Sweden
The number of visitors to Stockholm's 19 national museums fell by 20 per cent last year after admission charges were reintroduced on 1 January. The natural history museum suffered most, losing half its visitors.
A spokesman for the ministry of culture admitted there was a link between charging and the fall of 1.5 million visitors. "But museums are not just there to attract visitors," he said, insisting that entrance fees were needed to pay for protecting Sweden's cultural heritage.
Kenya
The Agricultural Society of Kenya Centenary Museum on the outskirts of Nairobi has provided shelter for some of the thousands displaced by the post-election violence. The museum, a nearby polo ground and a showground provided refuge for at least 4,000 people.
US
The finishing touches are being made to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new wing, which is named after its funders Eli and Edyth Broad.
But hopes that they would also donate works from their huge collection of modern and contemporary art to go inside the $50m (£25m) building by Renzo Piano have proved misplaced. Eli Broad, who is a trustee of the museum, has opted to create an independent foundation that will lend works to it and other museums.
Haiti
The Memory Village, an open-air museum about slavery and resistance, took a step closer to being built when its founders purchased land outside Port-au-Prince. Visitors to the museum will be able to learn about the slave experience as participants, which will include being shackled, "sold" and set to work. At the end of a 12-hour day, they will re-enact a successful slave revolt.
Canada
Eight cities are vying to become the home of the National Portrait Gallery of Canada. Initial plans for the art museum to open in Ottawa were thrown into confusion when the new federal government announced a competition between cities including Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Ottawa claims in a report that its running costs will be C$2.5m (£1.24m) less a year than elsewhere.
Italy
Mould has damaged Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The codex contains drawings and notes on subjects ranging from mathematics to flying machines. Italy's state conservation institute said the mould was not spreading.
US
The director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello, has announced his retirement after 30 years at the helm. The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas are also seeking new directors.
Compiled by Javier Pes, editor of Museum Practice.
Seen in: The New York Times; The Guardian; Denver Westword; The Independent
The number of visitors to Stockholm's 19 national museums fell by 20 per cent last year after admission charges were reintroduced on 1 January. The natural history museum suffered most, losing half its visitors.
A spokesman for the ministry of culture admitted there was a link between charging and the fall of 1.5 million visitors. "But museums are not just there to attract visitors," he said, insisting that entrance fees were needed to pay for protecting Sweden's cultural heritage.
Kenya
The Agricultural Society of Kenya Centenary Museum on the outskirts of Nairobi has provided shelter for some of the thousands displaced by the post-election violence. The museum, a nearby polo ground and a showground provided refuge for at least 4,000 people.
US
The finishing touches are being made to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's new wing, which is named after its funders Eli and Edyth Broad.
But hopes that they would also donate works from their huge collection of modern and contemporary art to go inside the $50m (£25m) building by Renzo Piano have proved misplaced. Eli Broad, who is a trustee of the museum, has opted to create an independent foundation that will lend works to it and other museums.
Haiti
The Memory Village, an open-air museum about slavery and resistance, took a step closer to being built when its founders purchased land outside Port-au-Prince. Visitors to the museum will be able to learn about the slave experience as participants, which will include being shackled, "sold" and set to work. At the end of a 12-hour day, they will re-enact a successful slave revolt.
Canada
Eight cities are vying to become the home of the National Portrait Gallery of Canada. Initial plans for the art museum to open in Ottawa were thrown into confusion when the new federal government announced a competition between cities including Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Ottawa claims in a report that its running costs will be C$2.5m (£1.24m) less a year than elsewhere.
Italy
Mould has damaged Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The codex contains drawings and notes on subjects ranging from mathematics to flying machines. Italy's state conservation institute said the mould was not spreading.
US
The director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello, has announced his retirement after 30 years at the helm. The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas are also seeking new directors.
Compiled by Javier Pes, editor of Museum Practice.
Seen in: The New York Times; The Guardian; Denver Westword; The Independent
