£9m donated to British Museum
in other news: John Waters bequeaths art collection, and Stonehenge tunnel gets green light
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So here in England, we’re 1 week down with (at least) 3 more to go in the second national lockdown. Sigh. My next visit to a museum seems like a lifetime away.
But looking on the brightside, there are still ways to get an arts fix. And with somewhat serendipitous timing, Tate have this morning revealed their Winter Commission 2020, which is thankfully OUTSIDE, hurrah. Chila Kumari Singh Burman has created a stunning technicolour installation - called Remembering a Brave New World - for Tate Britain’s iconic facade. The commission references mythology, Bollywood, radical feminism, political activism and family memories, bound up in a celebration of neon light and swirling colour. Here’s an image below. I’ll certainly be taking a (long) stroll to go and see it.
Now read on for this week’s news!
Chila Kumari Singh Burman, Winter Commission, Tate Britain Photo © Tate photography Photo: Joe Humphrys
Donation of the decade. The British Museum has received its largest single grant in 10 years - nearly £9m - to help preserve the world’s dying skills and traditions. The Art Newspaper
New Museum. In other British Museum news, details are revealed today about it’s collaboration with architect David Adjaye and organisations in Nigeria to lay the basis for the new Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City. The Art Newspaper
Divine. Pink Flamingos director John Waters will donate his personal art collection to his home museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art. In return, they’ll name the toilets in his honour. New York Times
Hurrah. The above bequest comes as the Baltimore Museum of Arts dramatically halted the contentious (and staggering) decision to sell three of its star artworks. Maybe the rescinding of $50 million worth of donations in protest had a hand in that… ArtNet News
The pain continues. A stark warning from Scotland, as museum bosses have warned many venues across the country may never reopen as a result of the “fatal” financial impact of Covid-19. Press and Journal
Hockney’s Hope 2.0. David Hockney has for second time this year shared new drawings to inspire hope during lockdown. Like last time, it’s a shame they’re from his iPad. Hypebeast
“a shocking and shameful decision.” The HUGELY controversial plan to build a road tunnel under ancient Stonehenge has been given the go ahead by the UK government. Sky News
“they should remain united.” Sir Michael Palin is backing a campaign against the National Railway Museum’s plan to move the famous Locomotion No. 1 - the first locomotive in the world to haul a passenger train - from the town of Darlington. The Northern Echo
and a bonus read…
Has the unveiling of a new public artwork ever generated so many furious column inches as the new North London sculpture of feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft? Well yes, show me a public work that doesn’t kick off with a backlash. But what’s different about this much-derided Maggi Hambling work? The New Statesman takes a deep dive into why it became the battleground of such fierce debate.
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