Canada: A major summer exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto failed to draw in the crowds, resulting in a $3m revenue shortfall. Drama and Desire, which explored the links between theatre and painting in 18th-century Europe, attracted 54,209 visitors, 34,000 of whom were AGO members. The show, which included loans from the Louvre, ended in September.
Italy: Zaha Hadid has won the Royal Institute of British Artists’ 2010 Stirling Prize for her design of the ultra-modern Maxxi museum of 21st-century arts in Rome, which opened in May. The Iraqi-born, UK-based architect had been nominated on three previous occasions.
The prize is awarded to the architect of the best European building constructed or designed in Britain. Meanwhile, David Chipperfield, who was also shortlisted for the prize for his restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin, has won the Riba Royal Gold Medal.
Qatar: A major museum devoted to Arab art dating from 1840 to today will open in Doha next month. The Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, founded by the Qatar Museums Authority, will house a 6,000-piece collection. The inaugural exhibition, Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art, includes works by more than 100 artists.
Russia: The London-based exhibition-design group Event Communications has won a competition to redevelop the Polytechnic Museum in Moscow, a science and technology institution founded in the 1870s. The development team includes Glasgow Life, the city council’s culture and sport division, which is represented by its director of policy, research and development, Mark O’Neill.
US: Half of the directors of 20 leading museums and their senior colleagues who took a pay cut during the recession have had their wages restored. The 15% pay cut imposed on Glenn Lowry, director of New York’s MoMA, from 2008-09 has been lifted.
The other half of the directors are still receiving frozen salaries or wages that are up to 10% lower than before the recession.
US: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art unveiled its new $53m Resnick exhibition pavilion last month. Lynda and Stewart Resnick donated $45m towards the single-storey space, which was designed by Renzo Piano. The philanthropists also pledged a future donation of works worth $10m from their personal collection.
Seen in the Art Newspaper, Daily Telegraph, Toronto Star and BBC
