Museums & Heritage

Israel Museum in Jerusalem sued by Jewish heirs of Holocaust victim over valuable manuscript

The case of the Birds' Head Haggadah is the first time a museum in Israel has faced a restitution lawsuit for an object allegedly lost in the Holocaust

Imperial appointment: former Japanese princess lands job at the Metropolitan Museum

Mako Komuro, a former member of Japan’s imperial family, is reportedly volunteering her time to help with a forthcoming exhibition of hanging scroll paintings

Italian culture sector divided on whether museums should impose tougher sanctions on Russia or continue dialogue

Former Uffizi gallery director calls for cultural sanctions against Russia saying it "would be a huge slap in the face [for] the regime"

The smoocher’s guide to repatriation: a Mexican artist is using his tongue to draw attention to looting of his country’s heritage

Following a string of auction sales of ancient artefacts from Mexico, artist Pepx Romero is taking measures into his own lips

Despite €94m discount, Rome villa with Caravaggio's only ceiling painting fails to sell at auction—again

Slashing Ludovisi Casino's asking price by 20% did nothing to entice would-be buyers; the Italian state is being pressured to purchase the property before it is offered a third time

Loansnews

France seeks to protect Russia's Morozov collection from seizure as masterpieces return home

Works were on loan to a blockbuster exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris

How do you conserve a sculpture designed to decay?

Neri Oxman’s exhibition at SFMOMA features two versions of a sculpture made with bio-composite materials, one of which will decompose over the course of show

Hot on the heels of Tate commission, Hew Locke chosen to transform Met museum façade

Guyanese-British artist will create four sculptures that draw on the New York museum's collection

New York University provost Katherine Fleming will be the Getty Trust’s next leader

Fleming succeeds the Getty’s longtime leader James Cuno, who is retiring this summer

Cut from its frame in brazen theft and lost for 30 years, restored De Kooning painting will take centre stage in Getty show

Los Angeles museum will unveil the results of an intensive conservation of Woman-Ochre, which was badly damaged when it was stolen in 1985

Light and much more Space: first look at the expanded Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

La Jolla museum is set to reopen after a $105m renovation and collection revamp, telling the story of contemporary art from a distinctively West Coast perspective

Isolated by Russia boycotts, Hermitage director calls for 'cultural bridges between the nations'

Mikhail Piotrovksy, who has been criticised for his silence on the war in Ukraine, says the museum will continue its international projects outside Europe

Unesco under pressure to pull world heritage meeting from Russia

UK culture minister, Auschwitz Memorial and Europa Nostra call for the June event to be relocated following Russian invasion of Ukraine

Hermitage branch in Amsterdam rebrands after cutting ties with Russia

The venue has reopened with an exhibition series focusing on Dutch masterpieces, starting with Vermeer’s Milkmaid

Massachusetts museum accused of hoarding Indigenous artefacts and human remains for decades

The Barre Museum is said to hold the largest collection of Lakota objects and human remains from the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre

Versailles restores Royal Tennis Court—where French democracy was founded—to its former glory

Modern-day politicians in France's National Assembly helped to crowdfund the €1.8m restoration at the Château de Versailles

Getty Research Institute acquires booksellers' collection of thousands of catalogues and materials on Black artists

The collection was amassed by Whitney and Lee Kaplan, who own and operate Arcana: Books on the Arts, beginning in the 1980s

William Morris's 'heaven on earth' home in the Cotswolds reopens after restoration

New research has helped to bring back lost objects and features at Kelmscott Manor, where the English Arts and Crafts designer lived for 25 years

Italian court calls for restitution of ancient marble statue from Minneapolis Institute of Art

The two-metre-tall statue, which the museum acquired for $2.5m in 1986, was allegedly excavated illegally in the 1970s

Labournews

Whitney Museum staff protest against stalled contract negotiations at biennial’s VIP opening

Guests arriving at Tuesday’s reception were handed leaflets explaining the current state of negotiations between the newly formed union and museum administration

Italynews

After years of emergencies, Italy launches 'unprecedented' plan to protect churches against earthquake damage

Culture ministry earmarks EU pandemic recovery funds to mitigate the impact of future disasters on religious buildings around the country

Glasgow's Burrell Collection reopens after £68m revamp of parkland home

Six-year modernisation creates more space for one of Scotland's finest art collections, amassed by shipping magnate William Burrell

Seven artists’ studios and environments added to ​​US National Trust for Historic Preservation programme

The new additions to the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios reflect an effort to add greater diversity to the network of sites

Tainted gifts: as British Museum and the Met disavow the Sackler name, museums rethink donation deals

Institutions are increasingly including “morals clauses” in gift agreements to protect themselves if donors fall from grace

Qatarnews

Qatar ramps up cultural programme ahead of Fifa World Cup with three new museums

Rem Koolhaas and Herzog & de Meuron selected to design new institutions

Sackler name will be removed from British Museum galleries, rooms and endowments

The removals are the result of a mutual agreement between the museum and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation

Culture in the crossfire: Ukraine's key monuments and museums at risk of destruction in the war

Museum staff, heritage custodians and volunteers are racing against time to safeguard the country's cultural treasures, many of which, ironically, are connected to Russia

French museums rally to protect art collections in Ukraine with truckload of emergency supplies

A delivery of 15 tonnes of donated packing and conservation materials was organised by Icom France

US institutions celebrate Faith Ringgold

Major acquisitions, complementary showcases plus a New Yorker cover coincide with the artist’s retrospective at the New Museum