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# Art Movements
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/art-movements-114/
- Published: 2015-08-28T22:12:46.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:43:07.000Z
- Description: This week in art news: Tania Bruguera returned to the US following her detainment in Cuba, a group of archaeologists protested the brutal murder of Khaled al-Asaad by ISIS, and dealers Stefan Simchowitz and Jonathan Ellis King filed suit against artist Ibrahim Mahama.
- Author: Tiernan Morgan
- Tags: News, Art Movements, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:08 (2014, 2015, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/img_0782-12901.jpg)

A fountain attraction at the heart of Banksy’s Dismaland (image courtesy Christopher Jobson of Colossal)

*Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world*.

[Tania Bruguera](http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-dissident-artist-tania-bruguera-back-in-us-after-8-months-in-cuba-20150822-column.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) returned to the US after having been detained in Cuba for 8 months. Bruguera’s passport was revoked by the Cuban authorities after the performance artist attempted to stage a work entitled “Tatlin’s Whisper #6” in Havana’s Revolution Square.

[Archaeologists working at the ruins of Antioch in Pisidia](http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/archaeologists-protest-murder-of-syrian-scholar-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=87492&NewsCatID=375&ref=hyperallergic.com) staged a sit in to protest the brutal murder of Syrian archaeologist [Khaled al-Asaad](https://hyperallergic.com/isis-murders-former-chief-of-antiquities-in-palmyra/) by ISIS last week.

Staff at the [National Museums of Scotland](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34033163?ref=hyperallergic.com) embarked on a seven day strike over the removal of a weekend allowance for new members of staff.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/northampton_sekhemka.jpg)

The Northampton Sekhemka, Old Kingdom, Late Dynasty 5 (c. 2400–2300 BCE), probably from Saqqara, Lower Egypt (image via Wikipedia) (click to enlarge)

The UK government’s export bar for the [4,500-year-old Egyptian statue](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/egypt-in-crowdfunding-campaign-to-save-ancient-statue-sold-by-uk-museum-10468376.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) of the scribe Sekhemka is set to expire at the end of the month. The statue, which was deaccessioned by Northampton Borough Council, was controversially sold at auction for £15.8 million (\~$24.5m). The Egyptian antiquities minister Mamdouh Eldamaty launched a crowdsourcing fund to acquire the statue for the nation.

Art dealer Brian Balfour-Oatts showed the *Guardian* a drawing manual composed by notorious art forger [Eric Hebborn](http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/aug/24/great-art-forger-continues-to-ridicule-experts-from-beyond-the-grave?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1934–1996). Entitled *The Language of Line*, the manuscript critiques the “threadbare terminology of traditional connoisseurship” used by art historians and critics. Hebborn was killed by a blow to the head on a Roman street in 1996.

Dealers [Stefan Simchowitz and Jonathan Ellis King](http://www.artnews.com/2015/08/25/jute-sack-artworks-are-at-the-center-of-simchowitz-lawsuit-against-venice-biennale-artist/?ref=hyperallergic.com) filed suit against Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama. The two dealers allege that Mahama declared hundreds of his signed works inauthentic, which they claim will potentially cost them $4.45 million. [Greg Allen](http://greg.org/archive/2015/08/27/it%5Fwas%5Fthe%5Fjutes%5Fit%5Fwas%5Fthe%5Fjutes.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) described the lawsuit in his latest blogpost as “eye-opening for its combination of candor, hubris, and delusion.”

Frank Lloyd Wright’s [Bachman-Wilson House](https://hyperallergic.com/new-jersey-frank-lloyd-wright-home-is-relocating-to-crystal-bridges-in-arkansas/) will open to the public at the [Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art](http://crystalbridges.org/press-releases/frank-lloyd-wright-house-on-crystal-bridges-grounds-to-open-november-11-2015/?ref=hyperallergic.com) on November 11\. The museum disassembled and reassembled the New Jersey home after transporting it 1,200 miles across the country.

The designs for the (George) [Lucas Museum of Narrative Art](http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/903627/much-ridiculed-design-lucas-museum-re-done-emanuel-wont-say?ref=hyperallergic.com) are to be reworked according to Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

A number of social media users railed against [Banksy](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/dismaland-banksy-accused-of-being-a-sellout-after-brad-pitt-reportedly-getting-private-tour-10475166.html?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s decision to give Brad Pitt a private tour of his Dismaland theme park.

### Transactions

![Never-let-me-go](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/never-let-me-go.jpg)

The [University of Texas](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34039004?ref=hyperallergic.com) acquired the archives of author Kazuo Ishiguro.

An anonymous donor gifted a sculpture by [Auguste Rodin](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/11828793/Rodin-unique-bronze-lost-for-100-years-resurfaces-in-Switzerland.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) to the Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne. The sculpture, “L’Homme au Serpent” (1887) hasn’t been seen in public since it was sold at auction in 1914.

Former investment banker John La Gatta donated $2 million to the [Nevada Museum of Art](http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/08/22/nevada-museum-art-receives-million-donation/32207179/?ref=hyperallergic.com).

The Fundación Zúñiga Laborde A.C donated 12 works by Mexican artists to the [Museo Nacional de Arte](http://munal.mx/noticia/dona-obras-fundacion-zuniga-al-museo-nacional-de-arte?ref=hyperallergic.com). The gift includes work by artists such as Francisco Zúñiga, Manuel Rodriguez Lozano, and Roberto Montenegro.

Brooklyn-based developer Slate Property Group launched the [Slate Property Arts and Culture Endowment](http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150825/bushwick/brooklyn-developer-give-80k-grants-local-artists?ref=hyperallergic.com). The fund plan to allocate $80,000 in grants to artists and community members this year.

Six [Brooklyn libraries](http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150827/bed-stuy/brooklyn-libraries-receive-32-million-for-upgrades-repairs?ref=hyperallergic.com) will receive $3.225 million for upgrades and repairs.

### Transitions

Education Management Corp (EDMC) will shut down 15 of its [Art Institute](http://firststudentaid.com/news/art-institutes-is-latest-for-profit-to-close-its-doors-forgiveness-available/?ref=hyperallergic.com) campuses. According to First Student Aid, the closures will effect 200 employees and 5,432 students.

[Abraham Thomas](http://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/26082015-soane-director-steps-down?ref=hyperallergic.com) resigned as director of the Sir John Soane’s Museum.

[Tan Boon Hui](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/24/asia-society-names-new-museum-director/?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur&%5Fr=0&ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed director of the Asia Society.

[Andrew Blauvelt](http://www.startribune.com/walker-art-center-curator-andrew-blauvelt-going-to-cranbrook-detroit/322841321/?ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed director of the Cranbrook Art Museum.

[Richard Rhodes](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/rhodes-leaving-as-editor-of-canadian-art-magazine/article26079869/?ref=hyperallergic.com) will step down as the editor of *Canadian Art* magazine at the end of the year.

[Christopher Cook](http://www.omaha.com/go/bemis-center-hires-new-director/article%5F1323d5ce-4a80-11e5-b752-e3191f9c277c.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed executive director of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2015/08/jmc_opening_hr-122-of-144-1.jpg)

Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans (photo by Melisa Cardona)

The [Joan Mitchell Center](http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2015/08/the%5Fjoan%5Fmitchell%5Fcenter%5F125%5Fm.html?ref=hyperallergic.com), a new $12.5 million artist retreat, opened in New Orleans.

[The Art Museum of West Virginia University](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/25/wvu-opening-art-museum-after-6-years-of-planning-b/?ref=hyperallergic.com) officially opened.

Performing arts space La MaMa will open a new venue named [The Downstairs](http://lamamablogs.blogspot.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) at 66 East 4th Street on November 6.

[Jerry N. Smith](http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/visualarts/jerry-n-smith-named-new-chief-curator-at-the-museum-of-fine-arts-st/2241864?ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed chief curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg.

[Horace D. Ballard Jr.](http://www.artsbma.org/bma-welcomes-new-curator-of-education/?ref=hyperallergic.com) was appointed curator of education at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

[Kristy Edmunds](http://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-curator-returns-to-run-city-wide-arts-series/?ref=hyperallergic.com) will curate CONVERGE 45, Portland’s city-wide arts festival.

### Accolades

Brooklyn-based artist [Marela Zacarias](https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/the-william-vale-gets-oversized-contemporary-sculpture/?ref=hyperallergic.com) was awarded the William Vale’s $200,000 lobby commission. The four-star hotel is currently under construction in Williamsburg.

### Obituaries

[Clifford Hatts](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11816989/Clifford-Hatts-television-designer-obituary.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1921–2015), television designer, best known for his work on [*Quatermass and the Pit*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatermass%5Fand%5Fthe%5FPit?ref=hyperallergic.com) (1958–59)

[Marion “Kippy” Boulton Stroud](http://mobile.philly.com/obituaries/?wss=/philly/obituaries&id=322742991&&ref=hyperallergic.com) (1939–2015), founder and director of the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia.