World news digest
China: The Chinese ministry of culture has published a document on its museums’ contemporary art collections. The research, which reveals that acquisitions budgets at leading museums are limited to $439,000, has caused heated debate in the Chinese media and art circles. Museums have been criticised, especially for failing to collect works by young Chinese artists.
Egypt: Britain has returned a selection of ancient artefacts to Egypt following discussions with University College London (UCL). The objects, which include a 200,000-year-old stone axe, will be displayed at the Ahmed Fakhri Museum, which is being built in the western Sahara. The items, brought to the UK by an Egyptian archaeologist in 1994, have been in UCL’s care.
France: The Louvre in Paris plans to open a department dedicated to Christian art from the Middle and Far East, along with Byzantine art of the eastern Roman empire. The galleries will occupy the space vacated by the Islamic art section, which will move to a building set to open in the Visconti courtyard in 2012.
Germany: Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie, which houses mainly early 20th-century art, is set to be expanded in line with the building’s original design by architect Mies van der Rohe. The German government is sponsoring a feasibility study into a 1,300 sq m extension underneath the gallery’s forecourt. The Neue Nationalgalerie first opened in 1968.
Ireland: The world’s first leprechaun museum, which examines aspects of Ireland’s mythical elf-like creatures, has opened in Dublin. Installations such as an optical illusion tunnel, a reproduction of the Giant’s Causeway’s hexagons and a room full of giant furniture reflect a leprechaun’s view of the world.
US: The former governor of Virginia, Lawrence Douglas Wilder, has stopped raising funds to build the US National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg. “The museum has closed its offices in Fredericksburg and is not soliciting contributions at this time,” he said. The city council has the option to sell the museum site early next year to recover $80,000 in overdue real-estate taxes.
Compiled by Gareth Harris. Seen in the Art Newspaper, France 24, the Irish Times and Dailypress.com