Colosseum Facelift Restores Ancient Southern Entrance to Its Former Glory

Rome’s Colosseum has unveiled a major four-year restoration of its southern entrance, a project led by Stefano Boeri Interiors in collaboration with the Colosseum Archaeological Park. The renovation lowered the surrounding piazza to its original Roman-era height, reintroduced travertine flooring sourced from ancient quarries, and installed seating blocks that mark the locations of long-lost marble columns. During the excavation process, archaeologists recovered a wealth of historical artifacts, including ancient coins, statues, and gold jewelry, while leaving a specific section untouched to showcase the arena's complex hydraulic foundations.

Proposed Restitution Law in France Advances in National Assembly

The French National Assembly’s Cultural Affairs Committee has approved a landmark bill aimed at streamlining the restitution of cultural property looted from Africa during the colonial era. Moving away from the previous requirement for case-by-case legislation, the new framework allows restitutions to be ordered by ministerial decree, provided they fall within the 1815–1972 timeframe. This advancement follows years of debate sparked by President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 pledge and the influential 2018 Sarr-Savoy report.

A missing wolf and a Sydney sunset: photos of the day – Thursday

The Guardian’s picture editors have curated a selection of global photographs capturing significant moments from Thursday, April 9, 2026. The collection spans a wide range of subjects, including a dramatic sunset at Milk Beach in Sydney, environmental concerns over a widening faultline in the Swiss Alps, and political activities involving leaders in Scotland and Italy. It also documents somber events, such as the funeral of Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Wishah in Gaza.

154-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Fossil Debuts in the U.K.—But Its Species Remains a Mystery

A remarkably complete 154-million-year-old theropod fossil, nicknamed Juliasaurus, has made its public debut at the Hollytrees Museum in Colchester, U.K. Discovered in Wyoming’s Morrison Formation in 2020 and sold by the David Aaron gallery to a private collector, the 20-foot-long specimen is currently part of the “Discover: Museum Wonders” exhibition. While initially thought to be an Allosaurus or Marshosaurus, unique anatomical features in its skull and pelvis suggest it may represent an entirely new species.

Archaeologists Uncover a 2,000-Year-Old Hillfort in Estonia

Archaeologists from the University of Tartu have discovered a 2,000-year-old Iron Age hillfort at Köstrimägi in Tartu County, Estonia. Using high-resolution terrain mapping, the team identified a 16,000-square-foot fortification featuring an unusual stepped rampart system that dates back to between 41 BCE and 9 CE. Despite its size, the site yielded few artifacts beyond pottery fragments and charcoal, suggesting a very brief period of occupation before it was destroyed by fire.

Bronze Age State Metal-Working Center Unearthed Near China’s Yangtse River

Archaeologists at the Shenduntou site near the Yangtze River have unearthed a significant Bronze Age metal-working center dating back to the Zhou dynasty. The excavation, led by Nanjing Normal University, revealed approximately 1,000 artifacts including clay molds, arrowheads, and knives, alongside evidence of furnaces and protective earthen walls. These findings confirm the existence of a high-level workshop dedicated to large-scale bronze production within the ancient Wu kingdom.

Keir Starmer is no Neville Chamberlain | Brief letters

The Guardian's obituary of architect Desmond Williams has highlighted a notable connection within the British architectural world. Williams, known for his ecclesiastical designs, studied at the University of Manchester School of Architecture alongside Donald Buttress, who eventually served as the surveyor of the fabric of Westminster Abbey.

Dutch Museum Discovers 8-Inch Ancient Roman Phallus

Archaeologists at the Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen discovered a rare, eight-inch Ancient Roman phallus carved from bone while cataloging a massive backlog of 16,000 archaeological boxes. The artifact was found alongside high-quality Roman tableware during an €8 million government-funded inventory project aimed at processing collections from defunct storage depots in the province of Gelderland.

trump admin white house ballroom national security risk

The Trump administration has filed an emergency motion to overturn a federal judge's ruling that halted a $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom renovation at the White House. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon previously ordered a stop to the project following a lawsuit by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argues the president lacks the unilateral authority to alter the historic site. The administration's appeal claims the construction pause creates grave national security risks and that the court lacks the authority to interfere with presidential renovations.

us holocaust museum canceled programming angering trump

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has reportedly removed educational content and canceled programming to avoid potential conflict with the Trump administration. Former employees allege that the museum preemptively scrubbed web pages linking Jim Crow laws to Nazi-era policies and rebranded or canceled workshops on the "fragility of democracy" to avoid being labeled as "woke." While the museum claims these decisions were based on funding challenges, internal records show a significant increase in net assets during the same period.

Preparations for the Miyako Odori, Kyoto’s spring dance festival – in pictures

Geisha and maiko (apprentices) in Kyoto are rehearsing for the annual Miyako Odori, or 'Capital City Dances.' This spring dance festival, held throughout April at the Gion Kōbu Kaburenjo theatre, features eight scenes depicting Japanese history and literature, accompanied by live shamisen music and performed against cherry blossom backdrops.

Roar materials: the ‘uncanny’ art of dinosaur puppetry – in pictures

The Australian puppetry company Erth is preparing for a new immersive dinosaur show at the Sydney Opera House. The article provides a behind-the-scenes look at their workshop in Marrickville, where a team of artists and designers hand-craft highly realistic, large-scale dinosaur puppets using animatronics, 3D printing, and traditional craftsmanship.

Archaeologists Discover 19th-Century Shipwreck in Copenhagen Harbor

Marine archaeologists from Denmark's Viking Ship Museum have discovered the wreck of the 18th-century Danish warship Dannebroge in Copenhagen harbor. The ship was destroyed during the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, when the British fleet under Admiral Horatio Nelson attacked to dismantle the League of Armed Neutrality. Divers have recovered cannons, uniform fragments, bottles, and sailors' remains from the site.

dc judge orders stop trump ballroom project

A U.S. District Court judge has issued a ruling to halt the construction of a massive 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the White House's former East Wing. Judge Richard J. Leon rejected the Trump administration's claims that the President has the unilateral authority to demolish historic structures and build new ones using private funds. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued that the project violated federal statutes and disrupted the architectural integrity of the historic site.

China Orders Nationwide Museum Audit After Missing Masterpieces Scandal

China's National Cultural Heritage Administration has mandated a comprehensive, item-by-item inventory of all state-run museum collections following a major scandal at the Nanjing Museum. The audit aims to verify that objects listed in official records physically exist in storage, a direct response to the discovery that donated national treasures, including a valuable Ming dynasty painting, were improperly transferred or sold into the private market over decades.

‘How can you forget me’: show details Filipino Americans’ rich history

Antonio Somera discovered 26 steamer trunks belonging to early 20th-century Filipino migrants in a Stockton, California basement in 2005. The trunks' contents, including a pillowcase embroidered with the phrase "HOW CAN YOU FORGET ME," form the core of the exhibition "How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories" at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington DC, offering an intimate look at the lives of the Manong Generation of laborers.

Tonika Lewis Johnson: Segregation and How to Disrupt It

Hyperallergic is hosting an online member event on April 15 featuring a conversation with social justice artist and 2025 MacArthur Fellow Tonika Lewis Johnson. The event will focus on her community-driven projects, including the "Folded Map Project," and will include readings from her 2024 book, *Don’t Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It*.

Hidden Underground Railroad Passage Discovered at New York Museum Faces Development Threat

The Merchant's House Museum in New York discovered a hidden passageway within a set of drawers, used to conceal people escaping slavery via the Underground Railroad. The find, linked to the home's original abolitionist owner Joseph Brewster, has significantly increased public interest in the historic site.

How to Survive AI

Two documentaries premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival directly confront the discourse surrounding artificial intelligence. Valerie Veatch's 'Ghost in the Machine' traces the racist, eugenicist origins of AI research, linking it to a history of American techno-fascism, while Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell's 'The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist' offers a more measured, personal exploration of public anxieties about the technology.

Canadian foundation with ties to Israel’s biggest real-estate company ceases funding for Toronto Arts Foundation following protests

The Azrieli Foundation, a major Canadian philanthropic organization with ties to Israel's largest real-estate company, has ended its funding agreement with the Toronto Arts Foundation. The decision follows a sustained two-year protest campaign by the group Artists Against Artwashing, which included disruptions at a major Toronto arts event and an open letter signed by over 450 artists and cultural workers.

Take Your Practice Further in a Visual Arts Residency at Banff Centre

The Banff Centre is accepting applications for two thematic visual arts residencies in late 2026 and early 2027. The first, "On Other Archives," focuses on reinterpreting archival methods and will be led by artists Deanna Bowen and Krista Belle Stewart with curator Tarah Hogue. The second, "Future Figurations," explores speculative futures and world-building under the guidance of artists Rajni Perera and Marigold Santos.

From car parks to piers: the 2026 Australian Urban Design awards celebrate utilitarian architecture

The 2026 Australian Urban Design Awards have been announced, celebrating projects that prioritize pragmatic, community-focused design over sculptural spectacle. Winners include the Campbelltown station commuter car park in Sydney, praised for its civic dignity and greenery; the St Kilda pier redevelopment in Melbourne, which balances engineering with tourism and penguin habitat protection; and Balam Balam Place in Brunswick, a cultural landscape honoring Indigenous history.

Massive Cache of 42,000 Pottery Shards Reveals Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have unearthed a massive collection of over 42,000 inscribed pottery shards, known as ostraca, at the ancient site of Athribis. The shards, dating from the 3rd century B.C.E. to the 11th century C.E., contain tax receipts, religious texts, school exercises, and personal notes written in Demotic, Greek, Hieratic, Coptic, and Arabic scripts, offering an unprecedented window into the daily lives of ordinary people.

Week in wildlife: wild boar babies, fenland ponies and a slug with strange genitalia

The article is a photographic roundup of notable wildlife encounters and animal behaviors from around the world. It features images of wild boar piglets in Germany, a wild boar that wandered into a Berlin supermarket, a camouflaged snow leopard in Ladakh, Konik ponies sparring in a UK fenland reserve, a banana slug with unusual reproductive anatomy in California, a seagull with a sea star in Seattle, a Palestine sunbird in Israel, and rhinos reintroduced to a Ugandan national park.

Archaeologists Identify Lost Medieval Village in Polish Forest

Archaeologists from Poland's Relicta Foundation have located the lost medieval village of Stolzenberg in a dense forest near Sławoborze in northwestern Pomerania. The 15-acre site, identified through a combination of historical research, metal detecting, and advanced geophysical surveys, has yielded 1,500 surface anomalies and 400 artifacts, including coins and belt buckles from the 13th-14th centuries, confirming its medieval origins. Radiocarbon dating places the height of its activity in the 14th century.

Remnants of 3,400-Year-Old Loom in Spain Sheds Light on Bronze Age Textile Production

Archaeologists in Spain have published new research on a remarkably preserved 3,450-year-old wooden loom, discovered in 2008 at the Cabezo Redondo site. The loom survived because a fire destroyed the surrounding Bronze Age village and a roof collapsed on it, charring and protecting the wood from decay. This rare find includes over 200 lightweight loom weights, suggesting the community was engaged in intensive production of delicate wool textiles.

Meet the First Cohort of Haystack’s Artist Grant Initiative

The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, supported by the Windgate Foundation, has announced the eight recipients of its inaugural Artist Grant Initiative. Each emerging artist received an unrestricted $10,000 grant and participated in an online mentorship program with artists Vivian Chiu and Cedric Mitchell. The 2025 cohort, selected by jurors Curtis Arima and Annie Evelyn, includes Aminata Conteh, David Gutierrez, Payton Harris-Woodard, Celina Hernandez, Jason McDonald, Alex Paat, David Vuong, and Tzyy Yi (Amy) Young.

The world’s largest light installation shines on a small Australian town

Finnish artist Kari Kola has unveiled 'Lighting the Sound,' the world's largest light installation, in Albany, Western Australia. The work, spanning over 10 million square meters across King George Sound, uses massive beams of colored light to transform the night sky over three weekends as part of the city's bicentenary celebrations.

New book shows why physical maps have an important role to play in our digital world

Professor James Cheshire spent three years cataloging forgotten maps in a University College London storage room, resulting in the book 'The Library of Lost Maps.' The volume presents 96 historically significant maps, ranging from a pre-atomic bomb Hiroshima map to a Victorian geological survey of India, highlighting their physical fragility and hidden stories.

Trump's White House Ballroom Proposal Faces Criticism Over Scale

trumps white house ballroom proposal too big

President Donald Trump has proposed a massive 90,000-square-foot addition to the White House, featuring a 22,000-square-foot ballroom designed to host 1,000 guests. While the administration argues the space is necessary to replace temporary tents for state functions, the project has already led to the demolition of the East Wing and sparked significant backlash from federal planning commissions and preservation groups.