“The exponential expansion of the culture sector rests entirely on a quite narrow demographic of white, middle class, educated staff and visitors who have signed a social contract on what and who constitutes value in the field of visual art. Until there’s radical change in the makeup of institutional bureaucracies and boards, that’s unlikely to change.” – Artnet
Category: visual
Art Exhibition About Censorship In Japan Closed By Censorship
To be clear, government censorship wasn’t involved, although a number of right-wing politicians criticized the show. Titled After “Freedom of Expression?”, the exhibition at the Aichi Triennale in Nagoya featured artworks that had been kept out of other museums and shows, and it was cancelled after repeated threats of violence, including one to set fire to the venue. The issue? A statue of a Korean “comfort woman” — an extremely sore subject between Japan and Korea ever since the end of World War II. – The New York Times
Boris Johnson Plans Ten Tax-Free Freeport Zones To Shelter Art, Assets
The UK’s international trade secretary, Liz Truss, announced on Thursday that she hopes to launch “the world’s most advanced freeport model” as soon as possible, promising it will create “thousands of jobs.” The move was immediately criticized by the opposition Labour Party. Peter Dowd, the shadow chief secretary to the treasury, said that creating tax havens, where the super-rich can store their “art, wine, and gold,” is “payback for Tory funders and their mates.” – Artnet
At Louvre, Reservations Will Be Mandatory By End Of This Year
The world’s most visited museum has become a victim of its own success, with its usual crowd control problems made even worse by the move of the Mona Lisa to a new room. So reservations, which have been available but not required for entrance, will be made mandatory. – France 24 (AFP)
‘I Have Never Seen Such Chaos’: Mona Lisa’s First Days In New Room At Louvre Have Been Rather Messy
That quote comes from a longstanding guide at the museum, who added, “I did not think it was possible to show such amateurism.” Paris’s most visited painting has been moved while its usual room, the Salle des Etats, is being renovated. But the Louvre’s management seems not to have thought through traffic flow and crowd control issues. – Artnet
Tutankhamun’s Coffin, Which Is In God-Awful Shape, Is Undergoing Restoration
“Restorers at the laboratory for wooden objects at the Grand Egyptian Museum have begun fumigating the gilded coffin” — the outer one, largest of three (the two inner coffins are the ones that have always been on display) — “after it was carefully moved from Tutankhamen’s tomb in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings in southern Egypt amid tight security last month.” – Los Angeles Times
What’s The Matter With Renoir’s Nudes?
Trying to sell Renoir as a progressive, or even a feminist … just no. – Hyperallergic
On Sunday, A 6-Year-Old Was Thrown Off The Tate Modern’s 10th-Floor Viewing Platform
The 17-year-old who appears to have thrown the child – who was airlifted from the London museum in critical condition after landing on the fifth-floor roof – was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and the museum went on lockdown for hours. – The New York Times
The Hotel Lobby As Gallery For Contemporary Art
And not just the lobby – some hotels commission artists or exhibits for every bit of space, including rooms, conference rooms, cafeterias and much more. – The New York Times
More Than A Year After 40 Artists Withdrew From A London Museum, They’re Still Demanding Answers
The timeline: Last August, “more than 40 artists removed their work from the exhibition Hope to Nope at the Design Museum in London after the museum housed an event hosted by the arms manufacturer Leonardo. At the time, the museum assured the protesting artists, who organized in a group named Nope to Arms, that it will review its due diligence policy related to commercial and fundraising activities.” Or … not, apparently. – Hyperallergic