Category: visual

“[In] this case, according to court papers, the precious 3,200-year-old Assyrian artifact” – a small gold tablet with an inscription – “had been looted, not from the survivor, but from the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, at the close of World War II.”

A project by the artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov during the 11th Havana Biennial was nearly derailed when the US Department of the Treasury denied the artists the necessary public performance and exhibition licence that would allow five US children to travel to Havana, saying the project was “not consistent with the current US ­policy on Cuba”.

“It’s a lot of work, a long process,” she said in a telephone interview. “It’s not a dozen works, it’s hundreds. But we still don’t know the exact number. We don’t know the total losses. We still have to make an evaluation.”

“The new Barnes cannot revive the old. That ship has sailed. Meanwhile, Philadelphia can take ownership of a major institution with a $14m budget, a budding $50m endowment and a vastly expanded scope of functions, not to mention public access befitting its popularity.”

Arsenale 2012 “takes place in an old weapons arsenal on a pretty hilltop street that overlooks a sea of apartment blocks typical of cities of former Soviet states. Peace and quiet is broken only by the solemn chime of church bells from the adjacent monastery … Unsurprisingly, the locals are not over the moon about their new neighbour, which aims to attract some 30,000 globetrotting art pilgrims in its debut summer.”

“After weeks of confrontation over a controversial painting depicting President Jacob Zuma with genitals exposed, the South African leader and the gallery that had shown the work have settled their legal fight out of court, they announced Wednesday.”

“Mural on Indian Red Ground was seized by the country’s customs service on 11 May after being on loan to Japan. The service said it confiscated the work over money owed by the Ministry of Culture,” which operates the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

“The Contemporary’s board voted unanimously to suspend its work, cutting short an exhibit scheduled to continue through May 27, and letting go executive director Sue Spaid and four part-time staffers.” Said the board president, “We are not shutting down. The museum is ceasing its programs for the time being. How long that’s going to be is everyone’s guess.”

“The fourth-century Hamat Tiberias Synagogue was desecrated Monday night by vandals who sprayed graffiti on the walls and tore up the mosaic floor. The Israel Antiquities Authority suspects extremist ultra-Orthodox Jews who say the authority damages ancient graves during excavations.”