France: The Musée d’Orsay in Paris has completed a two-year renovation that includes refurbished Impressionist galleries on the fifth floor of the museum. A new four-floor decorative arts wing, Pavillon Amont, and temporary exhibition space on the fifth floor, were also part of the €20m revamp.
France: The appointment of Catherine Pégard, a former advisor to president Nicolas Sarkozy, as director of the Palace of Versailles has been criticised by French culture professionals. Critic Didier Rykner said the appointment was a “smack in the face by Sarkozy to museum curators”. Pégard, an ex-journalist, replaces Jean-Jacques Aillagon.
India: An $80m museum is scheduled to open in 2015 on a 13-acre site in Patna, in eastern India. The principal funder, the state of Bihar, has hired culture consultancy Lord Cultural Resources to develop the masterplan for the museum, which will focus on the ancient city of Pataliputra, the predecessor of Patna.
Qatar: The emirate will host Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s first solo show in the Middle East next year. The exhibition, entitled Murakami-Ego, will be held in the Al-Riwaq exhibition hall (9 February-24 June), which is in the grounds of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Curated by Massimiliano Gioni, the show will feature more than 60 works dating from 1997 to today.
Spain: A €44m arts centre in the northern city of Avilés faces closure only six months after opening. The Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, which was designed by 103-year-old Brazilian architect Niemeyer, could be shut down by the regional government of Asturias because of alleged “serious irregularities” in its accounts.
Turkey: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has returned a second-century marble bust of mythological hero Hercules to Turkey. The bust, entitled Weary Herakles, is set to be reunited with its bottom half, which is in the Antalya museum in southern Turkey. The piece was first shown in Boston in 1982.
US: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood has teamed up with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) to launch a museum about the film industry. The planned institution is scheduled to open on the Lacma campus within five years.
Seen in the Art Newspaper, the Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, CBC News and artinfo.com
France: The appointment of Catherine Pégard, a former advisor to president Nicolas Sarkozy, as director of the Palace of Versailles has been criticised by French culture professionals. Critic Didier Rykner said the appointment was a “smack in the face by Sarkozy to museum curators”. Pégard, an ex-journalist, replaces Jean-Jacques Aillagon.
India: An $80m museum is scheduled to open in 2015 on a 13-acre site in Patna, in eastern India. The principal funder, the state of Bihar, has hired culture consultancy Lord Cultural Resources to develop the masterplan for the museum, which will focus on the ancient city of Pataliputra, the predecessor of Patna.
Qatar: The emirate will host Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s first solo show in the Middle East next year. The exhibition, entitled Murakami-Ego, will be held in the Al-Riwaq exhibition hall (9 February-24 June), which is in the grounds of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Curated by Massimiliano Gioni, the show will feature more than 60 works dating from 1997 to today.
Spain: A €44m arts centre in the northern city of Avilés faces closure only six months after opening. The Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre, which was designed by 103-year-old Brazilian architect Niemeyer, could be shut down by the regional government of Asturias because of alleged “serious irregularities” in its accounts.
Turkey: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has returned a second-century marble bust of mythological hero Hercules to Turkey. The bust, entitled Weary Herakles, is set to be reunited with its bottom half, which is in the Antalya museum in southern Turkey. The piece was first shown in Boston in 1982.
US: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood has teamed up with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) to launch a museum about the film industry. The planned institution is scheduled to open on the Lacma campus within five years.
Seen in the Art Newspaper, the Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, CBC News and artinfo.com
