Hirst to burn paintings
Plus: the art of Birmingham as it welcomes the Commonwealth
Happy Friday. It’s the first official day of competition at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the first time the games have been in England since Manchester 2002 a mind-bending 20 years ago (yeah, I feel old). As someone from the West Midlands, it is incredible to see the world’s attention focused on Brum, with one billion people watching that spectacular opening ceremony on TV last night. I thought having HRH the Prince of Wales drive his own car in was a brilliant touch, and Malala Yousafzai was inspiring as always. And as I type this, England have just won the first gold of the games in the triathlon.
The games offer a wonderful opportunity for the city’s museums and galleries. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has even partially reopened (albeit temporarily) from its major overhaul in order to be part of the celebrations. The magnificent Grade I listed Jacobean historic house Aston Hall was also the final destination of the Queen’s Baton relay before the Opening Ceremony. The baton had traveled to all 72 nations competing at the games, and just days before had made a stop at the Black Country Living Museum (yes, of TikTok fame). It’s not just museums: there’s new artworks in the city such as Hew Locke’s Foreign Exchange and an homage to Nicholas Munro’s King Kong statue, both of which were previously reported in this newsletter. And there’s a whole cultural festival if you’re visiting Birmingham for the games (I will be!) so do make sure you soak up the culture as well as the sport. Your starting point should be this excellent piece by the Guardian, who round up all the arts and entertainment in the Commonwealth Games host city. Bring on the next 11 days in Brum!
Maxwell
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This week’s news
The Natural History Museum has launched a public fundraising campaign for its Urban Nature Project, which will transform its grounds into a free green space in London. Set to open in summer 2023, will feature new outdoor galleries plus plenty of fauna and flora. The project will cost about £19.6m but the public appeal target is £650,0000, with people asked to donate from £50. Controversial opinion klaxon: I’m glad they’ve ditched annual ice rink to make way for this. (Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment). Museums Journal
Damian Hirst is to burn thousands of his paintings. No, not because they’re crap, but because it’s art. Hirst made 10,000 unique dot paintings in 2016 that were each linked to corresponding NFTs and sold for $2,000 each. Buyers could choose to either keep the NFTs or swap them in for the physical artwork, but were told they couldn’t keep both. Just under half chose to keep the NFTs (lol) so their corresponding painting is going to be set alight. Hirst has said it “explores the boundaries of art and currency” or something. The Independent
Johnny Depp has pocketed £3m in just a few hours after unveiling his debut art collection. 780 works have been sold across the 37 Castle Fine Art galleries around the UK after the pieces were first announced on Instagram. "I've always used art to express my feelings" and “no one should ever limit themselves" Depp said, seemingly with a straight face. BBC News
A spectacular technicolour artwork has just opened up on Hadrian’s Wall to mark its 1900th anniversary. The piece is by artist Morag Myerscough and it’s called The Future Belongs To What Was As Much As What Is. The idea is that you’ll be able to get the same views out over the wall and surrounding landscape that Roman centurions would’ve had nearly two millennia ago. It really does look incredible. Time Out
Did you know that London’s House of Illustration is being re-homed and renamed? It’s now the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration and will be moving to Clerkenwell. Of course this all calls for a rebranding, and the colourful new visual identity has just been unveiled. Take a look. Design Week
A Polish military museum has pleaded with visitors to……….stop having sex on its premises (bet you didn’t think that was how that sentence was going to end). Part of a former 19th-century Prussian fortress, the Fort Gerhard museum in the coastal town of Świnoujście said that after installing new CCTV they had spotted numerous guests getting frisky. They had to take to Facebook to ask people to refrain from ‘the art of love,’ which I actually think would make a great exhibition title. MailOnline
New York’s stunning Morgan Library & Museum has opened its lush outdoor gardens to the public for the first time in its 116-year history, after a $13 million renovation. Looks stunning. New York Post
And finally
Remember the story from last week’s newsletter about the hand grenade being donated to a Dorset museum, causing a mass evacuation? Well, the couple responsible have been tracked down and have said they are “absolutely mortified.”
The Museums Association have issued a statement on the cost of living crisis for the sector. They say museum workers are seeing their real terms incomes decreasing at the fastest rate for decades, and that there’s evidence that the public is becoming less willing to spend on paid-for museum experiences. A perfect storm could be brewing.
All the content in this newsletter is provided to you for free. Why not buy me a digital coffee if you enjoyed it?