Saudis Renege on Met Opera Financial Aid, Berlin’s Culture Senator Resigns, and More: Morning Links for April 24, 2026

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that Saudi Arabia reneged on a noncommittal memorandum of understanding that would have provided up to $200 million over eight years to the cash-strapped New York institution. Met general manager Peter Gelb said the Saudis blamed the war in Iran and the blocked Strait of Hormuz, but funding had already failed to materialize before the conflict, prompting preemptive layoffs in January. Separately, Berlin culture senator Sarah Wedl-Wilson resigned after a state audit found she illegally authorized €2.6 million for 13 projects meant to combat antisemitism, violating budget regulations. Other news includes President Trump's plan to renovate the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, Ontario increasing support for the Art Gallery of Ontario and Royal Ontario Museum, Rome's new photography museum, and the appointment of Thiago de Paula Souza as curator of the eighth Athens Biennale.

Image of Family Torn by ICE Wins World Press Photo of the Year

American photojournalist Carol Guzy won the 2026 World Press Photo of the Year for her image "Separated by ICE," which captures a tearful family torn apart by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after an immigration court hearing in New York amid President Trump's broader crackdown. The contest, established in 1955, selected 42 global winners from over 57,000 photographs submitted by nearly 3,800 photographers across 141 countries. Finalists included Saber Nuraldin's "Aid Emergency in Gaza" and Victor J. Blue's "The Trials of the Achi Women," while other winners addressed displacement, war, and environmental crises.

A new director for the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Une nouvelle directrice pour le Smithsonian American Art Museum

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, 75, has been appointed director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), succeeding Stephanie Stebich after a vacancy of nearly 17 months. Hartigan, who began her career at SAAM in the 1970s and rose to chief curator before leaving in 2003, most recently served as executive director of the Peabody Essex Museum, becoming its first woman to lead the institution. She will assume her new role on September 8.