PAIN Activist Group Joins Harvard Students In The Protest Against The Arthur M. Sackler Museum Name

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!

Updates on the new Damien Hirst’s A.I. project

Damien Hirst’s recent A.I. project titled, “The Beautiful Paintings” gained him a whopping amount of $20.9 million in just nine days. Hirst and his collaborator HENI sold 5,508 artworks which include 5,109 physical and 399 NFTs. The project is in essence a digital spin-off of Hirst’s 1990s series titled “Spin Paintings” wherein the dashboard could help the art collectors generate the colour, shape and size of the artworks on their own accord. The circle shapes gained more popularity than the typical square shapes generating a total number of $11.6 million. Hirst’s last project named “The Currency” gained him a total of $89 million in revenue. Read more about the new A.I. project by Damien Hirst on Artnet.

PAIN activist group joins Harvard students in the protest against the Arthur M. Sackler Museum name.

PAIN (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) the activist group of Nan Goldin recently joined the student activists of Harvard University in their protest against the university’s Arthur M. Sackler Museum. The students show resistance against the Sackler name, a family that was responsible for the production of OxyContin drug in America which further led to an overdose crisis in the country. Ever since PAIN’s first protest in 2018, institutions like the Met, the Serpentine Gallery, the Louvre, University of Boston have removed the Sackler name from their respective institutes. However, Harvard has yet to join the movement. A representative of the university told Hyperallergic that a proposal to “de-name” the Arthur M. Sackler Museum is under process and being reviewed, however, the students have yet to hear any response. Read more on the matter on Artnet.

Restoration of heritage sites in Afghanistan under process by UNESCO.

The UNESCO project to protect the endangered heritage sites in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, has been restarted after being put on hold in 2021 when the Taliban took power. The project, which is being sponsored by Italy, intends to improve the infrastructure, create a long-term conservation strategy, and give nearby residents access to jobs. The wall murals and religious artefacts in Bamiyan Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage site, date from the third to the fifth centuries C.E. The project will concentrate on maintaining the Shahr-i Ghulghulah stronghold, which dates from the sixth to the tenth centuries CE, and the Bamiyan cliffs. Numerous Buddhist artefacts, including the well-known seated Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, can be found on the Bamiyan cliffs. Other World Heritage sites in Afghanistan, including the Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam, as well as sites in Zabul, Kandahar, Kabul, and Ghazni, are also being preserved by UNESCO. Read more about the situation on ARTnews.