La Libération newspaper has confirmed that the 213-year-old Institut d’Égypte, which was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798, has been ravaged by fire.
Egypt
This week, street art blows in North Africa, discussing the Eames design legacy, the future of the books, Chomsky on #OccupyWallStreet, Ed Winkleman on cartels, de Kooning’s studio in 1982 and Steve Jobs.
Following a three year conservation project, the final section of the rare, Egyptian Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose (c. 1539-1292 BCE) will go on long-term view at the Brooklyn Museum on September 28.
ISTANBUL — Istanbul has launched a full frontal assault to claim its place amongst rising art centers by hosting the complex and provocative Istanbul Biennial, as well as a massive all-inclusive history of the city’s female artists, Dream and Reality – Modern and Contemporary Women Artists from Turkey at the Istanbul Modern right next door. The timing and juxtaposition of these two shows is not haphazard and should be viewed as twin prongs of an interior exploration and bold emergence.
Berlin’s major Egyptian Museum will be loaning a ten-foot-tall, almost nine-ton, 4,000-year-old regal sculpture to the Metropolitan Museum for tens years. It goes on display “later this month.”
NPR’s Eric Westervelt looks at the legacy of the Egyptian Revolution and how corporations are using it to promote their brands … but not everyone is thrilled, particularly street artists …
This week … why are the Coptic churches of Egypt burning, Paul Goldberger is cynical of Rem Koolhaas, video of Alexander McQueen at the Met, profile of Cory Arcangel, tour of the 2011 Contemporary Furniture Fair, want to live on a houseboat on the Gowanus, Luna Park’s Berlin pics, an interview with the Met Opera’s conductor and 8 NYers are suing Baidu for censorship.
The bad news keeps rolling in for Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass, who yesterday was sentenced to one year in prison for his failure to enforce a court ruling. In other news, many Egyptians are outraged that Hawass used ancient Egyptian artifacts to promote his own menswear line.
Artist Ahmed Basiony was to represent Egypt in the 2011 Venice Biennale in an exhibition at the country’s national pavilion, curated by Shady El Noshokaty. Yet the artist will now be representing his country’s art community posthumously — Basiony died in gunfire in Tahrir Square while documenting the recent revolutionary protests.
The egotistical Hawass is baaaack! Less than a month after leaving his post as Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities due to revolution fallout, Zahi Hawass has returned to the job.
