The turn we are witnessing is wide-ranging, encompassing everything from an interest in esoteric rituals and the occult to the amplification of Indigenous, non-Western, and precolonial spiritual practices. - ARTnews
“(The action is) part of the museum’s compliance with a federal law mandating the repatriation of Native American human remains and cultural items held by federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding.” - PennLive
“The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity, the organization dedicated to stewarding the Eameses’ legacy, will be transforming the former Birkenstock campus in Marin County into a museum. … The 88-acre site (will become) a public space set to host exhibitions, workshops, educational programming, and retail offerings.” - Artnet
Skulls and other recognizable fragments can sell for well into six figures, while complete or near-complete skeletons now bring tens of millions of dollars at auction. Dinosaur fossils are even turning up at art fairs. - Artnet
In a new video posted to the Frick’s website and social media, the Only Murders in the Building co-creator and actor prances around the freshly renovated Gilded Age mansion, narrating a short history of the museum and its originator, the industrialist and notorious labor suppressor Henry Clay Frick. - Hyperallergic
“This place gives a bad feeling, don’t recommend,” says one typical Yelp review (1.3 stars) of the Hollywood Premiere Motel — which the Los Angeles City Council has just added to its Historic Cultural Monument List. - Artnet
“The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and re-instate pre-existing statues,” the agency said in a statement. - NBCNews
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has some 908 individual remains and 79,628 funerary objects in its collection, which are subject to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). - PennLive
Dafen, a village near Shenzhen, was for 30 years the source of up to 70% of the global supply of painted replicas of famous artworks. But business has fallen off by more than half since the COVID pandemic. So the painters of Dafen have started (imagine this!) creating their own art. - Artnet
“After the Museum closed its doors for renovations in 2018, it would take seven years and a $300 million capital campaign that nearly doubled its original goal to finally set an opening date. With construction delays and fund-raising hurdles cleared, the museum will reopen to the public on Nov. 15.” - The New York Times
“While the whereabouts of these gold treasures — three Dracian bracelets dating from 50 B.C.E. and the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet — remain unknown, Dutch prosecutors say that evidence gathered from wiretapped conversations suggests they have not yet been melted down.” - Artnet
“The current crisis in China is a result of corporate backers tightening their budgets, consumers curtailing their discretionary spending, and rising costs, people working at the museums tell the Post.” - South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
Ben Davis: “It’s smug provocation. And there’s no particular love for classic art here; the aesthetic sensibility is totally internet-brained. These specific paintings are picked because they are mildly to very cartoonish, so that holding them up as a sincere image of the past will get people riled up.” - Artnet
