NewsThe Year in Review 2019
From the MoMA expansion to ‘artwashing’ ill-gotten wealth: the major museum moments of 2019
We look back at the biggest stories of the year
NewsOpioid Crisis
Citing opioid crisis, Tufts University strips Sackler name from its buildings and programmes
Institution declares that the name “runs counter to the school’s mission”
NewsMuseums
Freer/Sackler rebrands its identity as the National Museum of Asian Art
Museum officials say the decision is unrelated to protests over the Sackler family's ties to Purdue Pharma
NewsSackler family
Nan Goldin brings first PAIN protest to the UK, storming the Victoria and Albert Museum
Demonstrators demand that V&A director Tristram Hunt drops Sackler name
NewsOpioid Crisis
Nan Goldin brings Pain to Purdue Pharma bankruptcy hearings in New York
Demonstrators at the White Plains courthouse kept up the pressure to hold Sackler family accountable in opioid crisis, as a $10bn settlement hangs in the balance
NewsEthics
How ethical can museums afford to be? We ask five major UK art institutions about funding challenges
We find out how mounting public scrutiny of private money could affect the bottom line of London's National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Gallery and the Tate
NewsLaw
‘Completely unacceptable’: Nan Goldin attacks proposed settlement in opioid crisis
Artist says the reported deal is a cynical attempt to avoid significant restitution
NewsProtests
Artist Nan Goldin and other activists arrested during opioid protest at New York governor’s office
Campaigners known for museum protests accuse Andrew Cuomo of not doing enough to halt drug deaths
NewsSackler family
Musée du Louvre removes all mention of Sackler name from its galleries following protests
Activist group Pain says Paris museum has taped over or taken down plaques dedicated to the eponymous family whose pharmaceutical company is accused of fuelling the US opioid crisis
NewsSackler family
The Met says it will stop accepting gifts from Sacklers associated with Purdue Pharma
The museum cites recent lawsuits tied to the US opioid crisis in its decision to decline future donations from the family
NewsSponsorship
Guggenheim Museum says it 'does not plan to accept any gifts' from the Sackler family
The move follows similar decisions by London museums
NewsSponsorship
South London Gallery returned funding to Sackler Trust last year
Plus, Nan Goldin's show at the National Portrait Gallery is expected to go ahead after the trust and London museum decided not to proceed with a £1m grant
NewsSponsorship
Tate to stop accepting donations from the Sackler Trust
The move follows a mutual decision by the National Portrait Gallery and the Sackler Trust to not proceed with a £1m grant
News
The Met is re-evaluating its gift acceptance policy in wake of Sackler lawsuits
Their family’s support “began decades before the opioid crisis” says president and CEO Daniel Weiss
NewsFunding
Will museums stop accepting Sackler money in wake of Massachusetts lawsuit?
Eight members of the family are being sued for helping to fuel the opioid epidemic through their pharmaceutical company
NewsFunding
Business as usual for museums funded by Sackler opioid money?
Beneficiaries of the family’s largesse deflect or ignore questions about the donors’ role in the drugs epidemic sweeping the US
CommentFunding
Culture is compromised by donations from the Sackler family: we must not accept any more of their money
Anna Somers Cocks on the revelations published in the New Yorker magazine
Anna Somers Cocks