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The Headlines
COLLABORATION, NOT RESTITUTION. The British Museum is lending artifacts from its collection to former colonies as part of an effort to support what it describes as “decolonization” through collaboration rather than restitution. Curators have arranged the transfer of 80 significant Greek and Egyptian objects to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), where they are now displayed in a new gallery. The show aims to challenge what organizers call “colonial misinterpretation” by emphasizing India’s historic contributions to global civilization. Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, said the initiative represents a new approach to relations with countries seeking redress for colonial-era acquisitions. Speaking to The Telegraph, he described long-term loans as a constructive alternative to disputes over ownership, arguing that museums should practice “cultural diplomacy.” He suggested it was possible to work positively with other nations without denigrating Britain’s past.
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BETTER LATE THAN NEVER. The Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro, designed by American architect studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is set for a “soft opening” in early 2026, more than a decade after construction began, Dezeen reports. Located in Copacabana, the multi-level building features expansive ramps and a striking modern form. Construction started in 2010, with an original completion date of 2014, but delays, including water damage on the first two floors, a major pause from 2016 to 2021, design revisions, and financial shortfalls, have pushed back the schedule. As of fall 2025, the building’s structural work is largely complete, and interior exhibition installations will begin after early 2026, overseen by the Roberto Marinho Foundation. The project has been funded through a mix of public and private support, with the city government taking a leading role in the latter stages. The full opening is planned for the second half of 2026, marking the end of a prolonged and complex development for one of Rio’s most anticipated cultural landmarks.
The Digest
A year after Canada unveiled its Ottawa monument to the victims of communism, the Department of Canadian Heritage has reversed plans to add individual names, following a federal report linking many unvetted “victims” to Nazi affiliations. [The Art Newspaper]
Ocula has asked if art “can break AI’s stranglehold on sex and relationships.” [Ocula]
Twenty-nine museums and galleries across the UK have received £1.3 million from Art Fund, the UK’s national charity for art, in the final round of its Reimagine funding program. [Museums Association]
A new survey tells us that artists in the US are struggling, with 75 percent of the 1,000 surveyed earning $15,000 a year. Despite this, 73 percent remain optimistic about their careers. [ARTnews]
The Kicker
‘MINI-LOUVRE’ LEGAL BATTLE. Perched behind high fences overlooking Lake Geneva, the Rothschild family’s Château de Pregny houses a private “mini-Louvre,” one of Europe’s most valuable and secretive art collections, the Telegraph writes. Locked away for decades, the collection is now at the heart of a bitter legal dispute between Nadine de Rothschild, 93, and her daughter-in-law Ariane de Rothschild, 59, along with her four granddaughters. The conflict centers on whether the artworks should stay in the 19th-century château, as Ariane insists, or be moved to a new public museum in Geneva, as Nadine proposes. The collection, reportedly including works attributed to Goya, Rembrandt, El Greco, François Boucher, rare 18th-century French furniture, and Renaissance artifacts, is valued at hundreds of millions of pounds. Yet its full contents remain largely unknown, protected by strict family secrecy. Nadine claims a substantial portion was bequeathed to her by her late husband, Edmond de Rothschild, and she wishes to make it public via a foundation in his name. After their son Benjamin’s sudden death in 2021, control passed to Ariane, intensifying the family feud and leaving the collection’s fate in the hands of Swiss courts.
