Politics

UK government still dragging its feet over Hague Convention

Destruction of artefacts in Syria and Iraq is a pressing issue but UK remains only major power not to ratify international law

Politicscomment

India’s leading institutions suffer political setback

Directors modernising formerly moribund museums are being undermined by Hindu extremists

Has Russian government’s half-billion dollar pledge to save historic city of Vyborg come too late?

Experts blame local authorities in Vyborg for failing to act as architecture begins to collapse

Fears for cultural heritage as Israel sells off property

Experts say Palestinian heritage is at risk as ministry makes money from buildings seized from refugees

Budapest’s anti-government Off biennial draws 35,000 visitors

Organisers say they started the art festival, which closed today, in direct response to the political interference at Hungary’s cultural institutions

London’s cosmonaut exhibition is back in orbit

Science Museum show was postponed last year amid political tensions with Russia

Cuban artist to stage new political project in Havana following arrest

Tania Bruguera, who has had her passport confiscated after planning a free-speech performance in Revolution Square, is due to host a 100-hour reading of the book The Origins of Totalitarianism ahead of the city's biennial

Prince of Wales’s positive pressure

“Black spider” letter helps to save Antarctic Shackleton and Scott huts

New UK culture secretary named

John Whittingdale is expected to focus more on the media than on the arts

Lawnews

How to get on with artists, handle mergers and avoid lawsuits

Legal conference tackles issues facing US museums, from commissioning work to developing diversity

Artists protest in support of Bruguera

International art world shows solidarity with Cuban artist—but her compatriots are less keen

UK General Election: parties fail to put money where their mouth is

Manifestos make big promises on the arts but remain vague on funding nation prepares to go to the polls <br>

Politicsfeature

Vote Bob, vote art: on the campaign trail with Bob and Roberta Smith

As the polls open today, and the UK votes for its next government, the British artist is standing against the architect of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition’s education policy, Michael Gove. We joined them on the campaign hustings

Mayor commissions new public art for London in regeneration plans

Ten new works for parts of the city thanks to High Street Fund initiated after 2011 riots<br>

Heritagecomment

Why there are no cash cows in European arts funding

As the European Union announces its latest grants, applicants find the barriers to success getting higher

Kiev Biennial finds a new venue and international support

Second edition to open at the Visual Culture Research Center in September with related projects across Europe, curators say

'We are grateful that many Middle Eastern treasures are in international universal museums'

Zaki Nusseibeh of the UAE endorses the role of institutions such as the British Museum during discussion with French cultural leader Jack Lang

Democrats lobby for US artists’ economic rights with two bills

But it remains unclear what chance either proposal has of passing into law while Republicans control both houses of Congress

Complex talent needs greater understanding

Denmark’s Asger Jorn was far more than a painter

Don’t be scared of what will be: the Medieval way of art and death

The union of devotional imagery and religious observance was a comfort

Copyrightarchive

The verdict that flies in the face of art history: Luc Tuymans guilty of copyright infringement

A Belgian court recently found Tuymans guilty, a ruling that ignores appropriation’s vital role in art over the centuries and has worrying implications for the future

Ukraine’s art scene soldiers on despite political crisis

Artists can fight for freedom as the country asserts its independence, says gallery founder Victor Pinchuk

Art Baselarchive

Bob and Roberta Smith's Basel 'Art Party' raises awareness about slashing of UK arts education funding

Bob and Roberta Smith’s crusade against cuts is bringing politics and mayhem to the Swiss fair

Newsarchive

Anish Kapoor speaks out on Indian elections

The artist has condemned Narendra Modi, widely expected to be India's next prime minister

Western dealers push for trade sanctions against Iran to be repealed

Galleries and artists see improvement after temporary relaxations were implemented to discourage nuclear proliferation

Books: William Morris and creating a social fabric

An indispensable book on Morris’s revolutionary cloth designs and techniques—and the political views that inspired them