Museums & Heritage
Austrian government to propose law on returning museum objects acquired in a colonial context
Calling out the injustice of colonialism and following it up with "serious debate and concrete actions" is Austria’s responsibility, says culture secretary
A maritime museum shifts its focus to ocean health
The Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut is foregrounding ocean ecology in its first contemporary art exhibition, with new commissions by American painter Alexis Rockman
Gender balance redressed as Tracey Emin creates new 'every woman' front doors for the National Portrait Gallery
The 45 portraits, cast in bronze, have been installed on the entrance to the newly restored London museum
How New York's Hispanic Society is reinventing itself
As the Hispanic Society Museum & Library reopens after a six-year renovation—and two-month strike—its leaders are re-imagining its founder's legacy
Elena Filipovic announced as the new director of the Kunstmuseum Basel
Filipovic joins from the Kunsthalle Basel and will replace Josef Helfenstein
A director's tour of the newly renovated National Portrait Gallery in London
Nicholas Cullinan shows us around the new-look museum after its three-year closure
SFMoMA acquires architectural capsule from Tokyo's famed Metabolist tower
Architect Kisho Kurokawa's Nakagin Capsule Tower was demolished last year, but 23 of its distinctive pods were preserved
MFA Boston settles ownership dispute with Jewish dealers’ heirs over a painting Hitler wanted for his Führermuseum
"Customers Conversing in a Tavern" (1671) by Dutch Golden Age painter Adriaen van Ostade is up on display after a six years of research and negotiations
Metropolitan Museum to open interactive learning centre for children in September
The new facility will bring science-based material exploration, art activities and countless forms of play to the museum's youngest patrons
How to see every painting by Johannes Vermeer
Missed the blockbuster show at the Rijksmuseum? Fear not, we present an insider’s guide to seeing all his 36 paintings across the globe, from London and New York, to Braunschweig and Tokyo
Germany has the most private contemporary art museums in the world, new report reveals
According to the art collector data company Larry's List, the burgeoning private museums sector now comprises 446 institutions worldwide, 111 of which have opened since 2016
Largest museum union in the US ratifies its first contract
More than 500 workers at the Carnegie Museums in Pittsburgh voted to ratify their first contract after 18 months of negotiations
Pop-up museum commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre opens in New York
A similar institution in Hong Kong was forcibly shuttered in 2021 following the passage of the city’s restrictive security law
German city restitutes a Renoir to the heirs of a Jewish banker and buys it back
View of the Sea from Haut Cagnes will in future be displayed with information about its former owner, Jakob Goldschmidt
‘We charge you with ecocide’: climate protesters call for ouster of Museum of Modern Art board chair at gala
Activists urged the New York museum to distance itself from board chair Marie-Josée Kravis and her husband Henry Kravis due to their ties to the fossil fuel industry
Metropolitan Museum to return $550,000 in donations from FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange
The institution will return funds donated by the defunct exchange and hedge fund led by Sam Bankman-Fried prior to its untimely collapse
Britain's oldest piece of carved wood discovered in layer of peat
The large piece of oak is around 6,000 years old–2,000 years older than Stonehenge
US art museums generate $52bn in well-being benefits annually, study finds
Every museum visit produces $905 in social benefits per visitor, according to a study conducted at 11 art institutions
Reina Sofía Museum and Whitworth Gallery appoint new directors
The art historian Manuel Segade will join the Madrid institution while Tate international art curator Sook-Kyung Lee takes the reins in Manchester
Germany returns artefacts—including a Venetian jewellery box stolen in 2006—to Italy
The recovered items also include a Corinthian bronze helmet and four Roman-Byzantine gold coins
Fragile Trinity icon installed at Moscow cathedral in time for Pentecost
President Putin ordered the transfer of the medieval masterpiece from the State Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Orthodox Church despite protests from restorers
Smithsonian picks architect for $130m Bezos Learning Center on Washington, DC's National Mall
The new education annex of the National Air and Space Museum will be funded through a $200m gift from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos
As Israel is rocked by protests, a West Bank cultural centre seeks to 'represent the Palestinian struggle'
The artistic institution Dar Jacir was established by the Bethlehem-born artist Emily Jacir to give creatives from Palestine an outlet
Vermeer blockbuster officially breaks record at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum
The recently-closed exhibition drew 650,000 visitors in its four month run
The British Museum and BP's sponsorship deal will end after 27 years
The museum has been under pressure for more than a decade to break off its affiliation with the oil and gas corporation
Picasso—questioned, but not cancelled: we speak to the curators of the Brooklyn Museum show
Plus, the damage to heritage in Italy following the devastating floods and Ellsworth Kelly's Spectrum work
Biden administration bans fuel and mineral extraction within ten miles of ancient Pueblo sites in New Mexico
The lands withdrawn from future oil, gas and mining claims around Chaco Culture National Historical Park include more than 4,700 known archaeological sites
German museums hold 40,000 objects from former colony Cameroon, study finds
Cameroon has set up a restitutions committee to work with the museums
Ashmolean Museum in bitter, 20-year dispute over Augustus John works
Heirs claim they were loaned and want them back; the museum says decision not yet made
Museum lawyers weigh in on diversity initiatives, joint acquisitions and more at industry conference
The annual gathering organised by the American Law Institute and co-sponsored by the Smithsonian took place recently in Philadelphia