Looted art goes home, and tech gets more artsy

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!

US returns 250 antiquities to India

In a long-running investigation of an alleged stolen art scheme by dealer Subhash Kapoor (who has denied accusations), authorities in the United States have returned about 250 antiquities to India on Thursday this week. The items, worth an estimated $15m, were handed over during a ceremony at the Indian consulate in New York City — the centrepiece is a bronze Shiva Nataraja valued at $4 million. Authorities say Kapoor — jailed in India and facing charges there pending a US extradition request — used his Art of the Past gallery in New York to traffic looted treasures from India and various countries in Southeast Asia. In June, the US district attorney’s office returned more than two dozen artefacts worth $3.8m to Cambodia as part of the investigation. Another 33 objects were sent back to Afghanistan in April. Al Jazeera has the details.

\’Looted\’ Benin bronze goes home to Nigeria

A “priceless” bronze depicting an Oba (king) of Benin — described as having been looted by British soldiers in Benin City in 1897 and then acquired by the University of Aberdeen in 1957 at an auction — has been handed back to Nigeria, citing its “extremely immoral” acquisition. The university approved repatriation in March, and a handover ceremony took place on Thursday evening. Thousands of sculptures and carvings were removed during the destruction of Benin City in present-day Nigeria. Benin bronzes have become \”important symbols of injustice\” over the last 40 years. Many ended up being sold to museums or private collectors. BBC narrates the minutiae.

Photoshop gears up to battle NFT theft

Looking to fight NFT art theft, Adobe is launching a system built into Photoshop — Content Credentials — which will, among other things, help prove that a person selling an NFT is the person who made it. With Content Credentials, NFT sellers will be able to link the Adobe ID with their crypto wallet, allowing compatible NFT marketplaces to show a sort of verified certificate proving the art’s source is authentic. This functionality will be built into Photoshop with a “prepare as NFT” option, launching in preview by the end of this month. Adobe says that NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, KnownOrigin, and SuperRare will be able to integrate with Content Credentials to show Adobe’s attribution information. The Verge decodes the update.

Adobe is adding more mojo to Fresco

For two years now, Adobe Fresco has given artists and designers the ability to draw and paint with lifelike digital materials. And this year, the updates are even more robust than usual. First off, the company is adding motion to Fresco, giving artists and designers the option to add timelines and motion frames to individual layers. Secondly, Adobe is also adding reference layers, which is aimed at helping to speed up the process of when you need to add color to line art. Further, it is expanding the vector brushes library to include a new set that helps you quickly give drawings texture. And that’s not all. Engadget outlines.

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