Author: Sam Art

Amid relentless reports of destruction, immense loss of life and a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the war between Israel and Hamas continues to ravage the small enclave’s rich cultural heritage. Gaza’s history, much of which has yet to be discovered, spans numerous civilizations, including the Egyptians, Philistines, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was ruled by various Islamic dynasties after the 7th century and by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century until the British occupation in 1917. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities there are more than 130 registered historical sites in Gaza, excluding historic houses.…

A cyber attack on London’s British Library’s digital systems continues to affect its website, online systems and some face-to-face services with limited access to some publications and manuscripts. The so-called ransomware attack, which was launched on October 31, is part of a recent pattern that marks an increase in the severity of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Online attacks have affected cultural institutions such as New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Berlin’s Natural History Museum, and the data they hold, and left others scrambling about how best to defend themselves against future attacks.The British Library attack was carried out by the Rhysida…

President Vladimir Putin’s bid for another term in office kicked off with events at two major cultural venues in Moscow: one a magnet for hipsters, the other a revitalized Stalin-era fairground.They were held against a new wave of cultural repression, as authorities this week declared the region’s most famous author of historical novels, Boris Akunin, a terrorist for his opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Akunin has been abroad in self-imposed exile since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Now in Russia his books are being seized and his name erased from public view.Analysts say the case against Akunin could…

ArtJosie Thaddeus-JohnsPaulina Olowska, Seducator2020. Courtesy of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo,Paulina Olowska, The Revenge of the Wise Woman2011. Courtesy of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo,Paulina Olowska has spent her career as an artist focusing on women, and their perspectives, in a world that considers them objects. Women feature in his fashion-inspired paintings, which often use magazine photo shoots as source material. His portraits often show his female subjects in sharp focus while the world around them dissolves into a blurry, painterly abstraction. This work earned her notoriety in the art world: in 2022, the artist joined the roster of Pace Gallery, which…

This was the best year for Van Gogh exhibitions in decades, with a number of shows breaking new ground. If I had to highlight the most important thing, it would be Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: his last months, which opened in Amsterdam and still has a month of execution in Paris, at the Musée d’Orsay (until February 4, 2024). Featuring 47 of the 74 paintings made during this short period, it provides a comprehensive view of Vincent’s art just before his untimely death.Van Gogh’s cypresses, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, focused on the artist’s time in…

Arts Council England (ACE) has announced the latest round of objects saved for the UK under two tax relief schemes: the Acceptance In Lieu and the Cultural Gifts Scheme. This year (until 31 March 2023), works by Damien Hirst, Claude Monet and Barbara Hepworth are among 48 items worth more than £52m bought by museums and galleries across the country under both initiatives.Acceptance In Lieu allows individuals who have a bill for inheritance tax or one of its earlier forms to pay the tax by transferring important cultural, scientific or historical objects and archives to the nation through allocation to…

British street artist Banksy has created a new outdoor piece in South London of three military drone-like aircraft stuck to a red ‘stop’ sign. The work, which appeared today on his Instagram page as well as his official website, does not explicitly support a particular cause, although it comes as international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza grow. According to The Guardianthe work was removed less than an hour after it was erected.The same work was also posted on the artist’s business page, Gross Domestic Product, with a peace symbol. Banksy’s representatives declined to comment.Banksy has a long history of…

Jack Lang has been re-elected president of the Institut du Monde Arabe (Institute of the Arab World, IMA) in Paris. Lang, who has led the Institute since 2013, was “unanimously” renewed for a three-year term by a board of 14 Arab ambassadors and personalities appointed by the French government. His appointment was supported by President Emmanuel Macron.Lang was the only candidate after former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian withdrew from the race to lead the French agency for the development of the Saudi province of AlUla (Drian was appointed president of the French Agency for the Development of AlUla earlier…

About three years after the Nevada Museum of Art (NMA) in Reno suspended plans to move forward with a branch museum in Las Vegas, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the philanthropist foundation Elaine P. Wynn announced an unprecedented partnership to launch a new museum in the city called the Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA).The museum, slated to open in 2028, will cost about $150 million and span 60,000 to 90,000 square feet over three floors. Earlier this month, the Las Vegas City Council approved negotiations to dedicate a parcel of land to the Las Vegas…

Established Los Angeles artist Henry Taylor is having something of a renaissance. Taylor was thrust into the spotlight in 2017 when her painting of Jay-Z appeared on the cover of the New York Times style magazine. T. A major exhibition of his works is currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (until January 28, 2024). It was primarily in the spotlight in Paris earlier this year when a show of 30 new paintings, sculptures and works on paper opened at Hauser & Wirth (From sugar to shituntil January 7, 2024), inaugurating the new gallery…