Pussy Riot’s Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, in the video for “I Can’t Breathe”
With other activists, Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina plans to open a museum in Montenegro. The mantra “for women, by women, about women” will guide the museum’s every move, including the hiring of administrators, curators, and artists. The New Balkan Women’s Museum intends to tackle gender equality in an art world that could use it: 30 percent of artists in New York and LA galleries are women, only a quarter of top arts institutions in Europe and the US are run by women, and women earn 71 cents to every dollar earned by men.
- Under new director Anne Pasternak, the Brooklyn Museum is “sending a strong signal that it is rethinking the conventions that have long guided many older art institutions.” The latest evidence: it has hired Nancy Spector, a Guggenheim mainstay for nearly three decades, as its chief curator. Spector, chosen for her reputation as a trailblazing, creative curator, sees her new position as an opportunity to explore the Brooklyn Museum’s encyclopedic, global collection “through a contemporary lens.”
- “This year was a strong one for female artists, and next year, it appears that it might be even better.” Artnet has released a list of 20 emerging female artists who they’ll be tracking in 2016—including Martine Syms, Kameelah Rasheed, and Caroline Woolard.
- Jeff Koons has again been accused of copyright infringement—this time over his 1986 piece I Could Go For Something Gordon’s. The photographer of the image Koons appropriated, who only recently learned of the artwork, is “seeking unspecified damages, plus any profits.” Throughout his career, numerous artists have claimed that Koons unlawfully reproduced their images in a range of media.
- After giving away 500 “Refugees Welcome” shop-window stickers to business owners, the simple campaign by Veda Partalo and Burlesque of North America has gone viral. First publicized on the Walker blogs, the project has gotten nearly 10,000 orders from around the world. “It’s been really heartwarming to watch this project grow and to see how happy it’s making people.”
- The Ruya Foundation for Contemporary Culture in Iraq is setting up a permanent art space in Camp Shariya in northern Iraq, home to 19,000 Yazidi refugees, to help victims of ISIS process their experiences through art and creativity. In 2016, artist Francis Alÿs will host workshops with camp residents.
- International Pop—organized by the Walker Art Center and now on view at the Dallas Museum of Art—tops Hyperallergic‘s list ’of the year’s best American exhibitions. It’s in good company: shows by Nick Cave, Lynda Benglis, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi also made the cut.
- “The point is not to use names given by whites to others.” The Rijksmuseum is removing offensive terms from the titles and descriptions of 220,000 works. This is the first time a European museum has attempted such en endeavor. The “Adjustment of Colonial Terminology” project is being met with some outside criticism, amid a number of challenges. “The key is finding the balance between responding to the sensitivities of the represented communities and safeguarding of history. It’s a very tricky balance, in my opinion.”
“The Walker Curates the News” takes a break next week to enjoy the holidays. See you again on Monday, January 4, 2016. Happy new year!
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