NewsBiennials & festivals
Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor and John Akomfrah among artists condemning Thai state violence against democracy protestors
Almost half of the artists participating in the Bangkok Art Biennale opening this week have expressed "support for the struggle for democracy"
NewsProtests
Art X Lagos fair supports frontline photographers in Nigeria who are documenting anti-police brutality protests
Images capturing unrest will be shown during the next edition of the fair
NewsRussia
For Putin’s birthday, Pussy Riot hangs rainbow flags on Moscow’s government buildings
The activist performance artists called their actions “a gift as a symbol of the love and freedom that are lacking” for LGBTQ communities in Russia
NewsRestitution
Police search for Benin Bronze protestor—found guilty of 'threatening behaviour'
Isaiah Ogundele, who demonstrated outside the Museum of London, Docklands for the objects' repatriation, failed to appear at his court hearing earlier this month
AnalysisProtest
Student flash mobs in Thailand target ‘art scene run by elite old men’
Recent demonstrations break a long-held taboo–criticism of the Thai monarchy, an institution which protesters believe is the main obstruction to democracy
NewsArt market
Belarus art collector Viktor Babariko, rival to President Alexander Lukashenko, jailed before election
Former chairman of Belgazprombank, which owns works by Chagall and Soutine, was arrested in June on charges of laundering $430m but many suspect it was politically motivated
NewsMonuments
Tribal leaders and organisations call for the removal of Mount Rushmore monument
Leaders argue that Trump's plan for a rally there is an "unforgivable affront"
NewsRussia
Forty protestors detained for defending Russian activist facing prison for posting art with LGBTQ message
Russia's arts community rallying behind Yulia Tsvetkova whose trial starts in July
NewsExhibitions
'Radical black resistance': Dresden exhibition to focus on legendary activist Angela Davis
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Albertinum show explores impact of her visit to East Germany in 1972
NewsProtests
Protestors seize African artefact from Paris's Quai Branly museum in bid to 'bring to Africa what was taken'
Five demonstrators will go to court on charges of theft
NewsProtest
Oxford council says controversial Cecil Rhodes statue should go to museum after long-running stalemate
Thousands of protestors are demanding removal of statue of the Victorian imperialist from Oriel college
NewsProtest
Art world workers join protests against injustice in New York—and aim to change racist systems in the culture sphere
Activists working at museums and galleries are bringing the fight for equality from the streets back into institutions
NewsMonuments
Campaign launched by teenager to remove statues of Congo coloniser Leopold II gains pace in Belgium
Monuments of the king were targeted by anti-racism protestors last weekend
NewsHong Kong
Hong Kong artists abroad launch pro-democracy platform as China's security law looms
Online project documents one year of anti-government protests in the territory and aims to rally support from international art community
NewsProtest
Art world presses pause for #BlackOutTuesday
Mixed reactions for the social media campaign, whereby millions are posting black squares in support for the Black Lives Matter movement—but is it reductive?
Commentracism
The US has a big racism problem and the art world is not helping
A looted Kaws sculpture and museums' silence reveal a predatory not progressive industry as protests flare following the killing of George Floyd
NewsProtest
'Impeach Bolsonaro': artist hangs black cloths on Brazilian Embassy in Paris to protest against president
Julio Villani's banners symbolise his “ongoing determination, revolt and despair” at the Brazilian leader's handling of the coronavirus crisis
NewsPrizes
Hong Kong artist's sombre still life with a tear gas canister vase wins Human Rights arts prize
Jeremy Deller judged the sixth edition which is backed by the European Union
InterviewLabour
‘You can’t exactly walk a picket line in a pandemic’: New York union leader Maida Rosenstein on the crisis for museum workers
The president of the main museum union talks to us about what the organisation has been doing to secure jobs in the wake of coronavirus
NewsLaw
France reconfirms that women baring their breasts in public is illegal—even for artists and protestors
Two women who are part of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen were charged for topless protests, one of which was in a Paris museum
NewsSponsorship
Climate activists take over British Museum in all-night protest against BP sponsorship
Organisers of the three-day action, the group BP or not BP?, called it the "largest protest in the history of the museum"
News US politics
'An impeachment tomb stone': Jenny Holzer creates work to mark President Donald Trump's trial
The skateboards are produced in a limited marble edition of 25 and a wood edition of 500
NewsArt market
Art Basel in Hong Kong exhibitors call for 50% discount as concerns mount over a drop off in collectors and freedom of expression
Galleries including Lévy Gorvy, Lisson and Sprüth Magers have expressed their concerns in a letter to the fair organisers
NewsMoMA PS1
Artists in PS1 Gulf War show urge museum to sever ties with toxic philanthropy
After Michael Rakowitz paused his video, 37 artists have signed an open letter condemning investments by MoMA board members Larry Fink and Leon Black into private prisons, weapons manufacturing and defense firms
InterviewAbed Al Kadiri
Capturing the streets: the Lebanese revolution through the eyes of an artist
Three months into the uprising we speak to Abed Al Kadiri about popular unity, state brutality and why he is documenting events through Chinese-style ink drawings
NewsArt market
'All bets are off': Hong Kong protests cause insurance headaches for dealers heading to Art Basel
With pro-democracy demonstrations showing no sign of abating, the fair is working with a broker to offer galleries cover at 20 times the normal rate
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
NewsMuseums
'Xavier Bray, end low pay!': Wallace Collection staff fight for London Living Wage
Museum is in discussion with trade union after 'final offer' 1.5% salary increase was deemed too low
NewsArt market
Chilean art fair suspends its 2019 edition as artists and galleries mobilise to support protesters
After more than a week of violent uprising in Santiago, the director of Chaco calls on art to “become the meeting space that Chile needs”
NewsMuseum of Modern Art New York
Seven arrested at protest during MoMA’s public opening
Demonstrators blocked the museum’s entrance and sat in the street as they demanded the removal of Steven Tananbaum — a financier whose company owns $2.5bn in Puerto Rican debt — from its board of trustees
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
NewsProtest
Ai Weiwei was not 'thrown out' of Munich’s Haus der Kunst, artist confirms
Activist was demonstrating in support of workers' rights in the face of cost-cutting at the museum
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
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
NewsHong Kong
Hong Kong's cultural workers defy government pressure to hit streets in protest
Several thousand civil servants, including many from state-backed arts institutions, come out in support of ongoing pro-democracy protests
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
NewsInstagram
Former Venice Biennale director launches satirical Instagram attack on Italian government
Francesco Bonami's new political party EXAGERAMOS! promises to introduce new laws including forbidding contemporary art in museums
NewsAppointments & departures
In damning online critique of British Museum's ethics, trustee Ahdaf Soueif announces resignation
Prominent Egyptian-born writer cites the institution's BP sponsorship, treatment of workers and its silence over restitution as key issues
NewsArt market
Artist-led groups battle to stem gentrification in New York
Ambitious new developments in Manhattan’s Lower East Side threaten the vibrant community
NewsArt market
Protestors gather outside Christie's as ancient head of Tutankhamen sells for £4.7m
Egyptian authorities had tried to stop the sale claiming that the 3,000 year old quartzite sculpture should be repatriated
NewsMusée du Louvre
Nan Goldin’s activist group storms the Musée du Louvre
Pain protestors demand that museum officials rename 12 rooms named after the Sackler family
CommentMuseums & Heritage
Mission statements and paychecks: let's put our money where our mouths are
A call for concrete action on art world salaries
NewsHeritage
Anti-Semitic 'Jewish Sow' relief may be removed from Luther’s church
Medieval sculpture on façade of Unesco World Heritage site in Wittenberg is one of around 30 similar pieces across Europe
ReviewBook Shorts
Book on artists’ opposition to the Vietnam War
Part of the 1960s US anti-war movement, artists then had nothing like the impact they have today
News
Macron uses Notre Dame fire to urge unity amid ongoing protests
NewsBanksy
New Banksy mural appears in support of Extinction Rebellion protest in London
Work was painted last night at Marble Arch, where the climate change group had set up base camp for ten days of demonstrations
NewsProtest
Extinction Rebellion protesters to stage ‘die-in’ at Tate Modern
The climate change activists are targeting the museum because they say its “fortune was built on sugar cane production from colonial exploitation”
NewsProtest
Petition launched to remove 'racist' anti-slavery fresco in France's National Assembly
Artist Hervé Di Rosa describes the demand as "censorship"
NewsProtest
Demonstrators take over British Museum in biggest-ever protest against oil sponsorships
Event, organised by grassroots climate justice group BP or not BP?, highlighted relationship between oil companies and war in Iraq
NewsProtest
'Exploitation and injustice': London gallery show protests BP sponsorship at British Museum
P21 show, organised by campaign group BP or Not BP, is due to coincide with a “mass takeover” of the British Museum
NewsProtest
Hundreds of Christians protest against McJesus sculpture at Haifa Museum of Art in Israel
Finnish artist Jani Leinonen has asked museum to remove the work—with no response
Comment
The recent protests at the Whitney show museum trustees’ dealings cannot be ignored
The same old arguments in favour of ignoring the business dealings of trustees, of pretending museum programming can function independently of those funding it, cannot stand for long
NewsProtest
Arc de Triomphe to reopen after vandalism by 'Yellow Vest' protestors in Paris
But the bust of Napoleon is still being restored
NewsProtest
'Tania Bruguera's bravery always stands out': art world responds to Cuban artist's arrest
Activist is among several artists detained in Havana on Monday ahead of planned protest
NewsCandice Breitz
Venice Biennale artist Candice Breitz demands release of imprisoned aid worker Sarah Mardini
The humanitarian volunteer, held in a Greek jail for more than 100 days, faces charges of people smuggling
CommentProtest
Why I made a cemetery for hundreds of banned books in Kuwait
Kuwaiti artist Mohammad Sharaf hopes to provoke the general public as well as the authorities
News
Proposal for a Judy Chicago museum divides a New Mexico town
Some residents object to exhibition space, arguing that the artist’s work is pornographic
NewsPolitics
Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam granted bail after 102 days in jail—but must still face trial
Court decision comes after a wave of protests from cultural and political figures
BlogIn the frame
Aids activists Gran Fury bring their rage to the UK in new show
Exhibition at east London's Auto Italia gallery is a British debut for the New York-based art collective
NewsChelsea Manning
Chelsea Manning says watching students toppling Confederate monument was 'inspiring'
Speaking at an event organised by London's Institute of Contemporary Arts, the whistleblower said the statue's removal aligned with her own passion for 'direct action'
NewsCensorship
Wolfgang Tillmans and Tania Bruguera pledge support for censored Serralves Museum director
João Ribas has stepped down following censorship row around Robert Mapplethorpe show
NewsProtest
French court releases Russian protest artist Pyotr Pavlensky from pre-trial detention
Femen activists showed their support outside the courthouse by sewing their lips shut in a recreation of his first performance
NewsPolitics
Pussy Riot supporter Pyotr Verzilov in critical condition after suspected poisoning
Activist who was recently imprisoned for Russian group's World Cup protest in July "lost his vision, speech and ability to walk"
NewsCensorship
Cuban activists issue manifesto against artistic censorship
Document denounces effort to ‘punish free creation’
NewsProtest
‘Who keeps the cube white?’: protesters disrupt opening of London’s newest gallery Goldsmiths CCA
Students supporting cleaning staff picket the unveiling of £4.5m building on university campus
NewsPolitics
Nicholas Serota, Frances Morris and Mark Wallinger demand the release of Shahidul Alam
Leading UK names have signed an open letter raising concerns about human rights in Bangladesh
News
MoMA agrees to museum-wide raises after months of negotiations with union
"The museum shifted its position substantially", union boss says
NewsUSA
Naked 'clown Trump' statue installed on Los Angeles billboard
In their latest project, the guerrilla group Indecline compares the US president to serial killer John Wayne Gacy
NewsPolitics
Petitions and protests as art world rallies to free imprisoned photographer Shahidul Alam
Kochi Biennale organisers condemn “state-sanctioned violence” while Indian artists pledge to “shame the Bangladeshi authorities”
NewsPolitics
Arts and human rights organisations denounce arrest of Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam
Activist is detained and charged after commenting on student protests in Dhaka
NewsProtest
MoMA employees lead protest on eve of union negotiations
Around 250 staff members have been working without a contract since 20 May
NewsProtest
Peter Kennard among artists to remove their art from London's Design Museum in protest over arms event
Directors Deyan Sudjic and Alice Black say ‘professional activists exploited the situation’ and they stand by their ‘curatorial independence’
NewsControversies
Shepard Fairey joins group of artists demanding their work be removed from the Design Museum after ‘arms trade’ event
The London institution says it did not endorse the private event organised by the Italian aerospace company Leonardo
News
Unionised MoMA staff protest low wages during Party in the Garden fundraising gala
Around 250 workers are fighting for better pay and benefits, as the museum gears up to open a $400m expansion
NewsBiennials & festivals
Havana’s alternative #00Bienal ends on a defiantly optimistic note
The event’s organisers see success in the participants’ resistance to threats and intimidation from Cuba’s government
NewsFrieze New York
The public joins the protest in Frieze’s Live programme
Activist work reflects what artists are making, says curator of new initiative
PreviewExhibitions
Paris celebrates 50th anniversary of May ‘68 protests with shows and new commissions
Institutions remember the turbulent period and consider its legacy
NewsTate Modern
Tate Modern hit with protests over cleaner dispute
There has been controversy at the gallery over the sponsor for the Picasso 1932 exhibition
News
Activist group calls out Brooklyn Museum’s appointment of white African art curator
The museum has not yet responded to criticism about the “dismal rates of representation” of people of colour among its senior staff
NewsArt fairs
Artists to plant protest flags and stage processions at Frieze New York
Visitors to the fair will see banners by Adam Pendelton, Hank Willis Thomas, Lara Schnitger and Renée Green among others as part of the Live programme curated by Adrienne Edwards
NewsProtest
US students and activists take creative action against gun violence
Protests included impromptu memorials to the children and adults killed in recent shootings
NewsProtest
Activists protest Louvre's oil ties
Paris-based group criticises sponsorship by French oil company Total
NewsProtest
Nan Goldin leads anti-opioid protest at the Met's Sackler Wing
In their first direct action, the artist and her activist group PAIN tossed prescription pill bottles labelled OxyContin into the moat surrounding the Temple of Dendur and staged a die-in
NewsProtest
Tate's artist-in-residence resigns over institution's 'appalling response to sexual harassment'
Liv Wynter says Tate is failing women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds
NewsProtest
Tania Bruguera and Laurie Anderson join spring edition of Times Square all-female project
Born out of the 2017 Women's March, Word on the Street returns to Midtown Manhattan to co-opt public advertising space with protest art
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Russian man suspends himself from a London building in the name of art—and LGBT rights
NewsPolitics
Christoph Büchel relaunches petition to turn Trump’s wall prototypes into a national monument
While other artists sign open letter denouncing the concept
NewsExhibitions
Former NFL player and Minnesota Supreme Court judge Alan Page tackles racial justice through his family’s art collection
The exhibition is on view during the Super Bowl as the controversy over the Take a Knee movement continues
NewsArtists
Artists back Nan Goldin’s call to hold Sackler family to account over US opioid crisis
"Maybe the Sacklers don’t care, but we should give them the chance to discuss solutions, and if they rebuff, then f*** them"—Jeremy Deller
NewsArtists
Stuart Semple launches campaign to eradicate ‘hostile design’ around the world
British artist was motivated after local council installed metal bars on benches to prevent homeless people from sleeping on them
NewsProtest
Online petition demands Sacklers and Purdue Pharma pay for rehab centres and Narcan dispensers
The activist group founded by the artist Nan Goldin, who revealed her struggles with opioid addiction, says it intends to pressure museums to refuse the philanthropic family’s money
NewsPhotography
Photographer Lu Guang reveals how China’s love of bloodwood is destroying African forests
Collaboration with Greenpeace documents logging in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
NewsArchitecture
Gazebo where Tamir Rice was shot is now at Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago
Theaster Gates and his Rebuild Foundation have organised a display and series of conversations around the disassembled structure, with hopes of rebuilding it outdoors this spring
BlogThe Buck stopped here
Your correspondent goes Inside Pussy Riot—and gets a wake up call
NewsProtest
'In Russia, either be brave or be silenced… there is no middle ground'
Russian art patron Igor Tsukanov has created a show at the Saatchi Gallery about artists who have risked protesting against conditions in Russia since 1991
NewsStreet art
New Banksy work in Bethlehem says ‘sorry’ for UK’s Balfour Declaration
Work was revealed by actor dressed as Queen Elizabeth II, marking 100th anniversary of contentious declaration
CommentProtest
Dread Scott: America God Damn
The multidisciplinary artist and social justice activist reflects on the recent protests in response to the killing of George Floyd and the history of racialised police violence in the US—and how change may finally be underway
Dread Scott