Museums & Heritage

‘An institution where you delve into works’: details of AlUla Contemporary Art Museum announced

The vision and name for the new institution, opening in the AlUla culture and heritage site in northwest Saudi Arabia, were revealed on 1 February

Pioneering sculptor Geles Cabrera’s Mexico City retrospective marks centennial

The exhibition at the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes traces the 99-year-old Mexican artist’s unique and dynamic approach to the human figure and highlights her work as a cultural organiser

Documentary tracks Indigenous efforts to recover ancestors’ remains from museums and universities

The new film, “Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild]”, follows one campaign in Michigan and foreshadows many more

One battle after another: Trump’s war on federal architecture

The US president has set his sights on transforming the city of Washington, DC, to fit his grandiose aesthetic

Dutch national photo collection opens in new Rotterdam home

Nederlands Fotomuseum has appointed a new director ahead of reopening in a former coffee warehouse on 7 February

London’s National Gallery appoints Patrick Elliott as curator of Modern paintings

Hire of former National Galleries of Scotland curator is part of museum's expansion of its collection into the 20th and 21st centuries

Louvre Abu Dhabi director Manuel Rabaté leaves to head India’s largest private art museum

French civil servant joins the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi as it prepares to move to a vast new complex

MFA Boston will lay off 33 employees amid rising deficit and restructuring

The layoffs amount to a reduction of the museum’s staff by around 6.3% and include 16 unionised workers

Russia's winter bombardment puts strain on Ukrainian museum workers

Targeted attacks on electric and water supplies amid freezing conditions are further complicating the work of cultural organisations

Former Swiss president to head new Nazi loot panel

The new Commission for Historically Problematic Cultural Heritage—whose remit also includes claims for cultural heritage that changed hands in a colonial context—will issue non-binding recommendations

Fifty-year restoration of Sainte-Chapelle's monumental stained glass inches closer to completion

Long-haul conservation project contrasts with the speed of neighbour Notre-Dame’s repair after the 2019 fire

Florida coin hoard worth $1m resurfaces debate over treasure hunting

Recent discoveries have renewed archaeologists’ concerns that a shipwreck-salvage company has exclusive rights to artefacts aboard a sunken 1715 fleet

Inside Brussels's €230m Kanal-Centre Pompidou museum—opening in November

Housed in a huge former Citroën garage, the space will be home to modern and contemporary art, including loans from the French museum

Artistic director of Malba steps down after one year in role

Following Rodrigo Moura’s departure, the Buenos Aires museum will create a new chief executive position

Museumscomment

Museum wall texts are an art in their own right—but will they survive the digital age?

With shortened attention spans and constant technological distractions, some museums are getting rid of labels altogether

Tarek Atoui—known for his innovative musical performances—will take over Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall this autumn

The Lebanese artist and composer blends sound, technology and sculpture to reference current social, historical and political realities

London’s Courtauld to open two new contemporary art galleries after £10m gift

The spaces, which will launch as part of a 2029 re-development plan, will be funded by a donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation

UK arts education to get £1.5m boost with launch of new award scheme

The Freelands Foundation will give £100,000 of unrestricted funding to three organisations annually for the next five years—in a drive to re-affirm them “as centres for public education”

Art Gallery of Ontario curator resigned after failed acquisition of Nan Goldin work

Two committee members also resigned after the vote, which unravelled amid allegations of “antisemitism” over Goldin’s support of Palestinians

US National Park Service removes slavery memorial at Philadelphia historic site

In accordance with a directive from president Trump, an exhibit detailing the lives and historical contexts of nine people enslaved by George Washington was dismantled

Prizesnews

US National Portrait Gallery reveals winner of its triennial portraiture award

The Brooklyn-based artist Kameron Neal has received the 2025 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition for a video work created using NYPD surveillance footage from the 1960s and 70s

Northern California museum and sculpture park puts its property up for sale

The di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art has listed its Napa Valley property for sale for $10.9m

Metropolitan Opera considers selling multi-storey Chagall murals, valued at $55m

Despite a promised $200m deal with Saudi Arabia, the largest performing arts organisation in the US is taking drastic measures to cover its costs

Museums and galleries in Minneapolis join citywide general strike in protest of Ice operations

In protest of federal immigration enforcement officers’ violent campaign in the city, hundreds of local business and organisations will shutter on 23 January

Thieves empty Dutch silver museum in early morning heist

The robbery of the Doesburg Silver Museum is the latest in a spate of precious metal heists in the Netherlands

Ethiopia’s Africa Hall wins Modernist conservation award

The 2026 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize honours the famous Addis Ababa building’s decade-long, $57m renovation

Sex, love and gladiators: Pompeii graffiti found in corridor highlights residents’ passionate side

Scribblings analysed using state-of the art technology have brought new insight into the daily life and emotions of people who lived in the ancient city

UK government earmarks £1.5bn arts funding until 2030

Many cultural leaders welcome the move, while the UK National Audit Office reports that the culture department is consistently underspending

Joe Hill appointed director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park

For eight years Hill has led the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, which jointly won Art Fund Museum of the Year and hosted the Turner Prize under his tenure