Leaders

Comment | In the run up to the US election, Boston's Museum of Fine Art is hopeful about art's role in a democratic future

The museum's latest exhibition explains and scrutinises democracy through objects spanning 2,500 years

Phoebe Segal
Conflictcomment

Why cultural destruction is such a dangerous military tactic

A landmark report shows how attacks on heritage can cause “psychosocial, economic, and other types of harm”—but laws need to go further

Leaderscomment

The US needs an independent commission for Nazi loot claims

‘If an artwork is located in the US, its fate cannot be decided in any other state, and any wrong decisions cannot be corrected elsewhere’

Leaderscomment

Simple steps art museums can take to drive sustainability

Reducing the art sector’s ecological footprint can seem daunting, but art institutions can implement these two impactful changes with relative ease

Leaderscomment

Now is the time to give artists a thriving wage

Paying artists properly enables them not only to meet their needs equitably but also to flourish, fostering future savings and investments within their communities

Jeffreen M. Hayes
Leaderscomment

How artists are uniting to defeat Donald Trump at the polls

The Artists For Democracy 2024 project is working with world-renowned artists including Shepard Fairey and Carrie Mae Weems to mobilise voters

Leaderscomment

In Javier Milei’s Argentina, artists—like everyone else—face uncertainty and scarcity

Since taking office, the country’s far-right president has created a situation where millions of people are slowly being pushed to their limits

Art marketcomment

It’s time to end the predatory practices of 'sleeper hunters'

Sleeper hunter dealers must recognise they have an asymmetrical relationship to vulnerable people pressured by circumstance to sell off their treasured heirlooms

Leaderscomment

How the Rybolovlev vs Sotheby's case shows the need for greater transparency in the art market

As the trial between the Russian billionaire and the auction house is thrashed out, it may be time to consider incorporating blockchain into the art scholarship process

Leaderscomment

The next urgent -ism: museums must change their ageist ways

Museums in the US and beyond are neglecting members of a rapidly expanding demographic who also historically have been the sector’s biggest donors

The Parthenon Marbles and the myth of the slippery slope

There are some very spurious arguments coming from those resisting the return of the marbles to Greece

Alexander Herman

Art is fanciful? The opposite is true as artists and designers address the most urgent global challenges

Rhode Island School of Design is participating in the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Terra Carta Design Lab, leveraging art and design to address social issues

Time for the UK to adopt US-style rules on holding artists' funds

Primary-market sale proceeds should be held on trust so artists are never left out of pocket by a gallery's insolvency, writes IP and art lawyer Jon Sharples

Hawaiicomment

Picking up the pieces of Hawaii’s heritage after the devastating Maui wildfires

All but one of the 14 historic sites the Lahaina Restoration Foundation owned or managed was critically damaged in the deadly fires

'Never trustee an MP: why politicians should stay off boards of cultural institutions'

The "arm's length" principle, which frowns on political meddling in museums, is being eroded by policy hawks, writes artist and activist Bob and Roberta Smith

Labour’s education revolution will put the arts and culture centre stage

The UK's shadow culture minister sets out the Labour party's plan for arts and culture if they win the next election

Lucy Powell. UK Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

National Portrait Gallery should become a dispersed museum

The gallery—and the other big London museums—should be sending their vast collections around the country instead of hiding them in basements

Simon Jenkins
Leaderscomment

'The arts in English state schools are in extreme peril'

There is a lack of value ascribed to the arts within the incoherent state education system, our new report finds

Leaderscomment

'In the age of AI, putting creativity at the heart of education is more important than ever'

The UK Labour Party is gearing up for the next election and should be talking about how we are educating children

Lessons from a museum picket line

As workers at US art institutions continue to organise, negotiate and, when necessary, go on strike, the most high-profile museum strike in years, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, continues to provide insights

Leaderscomment

Now is the time to honour not censor Russia’s dissident artists

The director of the Zimmerli Art Museum, which is home to the world's foremost collection of Soviet nonconformist art, says recent calls to censor all Russian art in light of the war in Ukraine oversimplify the issue

Leaderscomment

'Black History Month is not a checkbox—museums need to work on yearlong, holistic programming'

As Black History Month begins in the US, arts administrator and historian Tsione Wolde-Michael gives three key points for institutions to consider

Leaderscomment

'Wage transparency is the way forward for museums'

New York City law now requires information about salary ranges in job descriptions—a welcome change for fellow art workers, say Tom Finkelpearl and Pablo Helguera

What can we learn from the Wellcome Collection's gallery closure backlash? What museums are really capable of

Professor Ken Arnold, co-curator of the Medicine Man display that was considered "racist, sexist and ableist", on the recent controversy

Leaderscomment

'National Gallery's plans will create an entrance fit for today’s public' says London museum's director

Gabriele Finaldi responds to criticism over the gallery's proposed redesign for the Sainsbury Wing

My plea to London’s National Gallery to scrap its £35m Sainsbury Wing new entrance plans

Architecture critic Hugh Pearman argues that the gallery is making irreversible changes to a Grade I listed building—while removing most of its early Renaissance collection from display until 2025

Leaderscomment

Is England’s arts establishment set for a revolution?

Arts Council England are due to announce its regularly funded National Portfolio organisations this October, in line with a new strategy

How the Speed Art Museum learned to listen in the midst of a community tragedy

The museum built deep community engagement in real time following the killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020

Leaderscomment

Ukraine fundraiser shines intriguing light on art, wealth—and a flexible approach to morality

'Brave Ukraine' event—presided over by Christie’s and held at Tate Modern—shows a cultural crowd keen to distance itself from the oligarchs it once wooed