"After World War II, prompted by the Allies, Germany underwent an intense de-Nazification program. Not so Italy — there was no equivalent de-fascistization. The country is still filled with buildings and street names that evoke its 20-year dictatorship." - NPR
Frustrated with Newark's ongoing water crisis, Wille Cole and his communities take the city's resulting trash and try to create something better. "It’s not always easy to 'open up perception' and see familiar objects in a fresh way, Cole says." - The New York Times
When editors said they couldn't find Black photographers during the George Floyd protests, journalist and photographer Polly Irungu transformed her social media and networking skills into a lifeline for hundreds of other Black photographers. - HuffPost
The E.U.-wide rule, which was quietly approved last April but will not take effect until 2025, could impose a 20 percent sales tax on artworks. The move has sent shockwaves through France’s art market, where art sales in many circumstances have benefitted from a reduced tax rate of 5.5 percent. - Artnet
In "The New Vermeer," "two professional painters and dozens of amateur artists compete to reinvent the lost works of the 17th-century master. The results are judged by Vermeer experts from the Rijksmuseum ... and from the Mauritshuis, a collection of old masters in The Hague." - The New York Times
"The center, endowed by trustee Ira Brind, will be dedicated to the acquisition, care, and study of art of the continent and its diaspora. The Brind Center for African and African Diasporic Art also will broaden PMA's curatorial lens and make the institution a more well-rounded hub." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Daniel Elie Bouaziz ... pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, referencing a sale of counterfeit Warhol works to an unnamed victim. ... The court agreed to drop 16 other counts," related to sales of fake Liechtensteins, Basquiats, Harings and other works. - ARTnews
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly advancing to a point where it can generate the design of a building completely autonomously. With the potential to create designs faster and with more accuracy than ever before, AI has the potential to revolutionize the architecture industry. - Dezeen
During a press conference at the Iraq embassy in London on Friday, Tablet Hill was described as the “cradle of civilization” and “one of the most important heritage sites in the world that very few people know about.” - ARTnews
"In the ancient Turkish city of Antakya" — known in the early years of Christianity as Antioch — "the domes and walls of the 1st-century Antioch Orthodox Church, known as Antakya Church, and the 7th-century Habib-i-Nejjar Mosque have almost completely collapsed." - Euronews
"In January, the State Department and the Yemeni Embassy approached the National Museum of Asian Art with an unusual query: Would the Smithsonian museum be able to house 77 cultural objects that the United States had retrieved during smuggling attempts?" - MSN (The Washington Post)
The red chalk drawing is thought to date from 1512, shortly before Michelangelo painted that final section of one of the world’s most famous works of art, which he had started in 1508. - The Observer
"The (works were) taken from houses in Barcelona last year, sparking a major police investigation that led authorities to a hideout in Catalonia. Officers found (them) alongside a hoard of stolen money, watches, jewelry, and expensive pens. ... The police have arrested five suspects, including three brothers aged 50, 53 and 55." - Artnet
“Si collected Johns in depth, but can we sell more than 10 Johns for $10 million apiece all at once? Absolutely not. So instead we’re selling a group that feels holistic and feels like Si.” - Wall Street Journal
The rare marble of which the Duomo is built may be lovely, but it's particularly fragile and susceptible to breakage from temperature changes — and that's on top of the usual modern stressors such as corrosion due to air pollution. - The New York Times
