A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!
Words like ‘Diversity’ and ‘Inclusion’ became the reason to cancel an art exhibit at Florida
Embracing Our Differences, an arts and education non-profit, announced this week that it cancelled a scheduled art exhibit due to be staged on the Manatee-Sarasota campus of the State College of Florida this April. Since 2003, the organization has put on an annual exhibit in Sarasota’s Bayfront Park and, for the non-profit’s 20th anniversary this year, their annual exhibition was going to travel for the first time. Its third stop on tour would be to SCF, which began talks with the organization early last year. But, earlier this month, officials from the university approached the non-profit to inform them that it wanted the words “diversity” and “inclusion” excised from the exhibit, Sarah Wertheimer, executive director of Embracing Our Differences, told ARTnews. “But promoting those values is literally the goal of our organization,” Wertheimer said. Embracing Our Differences typically uses billboards, whose art and photographs are sourced through international submissions, to teach about diversity and inclusion. Details on Art News.
The Joan Mitchell Foundation has sent Louis Vuitton a letter demanding it pull handbag advertisements featuring paintings by the late American artist, saying the ad campaign was shot without the foundation’s permission. The cease-and-desist letter—which was sent Tuesday by the foundation’s lawyers to Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—alleges that Louis Vuitton illegally reproduced and used at least three works by artist Joan Mitchell for the promotion of its commercial goods. The letter says the brand ignored the instructions from the foundation, which owns the copyrights to her artwork, not to feature her paintings in its ads while they were on loan for a blockbuster exhibition in Paris. The paintings later appeared in ads with French actress Léa Seydoux holding Louis Vuitton bags. Read more on The Wall Street Journal.
Centuries-old jewelry returns to Cambodia in deal with Estate of Disagraced Antiquities Dealer
A group of more than 70 gold relics linked to Cambodian royalty that once passed through the hands of disgraced antiquities dealer Douglas A.J. Latchford, who was accused of trafficking looted artifacts and died in 2020, have been returned to the country. The items, previously stored in London, were returned under an agreement with Latchford’s estate, the Times reported. The estate, overseen by the late dealer’s daughter and legal heir Nawapan Kriangsak, returned 77 items of ancient gold jewelry deriving from the Angkor Empire. The items were officially accepted by the country’s culture ministry representatives in Phnom Penh on Monday. The return was part of a larger deal that Latchford’s estate negotiated over three years with the country. First announced last February, the deal saw the estate repatriate a collection of Khmer antiquities worth $50 million, which are suspected to contain looted and smuggled items. Latchford was charged in 2019 with selling artifacts with falsified ownership records. Details on ABC News.