Statue of liberty now accessible and two more art news

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!

The Statue of Liberty crown is now accessible

The Statue of Liberty is opening its crown to visitors, offering a unique glimpse of the sculpture’s structural underpinnings, as well as a sweeping bird’s-eye view of New York Harbor. Guests to the island can either climb 215 steps or take an elevator to the 360-degree outdoor observation deck that is the statue’s pedestal. But there is no lift beyond that point—to reach the crown visitors must climb an additional 162 steps up a narrow double-helix spiral staircase. (The National Parks Service, which oversees the monument, warns against visits for anyone with heart or respiratory conditions, mobility impairment, claustrophobia, or vertigo.). Read about the news on Artnet news.

Damien Hirst burned million dollars worth of his artwork

In a ritualistic ceremony at his Newport Street Gallery, today Damien Hirst began incinerating 1,000 of his own works from his first NFT (non-fungible token) collection. “What a weird day,” commented the artist, dressed in silver protective trousers and matching gloves, as he put the first piece, appropriately titled \’Totally Gonna Sell You\’ into one of six custom-designed sculptural wood-burning fireplaces at his gallery. This marks the final phase of Hirst’s NFT project \’The Currency\’, which he launched in July 2021 with a collection of 10,000 dot paintings, each titled, numbered, signed, linked to corresponding NFTs and priced at $2,000. Buyers could then choose to get the physical work—or have the analogue painting destroyed. The exchange period closed in July this year with an almost even split of 5,149 buyers deciding to keep the physical artwork and 4,851 opting to take the NFT. Read about the whole incident on The Artnewspaper.

Self-censorship among artist and museum workers on rise in Poland

Artists and culture workers in Poland are increasingly self-censoring their work under pressure from the right-wing populist government, according to a new study. The 100-page report, Cultural Control: Censorship and Suppression of the Arts in Poland, published today by the Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI), claims that instead of establishing an explicit, centralized censorship regime, the leading the Law and Justice party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość; PiS) has taken a more devious approach, exerting its influence by infiltrating art institutions. Since it came to power in 2015, PiS has installed its allies in management at 23 major Polish cultural institutions and artistic events. Read on Artnet News.

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