PETA complaints halt a Damien Hirst exhibit in Germany, and more art news from across the world

We are happy to curate trending stories for you from the many fascinating developments across the globe. Here’s the latest from the art world that you should not miss!

Damien Hirst’s installation dismantled after PETA complaint

After the animal rights organization PETA filed a complaint against the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg in Germany, saying that hundreds of flies had died in a  Damien Hirst installation, the artwork was promptly dismantled. Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg director Andreas Beitin said that they were unaware that flies were also covered by the Animal Welfare Act. Hirst has been known for his fascination with mortality and the often graphic and bloody subjects of his installation pieces. The group exhibition ‘Power! Light!’  explores the rampant use of artificial light and its negative impact on the environment. First exhibited in 1990, Damien’s work, ‘A Hundred Years’, has a glass display case partitioned in half. Flies hatch in one side of the case, reports ARTNews, and if they venture through a hole in the partition, they will be drawn toward an artificial light—which burns the flies upon contact. The cycle continues until the end of its exhibition. In its earlier form, the work displayed a cow’s severed head, crawling with maggots and buzzing with flies. Curator Hans Ulrich Obrist described it as “dangerous and frightening.” Read the entire story on
ARTNews. 

A perfectly preserved wooden sculpture found in Peru

A wooden sculpture unearthed at Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimú Kingdom, in Peru late last month, depicting the king’s litter bearer, is one of the oldest found at the site and appears to be “in a perfect state of preservation”, declared the Peruvian cultural ministry. Chan Chan was one of the largest pre-Columbian sites in South America. Measuring 19 by 6 inches, the figure has a flat face that was painted red and has a protruding nose. There are traces of preserved resin, that was probably used to affix mother of pearl stones. The statue comprises a colourful trapezoid-shaped cap and a triangle-shaped skirt. Its form and style indicate that it is an early Chimú artefact made around 850-1470 years ago, making it one of the oldest objects found at the site so far. Get more details on ARTNews.

A trunk of rare photo books enthrals art enthusiasts

Each Saturday this February, many of Delhi’s art enthusiasts visited Sunder Nursery, a restored 16th century heritage park and arboretum. There among UNESCO World Heritage sites and over 300 types of trees, reports ARTNews, was a different kind of repository — a trunk of rare and beautiful photo books painstakingly collected and lovingly preserved by Anshika Varma, a photographer and the founder of Offset Projects, an organization dedicated to creating public engagement with photography, art, and book-making. The project, known as Offset Pitara, after the Hindi word for “trunk”, is a kind of travelling photobook library that Varma opens to the public for a few hours each weekend, sometimes in New Delhi, but often elsewhere like Goa and Jaipur in India, and in other countries such as Hong Kong. Read more about the fascinating story on ARTNews.

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