Museums

'Don't expect us to be passive' in the face of restitution: British Museum chair defies return of looted artefacts

In speech at the annual trustees dinner George Osborne said that "dismantling" the collection "must not become the careless act of a single generation”

Italy's Uffizi Galleries forced to stay shut over public holiday due to staff shortage

Culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano criticises museum for not opening on the Monday before All Saints Day but director Eike Schmidt says government must step in to find "reinforcements"

Brutal cuts to London arts organisations as national funds are moved away from capital

“We’ve had to make invidious choices”, says Arts Council England’s chair, Nicholas Serota, as funding portfolio for 2023-26 announced

Museumscomment

We, the original donors, entirely accept the suggested changes to the National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing

Timothy Sainsbury says he disagrees with the view that all of the functional parts of the building should be "preserved in aspic"

American billionaire's Cycladic antiquities collection unveiled in Athens as Greece and Metropolitan Museum of Art reach agreement

The Greek state is now the sole owner of the artefacts but all 161 pieces will be on a 25-year loan to the Met from January 2024

As infrastructure crumbles, British Museum plans to fix Parthenon Marbles gallery next

The decision to prioritise the revamp of the museum’s Greek and Assyrian displays comes amid escalating calls for the permanent return of the Parthenon sculptures to Athens

Roaming climate change museum pops up in New York—and sets sights on a permanent space

Climate Museum’s pop-up exhibition in Manhattan hopes to spur visitors to action, and raise money for a long-term venue

Letterscomment

'Move London's National Gallery entrance from Trafalgar Square to a side street? No!'

Architect Edward Jones weighs in on the museum's controversial redevelopment plans

Frances Morris to leave Tate Modern in April after seven years as director

London museum's first female chief, who was pivotal in diversifying the collection and programme, departs to pursue curatorial projects related to climate change and Modernism

National Gallery renovation plans contested—while Britain appoints new leader uncontested

In the letter for our November issue, editor Alison Cole reflects on the tumultuous times of two London institutions

Leaderscomment

'National Gallery's plans will create an entrance fit for today’s public' says London museum's director

Gabriele Finaldi responds to criticism over the gallery's proposed redesign for the Sainsbury Wing

Eco activist attempts to glue his head to Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

Dutch police have arrested three people at the Mauritshuis in The Hague

In response to energy crisis, Berlin museum turns off its Dan Flavin neon for first time in 26 years

The work normally lights up the facade of contemporary art gallery Hamburger Bahnhof

In Germany, climate activists throw mashed potato at most expensive Monet painting sold at auction

The protestors from Letzte Generation took inspiration from a recent stunt that saw Van Gogh's Sunflowers doused in soup

Moscow's GES-2 House of Culture: the rise and fall of Russian billionaire's huge new art hub

Russia’s foray into international culture stalls as art complex that opened last year sees artists exit and change of direction

Dutch foundation plans to open major new contemporary art museum in Amsterdam—with a familiar face as director

The Hartwig Art Foundation's institutional space will be run by Beatrix Ruf, the former director of the Stedelijk Museum

UK heritage minister says government has no plans to amend law that prevents museums from 'disposing' of objects

The 1983 National Heritage Act was debated in the House of Lords—but the issue of reform will be further discussed ahead of its 40-year anniversary in May 2023

Protestors at British Museum demand release of writer imprisoned in Egypt

Plight of British-Egyptian Alaa Abd El-Fattah, currently on hunger strike, is focal point of protest as hieroglyphs exhibition opens

Museums must unite over Iran's human rights abuses, say art-world figures

Institutions are urged to show solidarity following Mahsa Amini's death after her detention by the morality police

The global mental health crisis: Wellcome Trust launches international science and art project to help people cope

Mindscape initiative is a programme of residencies and exhibitions in museums across the world that explore psychological wellbeing post-pandemic

The Photographers' Gallery in London appoints Shoair Mavlian as new director

A former intern will replace Brett Rogers as the new figurehead of the photography space, but will face immediate pressures concerning income, footfall and sponsorship

De Kooning’s Woman Ochre returns to the museum it was stolen from in 1985

The painting, which was missing for more than 30 years after it was cut from its frame and stolen, made a stop at the Getty Center in Los Angeles for restoration

Rijksmuseum strongly denies claims it is sinking due to wood-rotting fungi

Dutch national museum opposes the report claiming its foundations have been infected, stating the building “has not sunk a millimetre”

Museumscomment

Energy crisis could prove more damaging to UK museums than global pandemic, expert says

Museums Association director Sharon Heal explains the long-term effects of systemically underfunding the UK's cultural sector

A dark winter looms for UK museums as energy costs and fewer visitors continue to hit revenue

The UK's 15 nationally funded museums have seen visitor numbers drop by over a third compared to June 2019, thanks in large part to the pandemic. They are now facing price rises, with government support still unclear

Art was never Queen Elizabeth II's passion—but her image was truly iconic

“You have to be seen to be believed,” was the Queen’s maxim for her own bold and supremely colourful attire

Qatarnews

Two Qatar exhibitions put Doha's vast forthcoming Art Mill Museum in the spotlight

The show will include contemporary art commissions by artists such as French-born Yasmina Benabderrahmane and Istanbul-based Ali Kazma

State Hermitage Museum curator quits over Russia's war in Ukraine

Dimitri Ozerkov, the head of the contemporary art department, made the announcement on Instagram after months of silence

London's Victoria and Albert museum announces it will 'no longer carry the Sackler name'

Institution cuts ties with the family behind the highly addictive drug Oxycontin