War

Intimate photo stories of war

A thought-provoking exhibition of work by the late photojournalist Tim Hetherington at London's Imperial War Museum

Palestinefeature

Dreams of rebuilding Gaza: five culture workers share their stories

The war in Gaza has resulted in catastrophic human losses. Behind the statistics lie the lives of individuals who have worked to preserve the exclave’s precious and often ignored heritage sites

Lisson Gallery puts Ai Weiwei London show on hold over Israel-Hamas war tweet

The artist-activist defends free speech in a lengthy response, but says that the gallery’s decision is “for his own well-being”

Warnews

Palestinian artists killed in Gaza amid Israel-Hamas war

Two artists, Heba Zagout and Muhammed Sami Qariqa, are among the nearly 4,000 Gazans who have died in the escalating conflict

Unesco adds sites in Kyiv and Lviv to list of world heritage in danger

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv’s Saint Sophia Cathedral, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and the historic centre of Lviv join Odesa on Unesco’s endangered list

Historic Kherson cathedral struck by Russian shelling

Landmark site was the burial place of Prince Grigory Potemkin, whose bones were removed by Russian occupying forces last year

Unesco seeks to improve artists’ protection from censorship and violence

New report finds that, unlike journalists, artists are often "in the dark" about the organisations they can turn to when their rights are threatened

Resettlement hopes of Afghan artists shattered as Germany halts scheme

German government’s visa admissions programme is abruptly suspended, leaving desperate applicants in limbo

Sudannews

Sudan conflict: pro-democracy artists under attack and museums at risk of looting, sources say

Leading artists and museum professionals raise fears as violence erupts in Khartoum

Special investigation: Serious concerns over fate of Ukraine’s museum works taken by Russians

The Art Newspaper probes the complex issues arising from the removal of the Kherson Museum’s collection, sent to Crimea for “safekeeping”

‘Cultural erasure’ in the Caucasus: new satellite imagery shows ongoing destruction of Armenian heritage sites

Images show disappearance of churches and cemeteries in the Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan regions at the centre of the largely ignored conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Ukrainian forces win back Kherson region—but Russia has reportedly looted its art collection

The Ukraine territory is one of four illegally annexed on 30 September with decrees by Russian President Vladimir Putin

Farewell to contemporary art in Russia: the cancellation of the Moscow Biennale marks the end of an era

Dozens of contemporary art shows have been forced to close since the outset of the war with Ukraine—but this one was meant to serve Putinist propaganda

New digital art archive launched to help Yazidi community rebuild after genocide

Available on the Google Arts & Culture platform, the project is the result of a year-long series of workshops in northern Iraq

'We must accelerate efforts to protect Ukraine’s culture,' says British Council chief

Culture will be central to the country's recovery—enabling people to process trauma, share a common identity and articulate shared experiences

Kyiv cultural sites reportedly damaged in Russian bombardment

Ukrainian culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko says buildings have been damaged including the Khanenko Art Museum and the Kyiv Art Gallery

Poland demands Russia return seven paintings it claims were looted during Second World War

Putin’s international cultural envoy, Mikhail Shvydkoy, says Poland’s request has no legal grounds

Icom condemns Russia's 'deliberate destruction' of Ukrainian heritage and plans stricter code of ethics

The International Council of Museums says revised protocol will allow it to more readily “address conflicts”—and could lead to the expulsion of Russia from the organisation

Iraqi artists decry Berlin Biennale’s display of photographs showing tortured inmates at Abu Ghraib prison

Artists Raed Mutar and Sajjad Abbas protested against the inclusion of Jean-Jacques Lebel's work and have moved their own pieces

Yemencomment

Letter from... Yemen: 'Seven years on, I'm making less art as the world becomes bored by the war'

Artist Ahmed Jahaf speaks out about how the world continues to ignore the crisis in his home country

Warcomment

Art in the shadow of war: curating a show at Latvia's Mark Rothko Art Centre

Signs of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are everywhere in Latvia—and there's a growing number of culturally disenfranchised citizens, too

The plight of women artists impacted by the Russian invasion explored in New York exhibition

The show at Fridman Gallery features the work of artists who have faced emotional and logistical difficulties due to war

New series of obscured portraits honour Afghan interpreters’ service in the fight against the Taliban

Photographs by former British army officer Andy Barnham capture the lives of the translators whilst hiding their identity from Afghanistan's extremist rulers

Masterpieces from Morozov collection return to Russia from France—but three works have been retained

Around 200 valuable works had to be sent in five convoys of six trucks across Europe as war in Ukraine hampers shipping

Saving Ukraine’s heritage: an eyewitness account of relief efforts

Plus, the Cezanne blockbuster at The Art Institute of Chicago and Nicola L.’s Gold Femme Commode at Alison Jacques

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Could one of these lost Van Goghs—which disappeared during the Nazi period—be hidden in your attic?

These five missing paintings might still survive—possibly looted and secreted away

a blog by Martin Bailey