Category: visual

“Hundreds of New Yorkers submitted proposals earlier this year to design eight-by-five-foot flags. This past Saturday, the 192 winning designs were unfurled on the [flagpoles] surrounding the plaza’s ice rink. In addition to the open call, 13 well-known artists” — among them Laurie Anderson, Faith Ringgold, KAWS, Marina Abramović, Hank Willis Thomas, Jenny Holzer, Sanford Biggers, Sarah Sze, and Carmen Herrera — “were also commissioned to create flags.” – Artnet

Staff posted to social media but the museum’s director later deleted “Black Lives Matter” from the posts. Some museum staff went on strike, and then were laid off. – The New York Times

“There is a cultural revolution happening in the United States, and people are realizing that they have the power to be more engaged with how public art is decided,” explained Patricia Walsh, who helps run the Public Art Network, a membership group of more than a thousand public art professionals organized by the nonprofit Americans for the Arts. “Best practices need to be reinvented to become more equitable and diverse.” – ARTnews

“Superblue, as [the venture] is called, will open a series of experiential art centers (EACs for short) that won’t sell precious objects, as conventional galleries do. They’ll present art experiences: deep dives into all-encompassing works by such artists as JR, the French photographer who focuses on issues like migration, displacement and imprisonment; and James Turrell, the celebrated Light and Space artist.” What are they selling? Tickets, of course. – The New York Times

“The damage rocked an already fragile Beirut to its core and wreaked havoc on the city’s renowned art scene. Major art galleries, including Marfa Gallery, located close to Beirut’s Port, and Galerie Tanit were completely destroyed. … The Sursock Museum, once the centre of Beirut’s cultural life in the 1960s and which was reopened in 2015 following a costly restoration, was severely damaged.” – The Art Newspaper

The dismissals are only a small part of the changes implemented by the new government. On 1 July, the National Archaeology Museum (MUNARQ), which answered to the ministry of cultures and tourism, was closed by the police, its personnel evicted, and the future of its highly perishable artefacts put at risk. Two days later it was announced that the ministry of cultures and tourism (created by a Morales presidential decree in 2009) would itself disappear and become a vice-ministry under the ministry of education. This prompted protests from Bolivian artists, who demanded that it be re-established and denounced the lack of support they have received during the Covid-19 epidemic. – Apollo

The museum says that as a result of Adrienne Arsht’s gift, it is now the single biggest art museum in the US to offer 100% paid internships to nearly 120 undergraduate and graduate interns each year, widening access for students who cannot afford to work without compensation. It says that the internships enable interns to learn about museum practice in over 40 department areas. – The Art Newspaper

It’s a familiar story across Africa: 90 to 95 percent of Africa’s heritage is held outside the continent, according to a 2018 report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron. Given the shameful manner in which African artifacts were taken and the collapse of the colonial empires that enabled the looting, it is time for European institutions to reevaluate claims of restitution. – Foreign Policy

“This time, the victim was a historic plaster model by the Italian artist Antonio Canova (1757–1822). On July 31, a misguided Austrian tourist snapped the toes off the Neoclassical sculpture Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, housed at [the town of] Possagno’s Museo Antonio Canova in northeast Italy, while attempting to sit on its lap for a photo.” – Artnet