A major corporate sponsor, PwC, has withdrawn from the 25th Sydney Biennale following a police complaint alleging antisemitic hate speech by a participating DJ. The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies filed the complaint against US electronic music producer Zubeyda Muzeyyen (DJ Haram) over comments made during the opening night party, which the Board claims incited hatred against Jewish Australians.
The 2026 Hong Kong International Cultural Summit convened global museum leaders and policymakers at the M+ museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art to discuss the city's evolving role as a cultural hub. Amidst geopolitical shifts, the summit saw the signing of several memoranda of understanding between Hong Kong and international institutions, including the Misk Art Institute and the Czech Academy of Visual Arts. Key announcements included a five-year partnership renewal with Art Basel and the upcoming launch of the West Kowloon Academy, an incubator for arts professionals.
A replica of a Christopher Columbus statue was installed on the White House grounds under the direction of the Trump administration. The sculpture is a reproduction of a monument that was toppled and thrown into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by protesters during the 2020 racial justice movements. Created by artist Will Hemsley using scans of the original fragments, the project was previously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and has now been placed near the West Wing as part of preparations for the 250th anniversary of American independence.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” targeting the Smithsonian Institution. The order tasks Vice President J.D. Vance with removing “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums, supported by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and advisor Lindsey Halligan. Critics, including historian Raymond Arsenault, have described the move as totalitarian. The Smithsonian, a public-private partnership founded in 1846 with 21 museums and the National Zoo, faces potential loss of federal funding if it does not comply, echoing pressure applied to other institutions like Columbia University.