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How a Christmas present made Maripol the ‘Polaroid Queen’

Maripol does not remember what she got her boyfriend for Christmas in 1977. His present to her, on the other hand, became the photogenic stuff of New York legend. From the moment Edo Bertoglio gifted an SX-70 Polaroid camera to Maripol, a young École des Beaux-Arts alum working as a stylist, it became her accessory and artistic instrument of…

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UNESCO under fire for using Met objects in anti-trafficking campaign

Unesco has pulled back images from an advertising campaign intended to highlight international trafficking in looted artifacts after receiving complaints that it misrepresented the provenance of the works pictured. Among the objects used in the campaign were three from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that were not stolen in recent years…

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‘Long overdue’: US will build national museums for American Latinos and women’s history after Congress approves historic bill

After a decades-long struggle, legislation to create a National Museum of the American Latino and a National Women’s History Museum in Washington, DC under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution was approved last night by the US Congress. Since the passage of separate bills by the US House to found the women’s history museum in…

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Gallery asks collectors to give their discounts back to the artists

Covid-19 has laid bare the unsustainable expectations of an increasingly stratified market and the narrowing margins of both creative and financial success it yields. But the Los Angeles gallery Commonwealth & Council has revised its business plan to rethink how small and mid-level galleries can turn a profit and support their artists in both lean and flush…

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Rector at Danish art academy steps down over royal bust drowned by artist protesting school’s colonial legacy

The controversy engulfing the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark’s most prestigious art school, over a dumped royal bust took a new turn last week when the college rector was forced to step down. Kirsten Langkilde resigned after the Danish culture ministry said “new powers” are needed at the academy. The move…

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UK ‘tourist tax’ will hit dealers of jewelry, silver and small pictures hard, trade body says

Art dealers have joined the luxury goods and watch industries in condemning the UK government’s “hammer blow” plans to scrap tax-free shopping for tourists from 1 January. Mark Dodgson, the secretary general of the British Antique Dealers’ Association, warns that dealers who specialise in portable objects such as jewellery, silver and small pictures will be…

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Acquisitions round-up: European museums co-purchase El Anatsui sculpture from collector Uli Sigg

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Kunstmuseum Bern have jointly acquired a major sculpture by the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. The work, entitled In the World But Don’t Know the World (2009), comes from the Sigg collection founded by Uli Sigg, a former Swiss ambassador to China. For the Stedelijk Museum, the purchase was funded by the Vereniging Rembrandt…

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New heritage body aims to keep Unesco in check by calling on public to report sites in danger

A new independent conservation organization is calling on members of the public and culture professionals to monitor and report on the status of Unesco’s World Heritage sites because safeguarding these cultural hot spots has become a “secondary concern” for the United Nations cultural agency. The new heritage body, Our World Heritage, says it is determined to preserve…

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UK’s £120m post-Brexit festival selects teams—including art organizations—for next step of controversial initiative

Festival UK*2022, the controversial UK wide-event championing the country’s innovation and creativity in the wake of coronavirus and Brexit, has moved a step closer with the announcement of 30 teams that will develop preliminary projects for the new festival. The shortlisted candidates, which will receive “up to £100,000 of investment” each, include high-profile cultural institutions such as…

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Challenges overcome as Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts completes $450m campus expansion

After months of mini-crises ranging from delays in materials to frantic hurricane preparations, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is set to open the crowning element in its ambitious $450m expansion: the Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, devoted to the institution’s deep holdings in Modern and contemporary art. Opening its doors on 21 November,…

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