Category: visual

The new rules were evident inside the Met, where staff have installed an elaborate routing system designed to shuffle visitors from room to room without much crossover. Entrance into the Egyptian Wing, for example, brings attendees on a counterclockwise tour of the galleries. This makes for a more linear experience than usual, when meandering through different sections was a possibility. – Artnet

“Pritzker Prize-winning architect and high-tech architecture pioneer Richard Rogers has retired from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, the practice he founded in 1977. … He is perhaps best known for designing the Centre Pompidou in Paris, London’s Lloyd’s building, Millennium Dome and Heathrow Terminal Five. His two Stirling Prize-winning projects are Madrid’s Barajas Airport and a Maggie’s Centre in London.” – Dezeen

The CEO chose to take it, that’s how. “Spirit of the Confederacy, a bronze sculpture of an angel holding a sword and palm branch, was removed from Sam Houston Park in June … and is now on display in the courtyard of the Houston Museum of African American Culture. ‘As an educational space, we wanted people to think about it and engage with it,’ said John Guess, the museum’s Chief Executive Officer.” – Hyperallergic

“Exploitative and degrading” is how one Iraqi newspaper described the current draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Iraqi government and the Museum of the Bible along with the family-owned chain store that funds it. “The Daily Beast has consulted with experts in Iraqi archaeology, international law, and art crime about this document. Here are some of the problems they identified with it.” – The Daily Beast

For 15 years, Knoedler had procured and sold at least 40 fraudulent paintings – an astounding $60m of forged work attributed to such modern American masters as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell. It was, according to Driven to Abstraction, a new documentary on the scandal, “the greatest forgery hoax ever of modern American art”. – The Guardian

Syria’s architectural legacy has been a well-known victim and propaganda tool of the civil war. Islamic State famously took pleasure in detonating the temples and tower-tombs of Palmyra, with the delicate paintings and sculptures that they contained, and making sure the world knew about it. – The Guardian

In other words, the painting fragment consigned to the basement of the Ashmolean at Oxford may be a real Rembrandt. – The Guardian (UK)

Some ideas: “Study the chokepoints, bottlenecks, and pinch points that museums share—such as the entrances, queuing zones, and access area for exhibits. … Look at ways that all food may be consumed outdoors, which works for museums with the right environmental conditions. Similarly, those cultural venues may have opportunities for outdoor temporary exhibitions, if their artworks and exhibits can be properly protected.” But that’s all with the hope that this will be temporary. With a vaccine, and in a few years, we’ll know more. – American Alliance of Museums

The boat ran into trouble over the weekend – every refugee aboard was rescued by another boat – because it was overloaded, but: “Named after Louise Michel, the 19th century French feminist and anarchist, the boat features elements of Banksy’s idiosyncratic visual language.” The refugees await what’s known as “a Port of Safety,” in official terms. – Hyperallergic