Brazilian police dressed in riot gear stormed an old museum in Rio de Janeiro last week with tear gas and pepper spray in order to evict some 20 indigenous people squatting there. The building, the former site of the Brazilian Indian Museum, is adjacent to the Maracanã stadium and set to be demolished as part of plans to renovate the stadium for next year’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
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With Hurricane Sandy relentlessly bearing down on the East Coast, we know many people are cooped up at home and more than a little flood obsessed. But we thought we might just remind everyone there’s another really big event right around the corner: that presidential election we were all tweeting about nonstop until yesterday. In honor of the upcoming election, and as yet another distraction on this insane day, we’ve chosen five of the best presidential campaign commercials from the Museum of the Moving Image’s Living Room Candidate archive.
Continue Reading →![Post image for Is Holland Going Through a Cultural Meltdown? [UPDATED]](http://hyperallergic.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/dutchmeltdown_HOME.jpg)
You may have seen it in the New York Times: a half-page ad warning readers “Do not enter the Netherlands. Cultural meltdown in progress.” The ad (which apparently cost $26,000) was bought by a group called Dutch Artists 2011 to protest the catastrophic funding cuts proposed by Holland’s Geert Wilders, the far-right leader of the Party for Freedom (the third largest political party in the country). Wilders would cut arts funding from €800 million to €200 million, decimating Dutch cultural organizations. Where does the situation stand now?
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At Pitti Immagine, one of the largest fashion trade shows in Florence, Dame Vivienne Westwood debuted her second Ethical Fashion Africa Collection in partnership with the International Trade Centre. The first, back in February, was a small offering of three tote bags, but for her sophomore effort she came back with a fuller collection of totes, handbags, duffles and key chains. Though she says of Africa, “I’ve never been before, [and] I shall probably never go again…”, she appears to be getting a lot accomplished in this one shot.
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According to Ai Weiwei’s lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan, Ai’s FAKE studio has been accused (and seemingly convicted) of evading over 5 million RMB ($770,000 USD) and is to pay 7 million RMB ($1 million USD) in fines, together totaling around $2 million USD. Ai’s mother Gao Ying speaks on her son’s arrest, release and current condition. In the meantime, the Chinese art scene continues business as usual, with the exception of some ripples — a well-known artist-run cafe has been closed by the authorities.
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Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been released, as has his cousin Zhang Jinsong, but that doesn’t mean the story is over. Ai’s legal case is still open, China is still detaining and jailing dissidents and the Ai’s freedom may just be political image clean-up for the government. What does the release actually mean?
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Around 5 hours ago, the news broke that Ai Weiwei’s cousin and driver Zhang Jingson was to be released on bail, as the artist was yesterday. Zhang is now home and has lost 19 kg; Ai associate Duyan Pili notes that he’ll have to lose his nickname of “Little Fatty.”
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Khaled Jarrar is stamping the passports of tourists arriving at the West Bank with a voluntary entry stamp for Palestine. This isn’t official practice or policy, though. The Palestinian artist is mounting his own form of political protest through a conceptual work of art, seen in a video by NTD TV.
Continue Reading →![Post image for BREAKING: Ai Weiwei Released on Bail [UPDATE 7: VIDEO OF AI AT STUDIO]](http://hyperallergic.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/airelease_HOME.jpg)
Beijing government news outlet Xinhua has just announced that detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been released on bail, having confessed to his tax crimes and stated his willingness to pay the taxes he is said to have evaded. “A chronic disease” that the artist suffers from was also a factor in his release.
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Today in putting your money where your mouth is: famed British artist Anish Kapoor has rejected an offer to show his work at the National Museum of China in Beijing in protest of Ai Weiwei’s ongoing arrest and detention. This, plus Chinese artists arrested for mounting a protest exhibition and the US State Department speaking out against Chinese cyber attacks on the Guggenheim’s Change.org Ai petition.
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