Italy challenges United States gun dealer ArmaLite’s ad using Michelangelo’s David

ROME (AFP).- Italy’s Culture Minister Dario Franceschini Saturday called for a US guns dealer to withdraw an advertisement using an image of Michelangelo’s David — but with the famed statue holding a bolt-action rifle. “The image of David, armed, offends and infringes the law. We will take action against the American company so that it immediately withdraws its (advertising) campaign,” Franceschini tweeted in the afternoon. His comments come after the Historical Heritage and Fine Arts Board in Florence condemned the image by [...]

Obama sends apology note to University of Texas professor for art history quip

WASHINGTON (AFP).- After an art history professor took offense at a comment he made last month, US President Barack Obama sought to make amends — with a handwritten note of apology. Last month, Obama — speaking on the economy at a factory in Wisconsin — said “folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree.” The US leader immediately added, to laughter from the crowd: “Now, nothing wrong with an [...]

Skateboarders force London arts centre to halt demolition plans

LONDON (AFP).- One of the world’s best-known skateboarding spots has been saved from demolition after a campaign by London skaters that was backed by mayor Boris Johnson. The Southbank arts centre announced plans last March to fund a new £120 million ($195 million, 145 million euro) wing by knocking down a set of concrete banks which skateboarders have been using for four decades, and replacing them with coffee shops and restaurants. It offered to build a new skatepark under a nearby bridge [...]

Nude paintings in German school censored out of deference to Muslim immigrants spark debate

BERLIN (AFP).- An adult education centre in Berlin has hung a collection of nude paintings days after censoring them out of deference to Muslim immigrants in what critics Wednesday called an overzealous bid at cultural sensitivity. The paintings’ exclusion from an exhibition Friday met with public outcry in a neighbourhood where tensions were already running high after demonstrations against a new refugee centre earlier this year. “Human nakedness is something natural. Muslims need to get used to it if they want to [...]

Five Pablo Picasso murals at heart of debate after Anders Behring Breivik bombing

OSLO (AFP).- Five Picasso murals that survived Anders Behring Breivik’s bombing of an Oslo government block in 2011 are now at the heart of a divisive debate in Norway on the buildings’ fate. The murals drawn by the Spanish master in the late 1950s and 1960s — “The Beach”, “The Seagull”, “Satyr and Faun” and two versions of “The Fishermen” — risk being removed from the location for which they were conceived if the damaged buildings are torn down. The government is [...]

German court acquits controversial Berlin painter Jonathan Meese over Hitler salute

BERLIN (AFP).- A German court on Wednesday acquitted controversial Berlin painter Jonathan Meese for performing the outlawed Hitler salute, arguing it was a form of artistic expression. Raising the right arm in the style of the Nazi dictator is generally illegal in Germany and prosecutors had demanded the 43-year-old be punished with a 12,000 euro ($16,000) fine. However the court in the central city of Kassel sided with the free-speech argument of the defence and found Meese had used the gesture as [...]

After more than 40 years of mounting guilt, aging Chinese apologise for Cultural Revolution ‘evil’

BEIJING (AFP).- As a teenager radicalised by China’s Cultural Revolution, Zhang Hongbing denounced his mother to the authorities. Two months later a firing squad shot her dead. Now after more than 40 years of mounting guilt, Zhang has ruffled the silence that cloaks China’s decade of turmoil with a public confession. Such rare apologies have been welcomed as a potential gateway to the collective soul-searching that could bring healing — but is blocked by a ruling Communist Party whose critics say is [...]

Helsinki expects a new bid for a Guggenheim museum after rejecting the first offer

HELSINKI (AFP).- Helsinki is waiting to receive a second proposal for a Guggenheim museum in the Finnish capital, a city official said Tuesday, after rejecting the first offer mainly due to its high cost. Plans for a Finnish Guggenheim franchise costing around 140 million euros ($186 million) were turned down by the Helsinki city council in a close vote in May last year, despite having the backing of centre-right mayor Jussi Pajunen. But executives of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation “have met [...]

China expunges exhibits of former mayor Bo Xilai from the Dalian Modern Museum

DALIAN (AFP).- The Dalian Modern Museum once boasted exhibits on the achievements that brought renown to the city and its former mayor Bo Xilai. Not any more, with China’s propaganda machine dismantling Bo’s reputation as his trial approaches. Any references to the one-time political star at the $24 million museum have disappeared, along with once-prominent displays showcasing signature features of Dalian, which Bo is credited with transforming in the 1990s. In recent months a hodgepodge of items have instead been on show, [...]

Ukrainian museum director destroys critical painting ahead of president’s visit

KYIV.- Natalia Zabolotna’s primary job as director of the Mystetskyi Arsenal art museum in Kyiv was to oversee the pieces under her roof. But on July 25, the night before a visit by President Viktor Yanukovych and the opening of an exhibit meant to celebrate Ukrainian heritage, she took a can of black paint and doused a piece that she deemed “immoral.” A day later, the destruction of artist Volodymyr Kuznetsov’s “Koliivschina: Judgment Day” has prompted the resignation of the museum’s [...]

Alarm sounded over state of Italy’s historic monuments

ROME (AFP).- Alarm bells are ringing once more over the upkeep of Italy’s historic monuments, from the Roman city of Pompeii to the Colosseum, with budget cuts hampering repairs and UNESCO issuing a stern rebuke. “Over the last five years, the culture budget has been reduced by two thirds,” Culture Minister Massimo Bray complained in an interview on Monday published in Italian newspapers. Italy is now lagging well behind its European counterparts: the country allocates just 1.1 percent of its budget to [...]

United States restrains 1909 Pablo Picasso painting valued at $11.5 million

WASHINGTON, DC.- The Department of Justice today restrained the 1909 Pablo Picasso painting “Compotier et tasse” – estimated to be worth $11.5 million – on behalf of the Italian government. This action follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The restraining order was obtained in response to an official request by the government of Italy, pursuant to the Treaty between the United States and the Italian Republic on Mutual Legal Assistance in criminal matters for [...]

China Communist mouthpiece condemns plague of ducks

BEIJING (AFP).- The official mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party condemned an outbreak of giant yellow ducks across the country Monday, after imitations of an artwork in Hong Kong landed in several cities. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s 16.5 metre (54 foot) tall yellow inflatable has been a sensation in both Hong Kong and mainland China since it was installed in Victoria Harbour a month ago. Property developers in several cities, among them Hangzhou, Wuhan and Tianjin, have rushed to install similar, albeit [...]

Ai Weiwei presents scenes from his arrest in new installation at the Venice Biennale

VENICE.- As a Collateral Event of the 55. International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, Zuecca Projects presents an exhibition of new works by Ai Weiwei, from 29 May – 15 September 2013. The artist’s only major new solo show in 2013, it is being presented across two locations in Venice: the Zitelle complex, home of Zuecca Projects, and the church of Sant’Antonin. Work by Ai Weiwei also are on display elsewhere in the Venice Biennale as part of a [...]

Taliban criticise Kabul’s pink balloon art project by 31-year-old artist from New York

KABUL (AFP).- The official Taliban website has published an article criticising an art project in which 10,000 pink balloons were given away for free in Kabul, saying the event encouraged un-Islamic behaviour. Under the headline “Was it a balloon show or a mini-skirt show?”, the piece said that the conceptual artwork was a trick to promote Western values among the young Afghan volunteers who helped hand out the balloons. “The West is using different techniques to promote their culture in Afghanistan, sometimes [...]