Art
Skeletons on the Shelves: Museums' Slow Return of Indigenous Remains
Active repatriation of indigenous remains in museums only gathered serious momentum in the 1980s.
Latest
Comics
The Old Man and the Magnifying Glass
One time when I was a teenager I was snooping over this man's shoulder at the museum.
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, thoughts on art school, Syrian refugees take over a Danish newspaper, the problems with the American Dream, the future of reading, and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Voice
In a switch, the Nobel Committee, citing her "polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time,” awarded its literature prize to the Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, best known for her 1999 nonfiction book Voices from Chernobyl.
Books
Crowded by Beauty: A Biography of Philip Whalen
Identified as a member of both the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance of the mid-1950s, Philip Whalen (1923-2002) wrote poems and two novels marked by a sensibility that was his alone.
Art
The Beautifully Dressed Skeletons in Japan’s Closet
In a letter dated July 23, 1938, sent by the Japanese modernist poet Yone Noguchi to the Nobel Prize winning author Rabindrath Tagore — the first non-European to receive the award — Noguchi wrote the following justification for his country’s invasion of China, effectively ending their friendship:
Interview
Transfigured: An Interview with Karl Wirsum
It’s tempting to characterize Karl Wirsum’s recent spate of exhibitions in the city as his New York moment.
Art
Yogi, a Coyote, a Butcher, and a Vowel: A Personal Bird’s-Eye View of Umbria's Not-Famous Church of Madonna dei Bagni
Beneath a panorama of the Italian countryside, Wile E. Coyote chased Road Runner while Yogi Berra played ball.
Interview
Beer with a Painter: Susan Jane Walp
In the middle of our conversation, Susan Walp suddenly paused, gazing down at the table. “Look at that,” she told me, pointing out tiny ellipses, the patterns of the window screen reflected on the surface of a small pewter pepper grinder.
Art
Unreliable Informants: A Walid Raad Primer
The survey exhibition dedicated the work of Walid Raad, which opens to the public on Monday at the Museum of Modern Art, is a rich and compelling point of entry for anyone seeking a handle on this sly and elusive artist.
Art
Crafting Alternative Histories Through Memory and Myth
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — When poet and activist Audre Lorde published her book Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, she called it “biomythography,” a blend of memoir, history, and myth.
In Brief
Watch Chantal Akerman's Films for Free on Hulu
For 12 days, the Criterion Collection has made its entire catalogue of Akerman’s work available for viewing on Hulu for free.