NewsPolitics
Russian government quits as Putin rewrites constitution—with the help of key cultural leaders
Directors of the State Hermitage Museum and State Tretyakov Gallery are part of a team enlisted to create laws that will allow the president to remain in power
NewsCollectors
Angola freezes assets of billionaire and her art collector husband
Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, is married to Sindika Dokolo who has been working for years on repatriating works to the African continent
NewsUK politics
Artists react angrily to Tory landslide result in UK general election
Issues raised include environmental crisis and future of the Labour party
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
AnalysisThe Year in Review 2019
From cancelled fairs to street art's auction room takeover: the art market's fruitiest stories of 2019
We look back at the stories that have overturned the art world order this year
NewsCensorship
Artists call for Kyrgyz minister of culture’s resignation in wake of censorship scandal
Open letter argues that censorship of the exhibition Feminnale violated a number of constitutional protections
NewsBanksy
Banksy transforms bench into Santa's sleigh in new mural highlighting UK homelessness
Street artist posts video of the work praising passersby in Birmingham for stopping and offering food and drink to a man sleeping rough
NewsPoland
Lublin governor files defamation suit against art historian sparking free speech fears in Poland
Case against Tomasz Kitliński follows row over installation that marked pogrom sites in the city
NewsMuseums
Strikes hit France: here are the museums that are affected
Several institutions have closed, others have cut back their opening times as protests against Macron's retirement reforms sweep the country
NewsControversies
German art activists apologise for upsetting Holocaust survivors with monument containing human remains
Centre for Political Beauty concedes “mistakes,” says it will veil monument
NewsUK politics
The UK's culture secretary conveyor belt: who will be next?
As the election looms this month and Nicky Morgan announces she is standing down, the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport prepares for its latest secretary of state
NewsTurkey
Court ruling converting Turkish museum to mosque could set precedent for Hagia Sophia
Decision that Kariye Museum must become a Muslim house of worship again could imperil its Byzantine art and have repercussions for other early Christian monuments
NewsHong Kong
Police use tear gas on protestors outside newly re-opened Hong Kong Museum of Art prompting safety fears for visitors and works
Substance was used during a rally calling for the government to meet the protestors' “five demands”
NewsHungary
Budapest’s green mayor puts brakes on €250m New National Gallery
Local politicians block construction on cultural quarter backed by right-wing government, citing “enormous impact on environment”
NewsPolitics
Three artists among pro-democracy candidates who scored landslide win in Hong Kong elections
Susi Law Wai-shan, Clara Cheung and Wong Tin Yan ran in the elections which had an unprecedented 71.2% turnout
CommentPolitics
Art is fuelling the protest movements in Latin America
Demonstrators from Argentina to Puerto Rico are relying on traditional art forms, dances, and music to hold their leaders accountable
NewsPolitics
Culture ministry failed to vet right-wing religious group close to Steve Bannon
Decision to lease Italian medieval monastery to an organisation affiliated with President Trump’s former chief strategist is blamed on staff shortages
NewsUK politics
Arts commentators question Conservative Party's controversial £120m ‘festival of Brexit’
Will artists and institutions participate in “national celebration” planned for 2022?
NewsUK politics
Boris Johnson’s Conservative manifesto promises £250m funding for culture
Although Tory announcement calls it the “largest cultural capital programme in a century”, pledge is only quarter of Labour’s £1bn culture fund
NewsUK politics
Jeremy Corbyn promises £1bn culture fund in Labour Party election manifesto
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats commit to stopping Brexit and protecting arts funding through the National Lottery
NewsPolitics
What is art for? Why, to help sell arms, silly!
October saw full deployment of culture in Russian and French political and commercial diplomacy with Saudi Arabia
NewsMuseums
Rio Art Museum could close due to lack of federal funding
Two directors left the museum last week, and 126 employees have received a dismissal notice
NewsVenice Biennale 2019
Iraq’s national pavilion at Venice Biennale shut ‘in solidarity with popular youth uprisings’
Iraqi-Kurdish artist Serwan Baran supports the move by the Ruya Foundation, saying “the people will prevail as long as we are with them”
NewsPerformance art
Artist reimagines Louisiana slave uprising with a different outcome
Hundreds to take part in re-enactment of America’s largest slave rebellion, ending with a victorious celebration in New Orleans
NewsPolitics
London's Roundhouse turns down £1m Sackler grant
The arts and performance venue has refused to accept a £1m grant from the Sackler Trust because of risk it would "distract from its work with young people"
NewsPolitics
Beirut art spaces close en-masse as huge anti-government protests take over the city
Artists and institutions come out in support of protestors who are demanding political reforms in Lebanon
NewsInvestigation
Protesters call for removal of MoMA trustee linked to Puerto Rican debt crisis
As the museum opens an ambitious $450m expansion, activists are demanding that “vulture fund” investor Steven Tananbaum be taken off the board—but he is not the only trustee with financial interests in the island
NewsPolitics
'Fabricated news': chairman of Contemporary Istanbul defends Turkish military action
Art world condemns Ali Gureli's political comments and say it could affect art fair's future ability to sign up foreign exhibitors
NewsPolitics
Nearly 500 protesters stage Anti-Columbus Day history tour at New York museums
After being blocked from entering the American Museum of Natural History, decolonisation demonstrators took to the streets, ending at the Metropolitan Museum’s steps
NewsPolitics
'No chance for art institutions': fears for freedom of speech as populist party set to win Polish elections
Expected victory for ruling Law and Justice party raises concerns that minority voices will be silenced as museums increasingly come under state control
NewsExhibitions
Major Kandinsky show opens in Saudi Arabia as Vladimir Putin arrives for rare state visit
Cultural programme of Russian art launches to coincide with president's trip to the Gulf state to sign over $2bn worth of deals
NewsDesert X
Three board members resign as Desert X announces collaboration with Saudi Arabia, Los Angeles Times reports
Ed Ruscha, Yael Lipschutz and Tristan Milanovich have resigned over the decision to launch the sculpture biennial in Al-Ula next year
NewsCensorship
Feminist exhibition in China suddenly axed following alleged governmental pressure
Show in Shanghai cancelled after being deemed "too sensitive" to run during 70th anniversary of country's founding
NewsFrieze London 2019
Frieze returns to safe haven of painting amid threat of recession and political instability
Traditional medium is back in fashion amid looming Brexit
NewsAppointments & departures
Uffizi's Eike Schmidt reveals why he cancelled move to Kunsthistorisches Museum at the eleventh hour
Uffizi director says he is able to pursue reforms at Florence museum under Italy's new centre-left government
CommentMuseums & Heritage
A victory for righteousness or just a performance of it?
We need to acknowledge the complexity of our time and not hide in simple political polarities, says the director of the Art Gallery of Ontario
NewsPolitics
'We want the Babylonian Palace of Tiglath-Pileser!': new book reveals Boris Johnson's thwarted vision for new V&A East
Nicholas Coleridge, the chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum, tells how Boris laid down the law on his plans for the project
PreviewExhibitions
Woven conflicts: Hannah Ryggen's fascist-fighting tapestries go on show in Frankfurt
Textile-works showing Nazi prison camps and Mussolini with a spear through his head will feature in first German survey of Swedish artist
NewsOlafur Eliasson
Olafur Eliasson appointed UN Goodwill Ambassador for climate
The Danish-Icelandic artist has long been addressing environmental issues in his work
NewsPolitics
Tom Watson, deputy Labour leader, wants to put 'creativity back at the heart of our classrooms'
Politician also says Brexit will have 'disastrous' consequences for creative industries
News
Washington, DC mayor's office attempts to take control of the city Arts Commission's collection
Staff members found their keys to the city's Art Bank abruptly deactivated as tensions rose between Mayor Muriel Bowser and the commission
BlogIn the frame
Lounging UK politician Jacob Rees-Mogg sends Twitter collagists into a spin
CommentUK politics
Politics requires a science degree? Why Boris Johnson's chief strategist is wrong about arts education
“If you are interested in politics you will be far better off if you study maths or physics,” writes aide Dominic Cummings in his blog
NewsPolitics
The artists at the forefront of Russia's democracy protests
Street art and digital art used as tools of subversion, as artists themselves bear the brunt of a brutal government crackdown
BlogIn the frame
Revealed! UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s arts policy ...from 2004
NewsPolitics
Ai Weiwei: 'Hong Kong is on fire and the world is indifferent'
Chinese artist and activist’s team has been documenting the intensifying anti-government protests over the weekend
InterviewPolitics
Drawing with the ashes of Isis-ravaged buildings: Piers Secunda on the art of destruction
Artist’s works on iconoclasm in Mosul are currently on show at the Imperial War Museum in London
NewsAi Weiwei
Puccini gets political: Ai Weiwei to direct opera in Rome about Hong Kong crisis
The Chinese artist will also design the sets and costumes for the production at the Teatro dell'Opera next year
NewsHong Kong
As crisis deepens, activists stage pro-democracy exhibition in Hong Kong
Show at WMA Space tells the “story of HongKongers” through protest ephemera
NewsPublic art
Vancouver mural memorialises First Nations’ aide to stranded Indian immigrants
The work was unveiled as the name of a Conservative politician behind the Komagata Maru incident was removed from the federal building on which it is painted
NewsMuseums
London mayor Sadiq Khan supports proposal for new slavery museum in the capital
Liverpool slavery museum keen to collaborate on project highlighting UK’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade
NewsHong Kong
Ai Weiwei sends research team to Hong Kong as demonstrations continue
Speaking to the BBC, Chinese dissident artist says West is unlikely to interfere and he has 'no trust in Britain at all'
NewsFreeports
Freeport debate rages on after UK government commits to establishing ten vast storage facilities
Labour MP Owen Smith calls the tax-free zones “self-storage for art thieves”
News US politics
Anti-Trump seesaw by architect duo unites children on US-Mexico border
“Actions that take place on one side have a direct consequence on the other side,” say project founders
NewsPolitics
What next? Nicky Morgan appointed UK's new culture secretary
Remain campaigner has said that schoolchildren who focus on arts and humanities are limiting their career choices
AnalysisPolitics
The artistic women in Boris Johnson's life
From his mother to his partners, the UK's new prime minister has been surrounded by people in the arts
NewsPolitics
Artists fearful about the future under new UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
No deal prospect and track record as London Mayor scrutinised
NewsResidencies
Sudanese political cartoonist Khalid Albaih is the first recipient of the Freedom artist’s residency
The new project, launched by Pen America and ArtX, aims to support at-risk artists
NewsVictoria & Albert Museum
V&A to mount major Iran exhibition in face of US sanctions
Museum’s director Tristram Hunt says securing loans and sponsorship is “more of a challenge” as tension grows between Trump and Tehran
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Cultural divisions deepen in Jerusalem amid Israeli election campaign
Christian institutions are calling attention to their marginalisation in wake of Israel’s focus on Jewish-centric policies
NewsPolitics
Leipzig exhibition ousts artist with alt-right sympathies
Axel Krause’s support for anti-immigration party AfD was a step too far for the organisers, but others say his exclusion suppresses freedom
NewsCensorship
Tania Bruguera fights censorship by launching investigative journalism project in Cuba
The artist and activist, whose School of Integration runs at Manchester International Festival, will organise workshops and awards for new writers
NewsUK politics
Boris Johnson wants to create six freeports and tax-free zones around the UK
Vast storage facilities for high-value items such as art and cars have stoked controversy
CommentWhitney Biennial
Whiteness must undo itself to make way for the truly radical turn in contemporary culture
The New York-based artist Xaviera Simmons responds to art critics who thought the 2019 Whitney Biennial was "not radical enough"
CommentPolitics
'Marmite' Boris Johnson or 'deep cuts' Jeremy Hunt—which would be good for the arts?
The former UK minister for culture, Ed Vaizey, weighs in on which of the two candidates for prime minister would best serve the arts
NewsPolitics
Plan to merge Uffizi and Accademia in Florence stokes row over Italian museums reform
Critics say the move by Italy's populist coalition government will compromise the autonomy of museums
NewsPolitics
What can the arts expect from next UK prime minister?
While Boris Johnson describes himself as a keen painter and Jeremy Hunt spent time as culture minister, the sector is likely to remain far down the agenda
CommentHong Kong
Hong Kong demonstrations are driven by creative spirit
The city's artistic response to the political unrest proves that the best work often comes at times of crisis
NewsBrazil
Bolsonaro hires far-right theatre director to lead federal arts oganisation
Roberto Alvim, who is calling for a conservative artists' database, will close his São Paulo theatre after claiming he was persecuted over political views
NewsRefugees
Dear Christoph Büchel, this is how you provide context
An exhibition about migrant deaths at sea provides the information missing from the Swiss-Icelandic artist’s display in Venice
NewsPolitics
Arty Swiss diplomacy? Embassy of Switzerland in London seeks mediator who can use art for peace
The successful candidate must organise an international symposium in 2021
AnalysisVenice
Where does the cruise ship crash leave Venice?
The mayor demands that liners use other channels to enter the lagoon but this solution also poses problems
NewsPolitics
Italy blocks Steve Bannon’s plans for nationalist bootcamp in medieval monastery
Despite eviction procedures, the US strategist’s collaborator says they will fight to stay in the 13th-century building
NewsArtists
Paula Rego donates abortion etchings to raise funds for Milton Keynes Gallery
Portuguese-born artist says banning abortions is "cruel and unjust" on eve of her first UK retrospective in 20 years
CommentPolitics
Chile’s neoliberal ideology has co-opted artist’s creativity
The failed economic experiments of the 1970s laid the groundwork for today’s socio-economic crisis
Ignacio Gatica