When two become one: the complex dance of museum mergers

The Neue Galerie’s merger with the Met—the world’s fourth-largest museum—serves as a recent example of a smaller US institution uniting with a larger neighbour

Experts blame extensive earthquake damage in Venezuela on decades of government neglect

Numerous heritage sites were among the 58,000 buildings destroyed by the deadly twin earthquakes last month

Comment | American museum expansions must go beyond glass and steel to serve modern audiences

While increasing their built footprints, US museums also need to expand their accessibility to the public. By failing to do so they risk blowing a chance to democratise new spaces at a critical time

Smithsonian museum will loan more than 200 works to institutions in all 50 states and Puerto Rico

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Art Bridges Foundation have teamed up for the nationwide loan programme spanning from Huntsville, Alabama, to Big Horn, Wyoming

‘Chicano art is American art’: Cheech Marin on celebrating Latino art and the connections between art and activism

As he approaches his 80th birthday, the comedian and collector revels in watching people interact with the art at his namesake museum in Riverside, California

Bayeux Tapestry exhibition brings in £2.5m for the British Museum on first day of ticket sales

Tickets to view the fragile medieval tapestry, which is on rare loan from France, are now sold out through the end of 2026, with further releases to come

Human rights museum’s Palestine exhibition sets off feud between Canadian politicians

The country’s heritage minister criticised curatorial choices in “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present”, drawing widespread rebukes including from the leader of the New Democratic Party

President and general manager of leading Marseille art institution Mucem suspended amid workplace allegations

Pierre-Olivier Costa and Véronique Haché have both been suspended after reports of rising staff discontent and harassment claims against Costa

Undisturbed ancient Maya city discovered in Mexican jungle

Minanbé, an intact site in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, sheds new light on the Maya Lowlands

León Ferrari exhibition cancelled in Chile amid cuts to culture budget

José Antonio Kast’s ultraconservative government nixed a show of the late Argentine artist’s overtly political work at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

National Museum Cardiff may temporarily close for renovation work, officials say

Any closure of the museum's building “will be subject to a full review and consultation”, according to Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales)

Former Nederlands Fotomuseum director awarded €400,000 after unfair dismissal ruling

A judge in Rotterdam has ruled that the institution must compensate Birgit Donker after failing to substantiate claims she created an "unsafe" working environment

Art worldcomment

Comment | Why should artists stay in cities like London and New York when financial pressures are making it harder than ever?

Josh Kline’s viral essay highlights how creative people lose gumption in the face of financial burden, but we should all strive for community instead of competing for the wealthy’s attention

Workers at the Guggenheim in New York vote to authorise a strike

The vote comes as museum administrators and members of UAW Local 2110 seek to reach a new collective bargaining agreement that addresses healthcare costs and inflation

World Monuments Fund spotlights ten heritage sites for the US’s 250th

The organisation’s new Irreplaceable America programme nods to the importance of the Watts Towers, Black Mountain College and the entire city of New Orleans

Pre-Hispanic archaeological discovery in western Mexico features ‘unprecedented’ characteristics

Unique decorative and architectural elements may point to a previously unknown group in present-day Veracruz

At Mexico City’s Laboratorio Arte Alameda, restoration shapes artistic practice

A site-specific project emerges from the conservation of the museum’s 16th-century building

Canadian Museum for Human Rights show on Palestinian displacement offers nuanced, empathetic perspective amid uproar

Met with opposition and outrage from the moment it was announced, the show gathers historical objects and images, poetry, contemporary art and video interviews

What Andy Burnham’s achievements in Manchester tell us about his views on the arts

The UK prime-minister-in-waiting’s legacy is seen as not just about big-hitter projects such as Factory International but also the way culture has been threaded into the city’s infrastructure

Too hot to handle? European heatwave exposes museums' lack of preparedness for climate extremes

While some institutions are serving as "islands of freshness" during this week's scorching temperatures, others are having to reduce opening hours or shut their doors

The Box in Plymouth, ‘a welcoming space’ which ‘reaches beyond its walls’, wins UK Art Fund’s Museum of the Year prize

The museum has been praised for the ambitious way it has shared its collections and for its social outreach

Ireland urged to create national panel to evaluate claims for Nazi-era and colonial loot

The Irish culture minister has said he will put forward a plan to implement recommendations from the Advisory Committee on the Restitution and Repatriation of Cultural Heritage

Misan Harriman to step down as chair of London's Southbank Centre

Harriman, who faced criticism from some UK media outlets over social media posts, says it was always his plan to leave after serving two terms

Tate Britain and Turner Contemporary take their eco-missions beyond the gallery walls

The London museum is building a sustainable garden while the Margate institution has launched a biennial summit exploring our oceans

Far-right candidate's election in Colombia clouds future of long-delayed museum devoted to victims of armed conflict

Plans for Bogotá's Museo de Memoria de Colombia could interfere with president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella’s austerity agenda

Crystal Bridges, fresh off major expansion, hires Courtenay Finn as next chief curator

Finn, previously the chief curator at the Orange County Museum of Art, starts at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary in August

New York City’s oldest library refreshes its historic home

The 272-year-old New York Society Library’s patrons have included the likes of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton

Green tuff, the stone that shaped Oaxaca’s historic centre, receives international heritage designation

Recognition by the International Union of Geological Sciences highlights how stone can reveal and preserve a city's material history

Restoration work is completed at one of Paraguay’s oldest churches

After almost eight years of work, the San Lorenzo Mártir church in Altos is back to its former glory

Fate of historic murals uncertain following Manhattan homeless shelter’s closure

The Bellevue Men’s Shelter was closed earlier this year after falling into disrepair, but efforts to document and preserve at least six Works Progress Administration-era murals in the building have stalled