Museums & Heritage

Oldest astronomical observatory in the Americas discovered in Peru

The Caral civilisation used the structure thousands of years ago to track the sun, moon and stars to determine conditions for fishing and gathering shellfish

The curator awakens: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art reveals inaugural exhibition lineup

George Lucas is curating 18 thematic exhibitions that will fill 100,000 sq. ft of the $1bn museum he and his wife Mellody Hobson are building in Los Angeles

UK’s Brighton & Hove Museums to return 45 artefacts to Botswana

The objects, acquired by English reverend William Charles Willoughby in the 19th century, will now form part of a permanent display in Serowe

Director of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum to depart in October

During Janne Sirén’s tenure at the Western New York institution, its global influence and physical footprint expanded significantly

Recent discoveries reveal how natural disasters shaped past civilisations: can it help us plan for the future?

New technologies used in archaeological research provide insights into how climate change has long-changed empires and societies

Barbados's slavery museum and memorial faces major delays

Designed by Adjaye Associates and first announced in 2021, work on the Barbados Heritage District continues with an expanded scope—but a completion date has yet to be announced

Leaderscomment

Comment | Museums are civic institutions. It’s time we acted like it

At the Oakland Museum of California we often say: “Keep doing the good work.” We need to be clearer about what the work is and how we commit to it

Titian's ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ to get a refresh with bank conservation grant

Major conservation funding, sponsored by Bank of America, has been granted to London's National Gallery as well as 17 additional projects at other international institutions

Booksreview

Final book in trilogy asks: What is the future of the art world?

Writer and researcher András Szántó speaks to art-world movers and shakers for predictions and insights

The Big Review | Lacma's David Geffen Galleries ★★★★

This vast, visionary new building on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art campus flaunts strengths in displaying antiquities

Recently excavated ancient Maya hall may reflect early power-sharing among leaders

What is believed to be a council house built more than 1,000 years ago sheds light on how Maya systems of governance shifted

'The museum is not a space for the elite': Portuguese building firm’s new museum puts workers first

Located in a former Braga courthouse, Muzeu—Thought and Contemporary Art DST, houses one of Portugal's biggest private art collections

Caravaggio and Rubens works destroyed by fire in Second World War are brought back to (digital) life

The Gemäldegalerie in Berlin has digitised hundreds of works that were held in a tower for safety but were l

US National Gallery of Art gifted more than 1,200 Mitch Epstein photographs

The career-spanning donation from the American photographer and his wife, Susan Bell, makes the Washington, DC, museum the leading institutional home for Epstein’s work

Lack of accountability after crush of crowds at Haiti’s Citadelle Laferrière kills 25

The tragedy was the result of overcrowding at the Unesco site during an unauthorised event promoted and led by TikTok influencers

Mass shooting at Mexico's Teotihuacan archaeological site leaves one dead, 13 injured

A Canadian woman was killed in an attack from atop the Pyramid of the Moon allegedly linked to the “Columbine effect”

A teaspoon at a time: how LACMA built its collection

For 60 years and counting, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has moved with the times, both in its changes of location and navigating the art world, curating its archives with a startup’s mentality and an appetite for risk

In partnership with Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Diego Rivera’s grandson donates more than 150,000 objects to Mexico City’s Museo Anahuacalli

The eclectic collection spans hundreds of years and includes ceramics, textiles and photographs, as well as documents from Rivera and Kahlo’s personal archives

Recently restored castle in Norwich among five institutions shortlisted for UK's top museum prize

Spaces in Norwich, Plymouth and Cambridge will be considered alongside London heavyweights for the £120,000 award

Restored Victorian greenhouse links Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery to its living neighbours

Opening this weekend, the Green-House incorporates a historic 1895 cast-iron and glass structure and serves as the “new front door” to the famed burial ground

Lebanon appeals to Unesco to intervene amid fears protected citadel has been destroyed

The country’s ministry of culture has written to the UN body for “immediate and swift intervention to protect” the Chama' Citadel after reports of damage by Israeli forces

English museums should only charge tourists if digital ID checks in place, UK politician says

The Labour peer Margaret Hodge has gone into more detail on proposals put forward in a report about the funding body Arts Council England

How did a 16th-century European basin end up as a sacred object in West Africa?

Mystery surrounds where the ‘Aya Kese’ was made and how it reached the West African kingdom of the Asante centuries ago

Ruins of ‘unique’, circular water temple discovered in Egypt

Built during the 2nd century, the circular building found in northern Sinai may have been dedicated to the god Pelusius

Barcelona museum refuses to return Sijena murals to monastery

Despite a supreme court ruling, the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya insists removal could damage the “Sistine Chapel of Romanesque art”

More than 200 cultural figures sign statement criticising international response to destruction of Iran’s heritage

A joint letter, published by the Society for Iranian Archaeology, condemns the “irreversible damage” to cultural sites caused by US-Israeli missile strikes

Museumsinterview

‘A fresh look at contemporary culture’: Gus Casely-Hayford, director of V&A East, takes us inside the new London museum

The Stratford-based museum, opening this month, aims to build on the success of V&A East Storehouse, which has attracted 500,000 visitors since it opened in May last year

Miami Beach’s Bass Museum picks architect for new pavilion

The forthcoming expansion will add gallery space, a patio and an outdoor event area

Getty Center will close for a year to undergo major renovations

The upgrades, set to start in March 2027 and estimated to cost between $600m and $800m, will include a new tram from the parking structure to the museum’s hilltop campus

1,000-year-old Toltec altar with four human skulls found in Mexico

Archaeologists discovered the site during salvage operations for the new Mexico City-Querétaro passenger rail line