Museums & Heritage
Arts Council England review: reforms, endowment funds and tax incentives
Labour peer Margaret Hodge, who led the report, has suggested new funding proposals based on philanthropic giving
Comment | When did US museum design get so boring?
While art-museum architecture remains vibrant across the globe, many US institutions are both uninspiring and unwelcoming
Art Fund awards £1.2m to 29 UK museums to support ‘innovative’ projects
Charity's “Reimagine” programme will fund a variety of initiatives, from developing a new model for provenance research to preserving digital heritage
56 participating artists, duos and collectives revealed for 2026 Whitney Biennial
The exhibition, co-curated by Whitney Museum of American Art staffers Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer, will feature artists from 25 states and Puerto Rico, plus “places marked by the reach of US power”
London's Brutalist Barbican Centre to close for £240m renovation
The building, which houses three gallery spaces, will close for a year from June 2028
San Antonio Museum of Art repatriates nine antiquities to Italy
The artefacts, most dating from the 4th century BC, include a terracotta statue of a woman and elaborate red-figure vessels
Maria Balshaw to step down as Tate director
Balshaw will see out her nine-year tenure by co-curating the largest-ever survey of the artist Tracey Emin in spring 2026
Taichung’s new ‘Museumbrary’ expands Taiwan’s culture credentials
The cutting-edge institution, which opens tomorrow, fuses museum and library in decommissioned military airport
Made in LA biennial contemplates wildfires and immigrant arrests
The Hammer Museum hosts 28 artists' projects while looking back on a tumultuous year in California’s biggest city
Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams will co-chair 2026 Met Gala
The celebrity style luminaries will preside over the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute's star-filled fundraiser alongside Anna Wintour
UK police hunt suspects in ‘high-value’ Bristol museum heist
More than 600 objects were stolen from the collection of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, which closed in 2008
Vancouver Art Gallery gifted 131-work private collection from Hong Kong
The gifted works, by 78 artists, date from the 1950s to today and will be featured in an exhibition in 2027
Bright sparks: humans made fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, research reveals
Archaeologists discovered Palaeolithic fire-making tools in a field in the east of England
Admission to MoMA PS1 will be free for all starting next year
From 1 January 2026 onward, MoMA PS1 will be the largest admission-free museum in New York City, thanks to a gift by philanthropist Sonya Yu
Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ planned exhibition on displacement of Palestinians sparks outpouring of support and criticism
The museum's upcoming “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba, Past and Present” has the support of Canadian Palestinian organisations and some Jewish groups, but has been denounced by others who fear it “will ignore key issues”
Despite controversy, designs for Notre Dame’s new windows go on display in Paris
Stained-glass works by the French artist Claire Tabouret will replace the original windows, which suffered no damage in the fire that destroyed the cathedral’s spire
Gunmen stole works by Matisse and Portinari from Brazilian library in brazen daytime heist
The 13 works, stolen from the Mário de Andrade Library, were part of a show organised in collaboration with the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo
‘An entertainment pavilion on bones’: new Russian museum opens in occupied Mariupol
Officially known as Pole Bitvy (Battlefield), Russian state media has described the space as an “interactive art facility”
Louvre staff vote to strike, citing failures of management and building maintenance
It was yesterday revealed that that a water leak in the museum's Egyptian antiquities department had damaged hundreds of books
Disruption expected at British Library as hundreds of workers strike over pay
The Public and Commercial Service union says library staff face “increased poverty and debt, with a concurrent rise in health issues”
Lima’s historic city centre to be restored after years of earthquake damage and abandonment
The ambitious Lima 2035 project will revitalise the Peruvian capital’s architectural heart, a Unesco World Heritage Site, for its 500th birthday
Ancient Etruscan monster gets new state-of-the-art home in Florence museum
Fearsome 2,400-year-old sculpture of a chimaera has been reinstalled in a dedicated gallery at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze
Did Qatar’s Courbet acquisition short-circuit French export licence process?
The Realist masterpiece ‘Le Désespéré’ is on long-term loan to Musée d’Orsay
Seven bullet holes discovered in Marseille basilica's Madonna and Child
The hidden holes in the gilded copper statue, located on top of the French city's Notre-Dame de la Garde, were inflicted by German troops during the Second World War
London's National Gallery announces £750m fundraising drive towards new wing and expanded collection
The gallery has also revealed the architecture firms shortlisted to design its planned extension
Jorge Pérez donates more than 80 photographs to the Pérez Art Museum Miami
The works by Marina Abramović, Ana Mendieta, Cindy Sherman, Vik Muniz and others are the subject of an ongoing special exhibition
Louvre to raise ticket prices by 45% for most non-EU visitors
The Château de Versailles and the Château de Chambord have also announced new pricing structures
Courtauld launches art history teaching fund amid £82m redevelopment
The announcement follows a new report which revealed a sharp decrease in the numbers of schools teaching art history
Comment | A decolonial wind? Hurricane Melissa decimated western Jamaica’s colonial buildings
Although it spared Kingston, the storm caused $9bn in damage and wiped out most of the heritage buildings and museums in the areas it touched
Where will Labour government’s local reforms leave England’s cash-strapped museums?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ planned overhaul of regional councils promises stability, but delivers confusion for the cultural sector




























