Museums & Heritage

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

UK National Gallery to recoup £2m a year after completing staff ‘voluntary exit scheme’

The staff departures have been organised to address the gallery’s projected £8.2m deficit

Spanish culture ministry denies loan of Picasso's Guernica to Bilbao

A Guggenheim Bilbao display of the monumental painting would have marked the 90th anniversary of the bombing that inspired it

Louisiana State Museum reaccreditation decision delayed until June 2027

After years of controversies, the organisation that oversees Louisiana’s ten state museums will have to wait until next year for the American Alliance of Museums’ ruling

Melissa Chiu leaving Hirshhorn to take over New York’s Guggenheim Museum

The longtime director of the Smithsonian museum in Washington, DC, will return to the Big Apple after 12 years away

Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center has art at its core

The centre’s art-filled campus will open in June, but visitors to Expo Chicago can get a preview of its art commissions in two special curated sections of the fair

London’s V&A launches webpage exploring provenance of its objects

The new collections hub page speaks to an “institutional commitment to accountability and transparency”, the museum’s director Tristram Hunt said

Native Americans created dice more than 12,000 years ago, study finds

The new research suggests use of dice in games of chance more than 6,000 years before such practices appeared in Europe

Our pick of the best museum and gallery shows to see in Chicago this spring

From Seoul-born artist Dabin Ahn’s first solo show with Document to dancehall and reggaetón at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Did the US Holocaust Memorial Museum self-censor to preempt Trump’s wrath?

Two former museum employees point to quiet changes related to programming and language that they think are decidedly telling

London’s National Gallery announces architects for new £350m wing

The Tokyo-based Kengo Kuma and Associates, whose previous museum projects include V&A Dundee, will design the building located on the site of St Vincent House

Museum acquisitions round-up: Andy Warhol in an apron, a solid-silver relief and Christo's luggage rack

Our pick of the latest gifts and purchases to enter institutional collections worldwide

Closure of DePaul Art Museum leaves collection in limbo

The fate of the 4,000 objects—including works by Christina Ramberg, Roger Brown, Martin Puryear and Edra Soto—remains unclear

Art Institute of Chicago’s first Norman Rockwell acquisition is a home run

The museum has acquired the beloved US illustrator’s ‘The Dugout’, his 1948 painting of Chicago Cubs players

Irreconcilable differences: Canadian cultural tourism to the US experiences a steep decline

A significant number of Canadians are shunning their neighbours to the south, a phenomenon felt most acutely by smaller museums and those along the border

Monumental 37ft-long Indian scroll goes on public view for the first time at Yale Center for British Art

After two years of conservation, the 19th-century Lucknow scroll is on show in New Haven, Connecticut

Canada returns 11 artefacts to Turkey in the first repatriation between the countries

The manuscript pages, prints and calligraphy had been seized by Canadian authorities as they arrived in Vancouver from Istanbul

Smithsonian’s governing body quietly losing members

Two people finished their terms on the institution’s Board of Regents in early March and have yet to be replaced

Santiago museum, set on fire during 2020 protests, reopens

The works of Chile’s most famous folk artist, singer and composer return to the Violeta Parra Museum, which now has enhanced security

Heritagefeature

Arts organisation enlists celebrities in fight to save Manhattan church

The Center at West Park has been marshalling support from famous actors led by Mark Ruffalo to stop the demolition of West Park Presbyterian Church

Arts and heritage organisations largely exempted from new UK regulations on memberships

Representatives for the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Trust and the Tate had warned that the legislation could have severely impacted their funding

Unesco grants enhanced protection to 39 Lebanese heritage sites as war escalates

The cultural body has also unlocked more than $100,000 in emergency funding for urgent operations on the ground

National Museum of Korea Seoul sees a surge in visitor numbers

According to our 2025 Visitor Figures survey, the Seoul location of the museum is attracting more international guests

Comment | How do we protect heritage in wartime in an era of ‘tepid legality’?

The convention that prevents parties from direct attacks against cultural property is qualified by imperative “military necessity”

Construction of White House ballroom must stop, federal judge orders

The order by a district court judge for Washington, DC, requires the White House to seek approval from Congress for Donald Trump’s $400m construction project