Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.
Activism and Museums
Black Obsidian Sound System, one this year’s five Turner Prize nominees, accused Tate of “exploitative practices,” citing its alleged censorship of a Black artist and the ongoing struggles of its workers.
Activists are shining a spotlight on the financial connection between MoMA trustee Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and a gold mine in the Dominican Republic which has been accused of poisoning and displacing hundreds of people.
In an open letter, over 75 historians and curators denounced the “senseless monetization” of the Newark Museum’s collection.
NYC’s Cultural Sector
New York City launched a $25 million WPA-style recovery program to create jobs for more than 1,500 resident artists.
Over 100 art workers staged a demonstration in lower Manhattan to demand relief for NYC’s cultural sector.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art installed a plaque on its Fifth Avenue facade, acknowledging that it sits on Lenape land.
Reuniting Missing Art
You can now report stolen art and browse more than 50,000 objects reported stolen using a new Interpol app.
The Louvre Museum returned an index finger to a massive bronze of Emperor Constantine after it was long mistaken for a toe.
In Other News
Palestinian actress Maisa Abd Elhadi was shot by Israeli police during protests in Haifa.
The Colombian government utilized an installation by Doris Salcedo to denounce nationwide protests without the artist’s permission.
Marianne de Groot-Pons designed biodegradable rice paper masks which are embedded with wildflower seeds that bloom when discarded.
Twelve African American artists were commissioned for an exhibition on the Great Migration, jointly organized by the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Awards & Accolades
- ArtTable has announced 16 participants in its national fellowship program for advancing diversity in the arts, including Sarah Ahmed, Andrea Lewis, Sarika Sanyal, Molly Hatesohl, and Nidhi Gandhi. | ArtTable
- Tim Bouverie, Marcela Calderón, Monika Czyzyk, Sky Hopinka, Kabelo Malatsie, Robertas Narkus, Eszter Salamon, and Lantian Xie were named summer 2021 residents for the Amant Foundation’s residency in Siena, Italy.
- Abigail DeVille, Dread Scott, Jules Arthur, Nina Cooke John, and Vinnie Bagwell are the five finalists selected to design the Harriet Tubman Monument Project in Newark, New Jersey.
- Sondra Perry was named the winner of Dream Commission by Muse, the Rolls-Royce Art Programme.
Transitions
- Robert Longo is now represented by Pace Gallery.
- Rashid Shabazz was named executive director of Critical Minded.
In Memoriam
- Billie Hayes (1924–2021), actor | Deadline
- Helmut Jahn (1940–2021), architect | CNN
- Bill McCreary (1933–2021), Emmy-Award-winning reporter and one of New York’s first Black journalists on television | New York Times
- Richard Nonas (1936–2021), experimental sculptor | ARTnews
- Ed Ward (1948–2021), writer, NPR radio commentator, and rock historian | NPR
