> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Week in Review: Tate and Philadelphia of Museum Cut Workforce; French Bill Sparks Massive Protests - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/week-in-review-tate-and-philadelphia-of-museum-cut-workforce-french-bill-sparks-massive-protests/ - Published: 2020-12-04T12:00:06.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:38:44.000Z - Description: Also, artists and architects are advocating for the removal of Philip Johnson’s name from the Museum of Modern Art, and more. - Author: Jasmine Weber - Tags: News, Week in Review, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:08 (2019, 2020, part 3) *Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.* [*Subscribe*](https://hyperallergic.com/newsletters?utm%5Fsource=page&utm%5Fcampaign=artmovements) *to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.* The French government discarded a [bill proposing to ban journalists from publishing footage and photographs of police officers](https://hyperallergic.com/massive-protests-sparked-by-proposed-ban-on-publishing-photographs-of-french-police/) after massive protests broke out across the country. The controversy follows condemnation by the French government of hacker-artist Paolo Cirio, who featured profiles of police officers in an exhibition to raise awareness about the threat of facial recognition technology. Artist-activists of the San Isidro Movement in Cuba were trapped inside an apartment for over a week, [surrounded by Cuban state security](https://hyperallergic.com/cuban-security-forces-raid-artist-activist-headquarters/), after staging a peaceful demonstration. A group of artists and architects is [advocating for the removal of Philip Johnson's name from the Museum of Modern Art.](https://hyperallergic.com/architects-ask-moma-to-remove-philip-johnsons-name-citing-racist-legacy/) The collective says that Johnson's "widely documented white supremacist views make him an inappropriate namesake." After Poets House announced a suspension of operations, ex-staff released a statement [accusing the administration of retaliation](https://hyperallergic.com/after-poets-house-shutters-and-announces-layoffs-ex-staff-accuse-leadership-of-retaliation/), saying their unionizing efforts and workplace complaints are behind the move. Tense union contract talks led to a [union demonstration at the California College of the Arts.](https://hyperallergic.com/teachers-staff-block-traffic-in-escalating-labor-dispute-at-california-college-of-the-arts/) Teachers and staff blocked traffic in front of the school, amplifying their demands for the administration to negotiate a fair contract. After controversially displaying a wrecked migrant ship at the 2019 Venice Biennale, artist Christoph Büchel is making headlines again. He is [accused of failing to return the vessel to its legal owner](https://hyperallergic.com/after-controversial-installation-of-migrant-ship-at-venice-biennale-artist-fails-to-return-boat-to-italy/), the town of Augusta in Sicily. Artists and activists in Europe are [demanding justice for Mawda Shawri](https://hyperallergic.com/artists-and-activists-demand-justice-for-two-year-old-killed-by-belgian-police/), a two-year-old Kurdish-Iraqi refugee who was killed by Belgian police during a high-speed police chase in 2018\. More than 30 people helped create a [Black Lives Matter mural outside of the São Paulo Museum of Art](https://hyperallergic.com/as-brazil-grapples-with-police-brutality-blacklivesmatter-murals-emerge-in-sao-paulo/) the day after the death of João Alberto Silveira Freitas, a Black man murdered by police. Cultural workers in Mexico City, who have gone unpaid for months, have [declared a “total suspension of labor"](https://hyperallergic.com/unpaid-mexican-cultural-workers-reproach-museums-with-biting-memes/) to advocate for better working conditions. The Philadelphia Museum of Art closed to the public once again. With the second lockdown, the museum announced [another wave of furloughs](https://hyperallergic.com/tate-will-cut-12-of-workforce-eliminating-120-full-time-jobs/), spurring outrage from workers. As the United Kingdom emerges from its second lockdown, Tate announced a plan to [cut 120 full-time jobs](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/dec/03/tate-to-cut-120-gallery-jobs-in-48m-cost-cutting-drive?ref=hyperallergic.com) at its London galleries through voluntary redundancies. Workers at the [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston](https://hyperallergic.com/mfa-boston-workers-vote-to-unionize/) and [Film at Lincoln Center](https://hyperallergic.com/film-at-lincoln-center-workers-unionize/) in New York voted to unionize. Full-time faculty at the University of the Arts (UArts) in Philadelphia also [voted for a union](https://hyperallergic.com/majority-of-faculty-at-philadelphias-university-of-the-arts-vote-to-unionize/). Follow the continuing mystery of the [unusual monoliths that are popping up around the world](http://hyperallergic.com/tag/monolith). ## Awards & Accolades **Zdenka Badovinac** was named this year’s **Igor Zabel Award laureate**. **Slavcho Dimitrov, Katalin Erdődi,** and **Ivana Bago** were awarded **Igor Zabel Award Grants**. Finalists for the $50,000 **Bennett Prize** are **Sophia-Yemisi Adeyemo-Ross, Tanmaya Bingham, Chloe Chiasson, June Glasson, Holly Keogh, Lavely Miller, Rebecca Orcutt, Ayana Ross, Su Su,** and **Amy Werntz.** The winners of the 2020 **Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize** for nonfiction and fiction/poetry, are **Ruha Benjamin** (2020 Nonfiction Prize for *Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code)* and **Ocean Vuong** (2020 Fiction and Poetry Prize for *On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous*). **Yvette Mutumba** and **Julia Grosse** were awarded the 2020 **European Cultural Manager of the Year Award**. PEN America bestowed **Barack Obama** with the **PEN America Voice of Influence Award**. ## Transitions **Magda Grigorian** was appointed chief communications officer of **Phillips**. **Laura Hughes** was named interim director of the **Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit**. **Robert Nava** is now represented by **Pace** **Gallery**. **PPOW** and **Kohn Gallery** announced joint representation of **Chiffon Thomas**. **Janine Yorimoto Boldt** was named associate curator of American art at the **Chazen Museum of Art** in Madison, Wisconsin. ## In Memoriam Charles L. Amos, artist and railroader | [Trains](https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/11/19-charles-l-amos-railroader-and-noted-artist-dies-at-90?ref=hyperallergic.com) Sandy Dvore (1934–2020), graphic artist | [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sandy-dvore-emmy-winning-graphic-artist-and-title-designer-dies-at-86?ref=hyperallergic.com) Garrett Falls Lockhart aka i\_o (1990–2020), DJ and music producer | [Resident Advisor](https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/74039?ref=hyperallergic.com) Peter Joseph (1929–2020), minimalist painter | [ARTnews](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/peter-joseph-artist-dead-1234577532/?ref=hyperallergic.com) George Nock (1946–2020), artist, sculptor, and football player | [Baltimore Sun](https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-george-nock-20201123-gnidvx3wh5ce5oayhoc7cnpr6q-story.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Greg Polisseni (1970–2020), collage artist and fashion designer | [Democrat & Chronicle](https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/11/20/greg-polisseni-rochester-ny-artist-fashioner-designer-film-producer-dies/6355483002/?ref=hyperallergic.com) Frederick Weston (1946–2020), artist and fashion designer | [Philadelphia Tribune](https://www.phillytrib.com/obituaries/frederick-weston-outsider-artist-who-was-finally-let-in-dies-at-73/article%5Fa0ad59f8-96c2-5fe4-b9eb-18771b72e15a.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) Hoda Zarbaf, mixed media artist | via [Shiva Balaghi](https://twitter.com/SBalaghi/status/1333930794771877888?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1333930794771877888%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fcelebritiesdeaths.com%2Fhoda-zarbaf-death-dead-obituaries-toronto-based-iranian-artist-hoda-zarbaf-has-died-cause-of-death-unknown%2F&ref=hyperallergic.com) ***Correction 12/7/2020 2:50pm EST:*** An earlier version of this article misspelled Laura Hughes's name. We regret the error.