judge orders return of slavery exhibit at presidents house barbican director devyani saltzman departs morning links for february 17 2026 1234773548

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily reinstall an exhibition about slavery at the President's House monument in Philadelphia, which the Interior Department and National Park Service had removed last month. The judge's ruling, which invoked George Orwell's '1984', granted a preliminary injunction against the government's actions while a lawsuit from the City of Philadelphia proceeds.

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The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has launched the "50 for 50" loan program, a landmark initiative to disperse over 200 artworks from its collection to museums in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Major works by artists like Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Willem de Kooning will be loaned for up to five years, with a focus on reaching underserved and rural communities.

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A nationwide general strike, called for Friday, January 30, 2026, in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis, has prompted numerous art galleries and organizations to close their doors. Major commercial galleries like Gagosian, David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace Gallery, alongside institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles and the Drawing Center, are participating in the shutdown.

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The Flemish government in Belgium has reversed its controversial plan to dismantle Antwerp's Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA). The original proposal would have stripped the museum of its status and transferred its permanent collection to another institution in Ghent, but following significant opposition, authorities have agreed to preserve M HKA as a museum with its collection intact.

Senators Whitehouse and Schumer Call for ‘Proactive Measures’ to Protect Philip Guston and Ben Shahn Murals

Senators Whitehouse and Schumer Call for ‘Proactive Measures’ to Protect Philip Guston and Ben Shahn Murals

Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Chuck Schumer have publicly called on the General Services Administration (GSA) to take immediate steps to protect significant New Deal-era murals by artists Philip Guston and Ben Shahn. Their letter expresses urgent concern over the potential sale or demolition of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building in Washington, D.C., which houses these artworks, and questions the GSA's ability to safeguard the pieces once the building transfers to private ownership.

british taxpayers to underwrite 1 billion loan to cover bayeux tapestry while its shown in the uk 1234768203

France’s Bayeux Tapestry will be loaned to the British Museum in 2026, with the UK Treasury providing an indemnity guarantee of approximately £800 million ($1 billion) to cover potential damage or loss during transport and display. The guarantee, part of the UK government’s indemnity scheme, is a contingent liability—no upfront payment is required unless something goes wrong. The tapestry will travel by truck via the Channel Tunnel in a specially designed crate, displayed behind protective screening, and remain in London until July 2027. The loan is part of a broader cultural agreement between Britain and France, announced by President Emmanuel Macron during his July state visit to London.

smithsonian closes museums government shutdown 1234756500

The Smithsonian Institution has been forced to close its 21 museums in Washington, D.C., indefinitely due to a continuing U.S. government shutdown that began on October 1. The National Gallery of Art had already closed the previous weekend. The Smithsonian had initially used its own funds to stay open, first planning to close on October 6 and then extending operations through October 11, but the ongoing shutdown—stemming from disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over health care policy—has now made closure unavoidable. The shutdown also threatens upcoming programming, including a planned Grandma Moses survey at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and a portraiture competition exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which has already been postponed.

smithsonian closes museums government shutdown 1234756500

The Smithsonian Institution has been forced to close its 21 museums in Washington, D.C., due to an ongoing U.S. government shutdown that began on October 1. This follows the earlier closure of the National Gallery of Art. The Smithsonian had initially used its own funds to stay open, extending operations from an original October 6 closure date to October 11, but ultimately could not continue. The shutdown stems from a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over health care policy, and President Trump has suggested that furloughed federal workers may not receive back pay. The closures have already disrupted programming: the National Portrait Gallery postponed a portraiture competition exhibition, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum's planned Grandma Moses survey faces uncertainty.

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Saudi Arabia is significantly scaling back its ambitious "Vision 2030" cultural and infrastructure spending due to falling oil prices and massive budget overruns. Major international projects, including a $200 million investment deal with the Metropolitan Opera in New York and funding for the Centre Pompidou’s refurbishment, are currently in limbo or facing payment delays. Reports of unpaid invoices to art service firms and the halting of "gigaprojects" like Neom suggest a period of financial retrenchment for the kingdom.

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President Donald Trump has initiated a controversial overhaul of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., renaming it the 'Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts' and appointing himself chairman. Following the dismissal of long-time president Deborah Rutter and the installation of a board led by Richard Grenell, the institution has pivoted toward conservative programming, leading to a 93% to 57% drop in ticket sales and high-profile boycotts from artists like Philip Glass. The center is now slated for a two-year closure starting after July 4 for major renovations, a move that has sparked alarm among preservationists and political figures.

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MoMA PS1, the contemporary art satellite of New York's Museum of Modern Art, announced it will offer free admission to all visitors starting January 1, 2026, thanks to a $900,000 donation from entrepreneur Sonya Yu. Previously, only New York City residents received free entry, while others faced a suggested $10 fee. The move positions MoMA PS1 as New York's largest free art museum, joining institutions like the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the American Folk Art Museum.

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President Donald Trump’s return to office has triggered a sweeping overhaul of the American cultural landscape through executive orders and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Key actions include the dissolution of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices at the Smithsonian, the cancellation of thousands of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants, and the removal of high-profile Biden appointees from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board. These measures are accompanied by new tariffs and immigration policies that threaten the international art trade and cross-border collaborations.

Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ Could Leave Madrid for the First Time in Over 30 Years

The Basque regional government has formally requested a temporary loan of Pablo Picasso's 'Guernica' from Madrid's Museo Reina Sofía to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for a period from October 2026 to June 2027. This would mark the painting's first movement since 1992 and is timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the bombing of Guernica. The request faces strong opposition from the Reina Sofía, which has released a conservation report stating the monumental canvas is too fragile to travel.

Brian Eno and 200+ Artists Urge British Museum to “Stop Erasing Palestine”

Brian Eno and 200+ Artists Urge British Museum to “Stop Erasing Palestine”

Over 200 artists and cultural groups, led by musician Brian Eno, have published an open letter demanding the British Museum stop what they call the "erasure of Palestine." The letter accuses the museum of altering wall texts in its Middle East Galleries, such as replacing "Palestinian descent" with "Canaanite descent," following pressure from the pro-Israel group UK Lawyers for Israel. The signatories also criticize the institution's past ties to the Israeli embassy and sponsor BP, issuing demands for an expert review of labels and an apology for hosting an Israeli embassy gala.

british museum explains removal palestinian wall texts 1234773551

The British Museum has disputed a Telegraph report claiming it removed the word 'Palestinian' from wall texts in its Middle Eastern galleries due to pressure from the pro-Israel group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). Museum director Nicholas Cullinan stated the changes to two panels, which altered 'Palestinian descent' to 'Canaanite descent' in one instance, were made last year and were unrelated to the UKLFI letter, which he claimed not to have seen until after the controversy erupted.

british museum explains removal palestinian wall texts 1234773551

The British Museum has disputed a Telegraph report claiming it removed the word 'Palestinian' from wall texts under pressure from the pro-Israel group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). The museum stated that while some text was changed last year, using 'Canaanite descent' for a specific historical period, it continues to use 'Palestinian' as a cultural identifier where appropriate and that the changes predated the UKLFI letter. Museum director Nicholas Cullinan denied the changes were a response to the group's complaint, expressing frustration over the situation.

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As the U.S. government shutdown enters its third week, museums that had remained open are now closing. The National Portrait Gallery (NPG), part of the Smithsonian Institution, postponed its exhibition “The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today,” originally set to open October 18, after the Smithsonian’s surplus funds run out on October 11. The National Gallery of Art (NGA) closed on October 1, leaving two major works by Houston-based multimedia artist Dario Robleto—the film *Until We Are Forged: Hymns for the Elements* and the sculpture *Small Crafts on Sisyphean Seas*—inaccessible to the public.

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Artists in the United States are facing heightened repression, including censorship, funding cuts, and deportation threats, during the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second presidential term. The administration's executive orders have targeted cultural institutions, with a campaign to purge the Smithsonian of 'improper ideology' and the gutting of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Funding for arts grants, particularly those focused on underserved communities, has been canceled or left in limbo, creating a climate of fear and uncertainty.

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The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has updated its 2026 fiscal year grant guidelines, cancelling the Challenge America grants that targeted underserved communities and replacing them with a focus on projects celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States (America250). The changes, announced in response to executive orders by President Donald Trump, eliminate DEI-related funding and require applicants to have a five-year history of arts programming. Organizations that had applied for the $10,000 Challenge America grants must now resubmit under the broader Grants for Arts Projects category, with extended deadlines.

British Museum did not remove Palestine from labels due to pressure campaign, museum sources say—as backlash continues

Over 200 cultural figures, including musician Brian Eno and writer Laleh Khalili, have signed an open letter condemning the British Museum for allegedly removing the word "Palestine" from labels in its Ancient Levant gallery. The letter, published in March, accuses the museum of historical revisionism and links the action to pressure from the advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel, while also criticizing the museum's broader ties to Israel.

president trump plans presidential library skyscraper miami 1234779509

President Donald Trump has unveiled a rendering for his planned presidential library in downtown Miami, envisioned as a 47-story skyscraper. The proposal features a gold entranceway, a 20-foot-tall golden statue of the former president, and a replica of the Oval Office, alongside a hotel and office space. The project is being designed by architecture firm Bermello Ajamil and is reportedly seeking to raise nearly $1 billion in donations to fund the construction on highly valuable waterfront land.

Claire Tabouret’s Stained-Glass Windows for Notre-Dame Divide French Society, with a Legal Threat Looming

French contemporary artist Claire Tabouret has been commissioned to create six new stained-glass windows for the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, replacing six existing 19th-century grisaille windows designed by architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. The project, announced by President Emmanuel Macron and the Archbishop of Paris as a "contemporary gesture" following the 2019 fire, has sparked a major public and institutional controversy, with a petition against it gathering over 335,000 signatures.

UK Considers Charging Museum Entry: Morning Links

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The UK government is considering a significant policy shift by exploring entry fees for foreign tourists at national museums to address a funding crisis in the arts. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy indicated that the proposal, alongside a potential hotel levy, follows a review of Arts Council England. Since 2001, UK national museums have been free to all visitors, a policy credited with boosting tourism, but current economic pressures are forcing lawmakers to reconsider this model.

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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.

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Hundreds of artists, gallery owners, and collectors staged coordinated sit-ins at major Spanish museums, including the Museo Reina Sofía, to protest the country's 21 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on art sales. Demonstrators gathered around Richard Serra’s 'Equal-Parallel/Guernica-Bengasi'—a replica of a work that famously vanished from storage—to symbolize the potential disappearance of the Spanish art sector under current fiscal pressures. The protests included demands for the resignation of the culture and finance ministers and calls for tax parity with European neighbors.

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Arts Council England announced the results of the 2024-25 Cultural Gifts Scheme and Acceptance in Lieu initiatives, through which 32 artworks valued at nearly $80 million entered public collections. Highlights include Edgar Degas's pastel *Danseuses roses* (ca. 1897–1901) donated to the National Gallery, paintings by Max Liebermann and Max Pechstein given to the Ashmolean Museum, a historic desk used by Prime Ministers Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill acquired by the National Trust, and 77 photographs by Bill Brandt donated to Tate. The report covers transfers from April 2024 to March 2025.

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The Flemish government's plan to dissolve M HKA, a contemporary art institution in Antwerp, has been met with legal opposition after the museum initiated a legal review that claims the move would be illegal. The review, presented to the press on Tuesday with artists Luc Tuymans and Otobong Nkanga in attendance, argues that the government's proposal—which would close M HKA, transfer its collection to Ghent, and rebrand S.M.A.K. as the Flemish Museum of Contemporary and Current Art by 2028—contains "flagrant illegalities." The plan has drawn widespread condemnation from museum directors and artists, including Anish Kapoor, who demanded the removal of his work from M HKA's website.

smithsonian closes museums government shutdown 1234756500

The Smithsonian Institution has been forced to close all 21 of its museums in Washington, D.C., due to an ongoing U.S. government shutdown that began on October 1. The National Gallery of Art had already closed the previous weekend. The Smithsonian had initially used its own funds to remain open, first planning to close on October 6 and then extending operations through October 11, but ultimately could not continue. The shutdown stems from a dispute between Democrats and Republicans over health care policy. This closure follows a year of repeated attacks on the Smithsonian by the Trump administration, including an executive order denouncing the institution for promoting a "race-centered ideology" and the release of a list of condemned artworks related to migration and transgender identity.

Trump Arts Impact 2025

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The Trump administration has initiated a sweeping overhaul of the American cultural landscape, marked by aggressive oversight of the Smithsonian Institution and the termination of numerous National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants. Key actions include the disbanding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the removal of leadership at the National Portrait Gallery, and the implementation of content audits to remove references to Trump's impeachments and information regarding slavery from federal sites. These moves are part of a broader effort to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and enforce 'American values' in cultural programming ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary.

Picasso’s Guernica is the ultimate emblem of the horrors of war. It has no place in Spain's partisan squabbles | María Ramírez

A political dispute has erupted in Spain over the potential temporary relocation of Pablo Picasso's iconic anti-war painting *Guernica*. The president of the Basque Country, Imanol Pradales, has formally requested the work be moved from Madrid's Reina Sofía museum to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao for several months in 2027, framing it as a form of "reparation" for the Basque people. The Spanish government has rejected the request on conservation grounds, while conservative politicians have used the proposal to attack Basque nationalism.