GABRIEL CHAILE DESPLIEGA SU ARQUELOGIA DE LO MIGRATORIO EN LONDRES

Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile has opened a new commission titled "Archaeology of Memory" at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. The site-specific installation transforms a large gallery space into an archaeological excavation site, incorporating everyday and decorative objects sourced from the surrounding East End neighborhood. These objects are embedded into monumental adobe sculptures that draw on the forms and material traditions of Indigenous communities from northwest Argentina, where Chaile originates. The artist acts as both anthropologist and storyteller, exploring a "genealogy of form" that traces recurring motifs across cultures and time.

GABRIEL CHAILE UNFOLDS HIS ARCHAEOLOGY OF MIGRATION IN LONDON

Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile has opened a new commission titled "Archaeology of Memory" at London's Whitechapel Gallery. The site-specific installation features monumental adobe sculptures that incorporate everyday and decorative objects sourced from the surrounding East End neighborhood. Chaile, who is based in Lisbon, draws on the material traditions of Indigenous communities from northwest Argentina, blending roles as artist, anthropologist, and storyteller to explore themes of migration, identity, and cultural memory.

Canadian Museum of Human Rights Threatened With Legal Action Over Palestinian Nakba Show

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg has been threatened with legal action by Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center over an upcoming exhibition titled "Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present," scheduled to open June 27. The exhibition focuses on the 1948 expulsion of approximately 750,000 Palestinians, known as the Nakba, and features video testimonies, photography, visual art, and text exploring human rights violations and forced displacement. Shurat HaDin's letter, sent to the museum's board and senior leadership, argues the exhibition omits Jewish historical ties to the region, politicizes history, and could fuel hostility against the Jewish community. The organization demands the museum halt work on the show, commission an independent review, and retract statements about Israeli human rights violations, threatening litigation if the museum does not respond within 14 days. The museum has confirmed the letter is under review but stated the exhibition is still expected to open as scheduled.

More Than 100 Seattle Art Museum Workers Plan to Unionize

More than 100 Seattle Art Museum employees announced plans to unionize under the banner Seattle Art Museum Workers United (SAMWU), representing workers across over 20 front- and back-end departments including curatorial, education, and visitor experience. The union informed SAM director and CEO Scott Stulen of its formation in a letter citing unsustainable wages, subpar health benefits, and top-down decision-making. Organizers say they have a supermajority support among eligible workers. SAMWU has filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board but is willing to withdraw if leadership voluntarily recognizes the union before May 27. The union has affiliated with the Washington Federation of State Employees/AFSCME Council 28. Security staff, who previously unionized as SAM VSO in 2022 and secured a contract after a 12-day strike in late 2024, will remain separate.

Go big or go home: how The Lost Giants revived the ancient art of goliath-making

The Lost Giants (TLG), an art collective based in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, is reviving the British tradition of making processional giants—large, community-built figures made from wood, cloth, and papier-mâché. Founded three years ago by theatre designer Ruth Webb and her sister-in-law Amy Webb, the group has created giants for events ranging from local lantern parades to a harvest procession at Hauser & Wirth’s Somerset gallery. This New Year’s Eve, environmentalist Lisa Schneidau joined a massive procession of these giants in Lostwithiel, describing it as an extraordinary experience. The collective recently issued a public callout for an environmental group to collaborate on making a new beastie.

Cigarette Taxes Have Funneled $270 M. Toward Arts and Culture in Cleveland Since 2007

Cuyahoga County, Ohio, has funneled $270 million into arts and culture since 2007 through a cigarette tax, distributed by the nonprofit Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Beneficiaries include the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, the Cleveland Institute of Art, ICA-Art Conservation, Sculpture Center, and the Cleveland Arts Prize. The tax has funded roughly 4,000 grants to 485 organizations, far exceeding the $48 million the entire state received from the National Endowment for the Arts in the same period.

No money, more problems: 85% of US museums in urgent need of building repairs

A recent survey by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that approximately 85% of US museums face a costly backlog of maintenance or building repairs, with 77% having at least one structural issue that puts their collections at risk. Based on a survey of around 300 museums and 17 site visits, the report reveals that institutions across the country struggle to keep buildings updated and safe due to a lack of funding, with challenges especially pronounced in rural and remote locations where shipping materials and finding skilled workers is prohibitively expensive. Many museums are housed in historic homes or sites that are part of their collections, adding further complexity, and smaller museums often lack the budget to address major problems like new roofs or HVAC systems.

Comment | Museums are civic institutions. It’s time we acted like it

Lindsay C. Harris, director of the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA), publishes a commentary calling for museums to act as true civic institutions. She outlines concrete internal commitments OMCA has made, including voluntarily recognizing a staff union, adopting a pay equity philosophy with a minimum wage of $30.88 per hour, implementing transparent financial practices, and shifting investments toward socially responsible funds. Externally, she advocates for centering community voices, building social cohesion through inclusive programming, and measuring institutional impact through visitor surveys.

data dive venice biennale artists

Adriano Pedrosa, the first Latin American and openly queer curator of the Venice Biennale, has unveiled a record-breaking artist list for the 60th edition titled "Foreigners Everywhere." Featuring 331 artists, the main exhibition is the largest in the event's history and introduces a "nucleo storico" designed to provide belated recognition to overlooked figures from the Global South and marginalized communities. Pedrosa’s selection process intentionally challenges the Western-centric traditions of the art world by focusing on themes of displacement and the "stranger."

Iran’s arts community and heritage suffer as US-Israeli attacks continue

The US-Israeli bombardment of Iran, beginning in late February, has severely disrupted the country's cultural life and art scene. The typically busy Nowruz (Persian New Year) period was marked by fear, travel restrictions, and internet blackouts, leading to the evacuation of museum collections, the closure of galleries, and artists being unable to work in their studios.

Lloyd Le Blanc obituary

Sculptor Lloyd Le Blanc has died at the age of 85. He was known for creating large-scale bronze works of flora and fauna and, with his wife Judith Holmes Drewry, established the Le Blanc Fine Art foundry and studios in Saxby, Leicestershire. Le Blanc was involved in every stage of his sculptures' creation and also cast works for other artists from his foundry.

An Entire Paul Rudolph House Is Up for Sale at an L.A. Design Fair

The Walker Guest House, a 1953 architectural pavilion designed by Paul Rudolph, has been transported from Florida and reassembled inside the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. It is being offered for sale for $2 million as part of the Basic.Space L.A. high-design shopping event, complete with original furnishings and architectural drawings.

'The human-machine creative entanglement': artist Sougwen Chung on her technology-based practice

Artist Sougwen Chung is presenting new work, including the 10-metre scroll 'Recursion 0,' at Art Basel Hong Kong's new Zero 10 sector. The piece, created with brainwave data, will be completed live at the fair, showcasing her ongoing exploration of human-machine collaboration.

Hong Kong gains new foundation for global majority

The Cheng-Lan Foundation, a new independent arts initiative, has launched in Hong Kong during the city's major art week. Founded by Brian Yue, it supports artists, curators, and writers from African, Asian, Indigenous, and Latin American backgrounds through exhibitions, residencies, and commissions, with an inaugural solo show by Manila-based artist Cian Dayrit.

Reimagining communities: inside the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit

The Hong Kong International Cultural Summit returns on March 22-23, gathering cultural leaders from 14 countries in the West Kowloon Cultural District to discuss how institutions can reimagine their relationship with communities. Key figures like M+ Museum Director Suhanya Raffel, Hong Kong Palace Museum Director Louis Ng, and WestK CEO Betty Fung highlight the district's cross-disciplinary, audience-focused approach.

Lost Page of Archimedes Palimpsest Found

lost page of archimedes palimpsest found

Researchers from France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) have identified a missing page from the Archimedes Palimpsest at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Blois. The leaf, identified as page 123, contains geometric diagrams and passages from the mathematician’s treatise on the sphere and the cylinder, which were scrubbed and overwritten by monks with religious texts in the 13th century. The discovery was confirmed by comparing the leaf to 1906 photographs taken by scholar Johan Ludvig Heiberg before the manuscript was broken up and partially forged by an art dealer in the 1930s.

archimedes palimpsest manuscript rediscovered

A missing page from the Archimedes Palimpsest, the oldest surviving copy of the Greek mathematician’s writings, has been rediscovered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Blois, France. The 10th-century parchment, which had been missing for 120 years, contains portions of the treatise 'On the Sphere and the Cylinder' hidden beneath 20th-century illumination. The page was identified by a researcher from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) after being unaccounted for since 1906.

Art Market Minute: March 9

art market minute mar 9

The Gulf region’s art market is navigating a period of significant instability as escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S., Israel, and Iran threaten the upcoming Art Dubai fair. Long considered a safe haven for global culture and commerce, the United Arab Emirates now faces questions regarding its perceived insulation from regional conflict just weeks before its major international art event.

pompidou jersey city affordable housing

Jersey City officials have announced plans to repurpose the site originally intended for the Centre Pompidou’s North American satellite into affordable housing and community space. Mayor James Solomon, who recently took office facing a $250 million budget deficit, confirmed the city is collaborating with Kushner Real Estate Group on the Artwalk Towers development at 808 Pavonia Avenue. This move effectively closes the chapter on the ambitious French-American cultural partnership that was officially canceled last month.

mfa boston denies racial layoffs

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) has laid off 33 employees, approximately 6.3% of its staff, to address a projected $13 million structural deficit. Among those let go were the museum's only Black, Muslim, and Indigenous curators, leading to accusations that the cuts disproportionately targeted staff of color and undermined diversity initiatives.

walters art museum chief collections curatorial affairs officer

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore has appointed Katherine Larson as its chief collections and curatorial affairs officer, a newly created senior role. Larson will also serve as senior curator of Ancient Art, overseeing curatorial operations, collections, conservation, research, the exhibition calendar, and fundraising, beginning March 30.

mfa boston layoffs

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has laid off 57 employees, with an additional 56 staff members taking voluntary retirement. The cuts are a direct response to the severe financial impact of the museum's extended closure due to the public health crisis, which has led to massive losses in revenue from admissions, events, and retail.

walker art center closure ice protest

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis will close on Friday, January 23, to participate in the Day of Truth and Freedom protest, a statewide general strike organized by local labor unions and community groups in response to increased ICE presence in Minnesota. The museum is the largest institution to join over 300 small businesses, cultural organizations, and nonprofits in shuttering for the day, citing its institutional values of community care and staff support. The closure follows ICE's Operation Metro Surge, which intensified enforcement in the Twin Cities, and the January 7 killing of U.S. citizen Renée Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, which sparked nationwide protests and lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security.

alaska art student arrested eating ai generated art protest

A University of Alaska Fairbanks undergraduate, Graham Granger, was arrested for eating AI-generated artwork created by MFA student Nick Dwyer. The artwork, titled *Shadow Searching: ChatGPT psychosis* (2025), was part of the exhibition “This Is Not Awful” at the UAF Art Gallery. Granger allegedly destroyed at least 57 of 160 Polaroid-style images in protest of AI-generated art, and was charged with criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor.

henry walsh fine art consultancy

British artist Henry Walsh, known for his intricate paintings of miniature worlds filled with tiny figures and narratives, has announced a series of exhibitions for 2025 and 2026. His work will be shown at Fresh Art Fair in London (January 31–February 2, 2026), the Affordable Art Fair New York and Austin editions in March and May, and a solo show titled "Changing Seasons" at Fine Art Consultancy from June 10 to July 12. The exhibitions follow a private commission inspired by the Austin City Limits Festival, which Walsh used as a starting point for his painting "Pageant" (2025), featuring music icons like Bonnie Raitt and Leon Bridges.

smithsonian insitutition executive order compliance trump

The Smithsonian Institution has agreed to turn over internal materials related to its programming and operations to the White House, following an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at purging what he calls “anti-American ideology” from the consortium of museums and archives. Private emails from Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch II, obtained by The New York Times, reveal that the Smithsonian will provide digital photographs of labels, placards, and other text on public display, as well as other materials, on a rolling basis to avoid losing federal funding, which makes up nearly two-thirds of its roughly $1 billion annual budget.

ms rachel gaza art exhibition fundraiser youtube

YouTube star Rachel Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, announced an exhibition and fundraiser titled "Colors That Survived" featuring artworks created by children in Gaza. The show opens Tuesday at Caelum Gallery in New York's Chelsea neighborhood, with limited-edition prints priced at $200 each available through January 30 via the nonprofit Artists Support. All proceeds will go to young Palestinian artists. Accurso, who has over 18 million YouTube subscribers, became an advocate for children in Gaza after participating in a Save the Children fundraiser in May 2024, and has faced backlash from Zionist groups including StopAntisemitism, which falsely accused her of receiving funds from Hamas.

trump proposes eliminating nea and neh again

President Donald Trump's 2021 budget proposal includes plans to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, labeling them wasteful and not core federal responsibilities. The budget requests $30 million to close the NEA and $33.4 million to end the NEH in fiscal year 2021. This marks the fourth consecutive year the administration has proposed cutting these agencies, despite previous rejections by Congress. Advocacy group Americans for the Arts, led by CEO Robert Lynch, has vowed to work with lawmakers to reject the proposal and instead increase funding.

ukraine demands extradition russian archaeologist crimea

Ukraine has requested the extradition from Poland of Russian archaeologist Oleksandr Butyagin, who was detained in Warsaw on December 4 on suspicion of conducting illegal excavations in Russian-occupied Crimea. Butyagin, an employee of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, faces charges from Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office for unauthorized digs at the ancient Greek colony of Myrmekion between 2014 and 2019, allegedly causing significant damage. A Polish court has ordered his custody until January 13 while the extradition process proceeds; if convicted in Ukraine, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

lacma workers vote to unionize afscme

Workers at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) voted to unionize with AFSCME District Council 36, forming LACMA United. The union will represent approximately 300 employees, including curators and art handlers. The vote took place electronically after LACMA leadership declined to voluntarily recognize the union in November, opting instead for an election overseen by the American Arbitration Association and approved by the National Labor Relations Board. 96 percent of those voting supported the unionization effort.