new zealand 51

The federal government has conditionally sold ten CC-130H Hercules aircraft to Coulson Aviation (Canada) Ltd. of Port Alberni, British Columbia, giving the retired military transports a second life as aerial firefighting platforms. The deal Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement), announced the sale today on behalf of Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement. Coulson plans to convert, maintain and operate the aircraft for wildfire response once they clear Transport Canada certification for civil use. The ten aircraft come from a fleet of 12 CC-130H Hercules the Royal Canadian Air Force retired in January 2026. The remaining two will go on public display at bases and museums across the country instead of returning to service. The sale runs through GCMil, the Public Services and Procurement Canada group that handles surplus military asset sales on National Defence’s behalf. It remains conditional on complete...

A new megalithic funerary monument, one of the many so-called “Giants’ Tombs” scattered around Sardinia, has been uncovered in the central part of the Italian island. The Bronze Age tomb was discovered at Carrarzu Iddia, an archaeological site near the town of Macomer, as reported in Finestra Sull’Arte . The excavation was overseen by two local archaeology and fine art organizations, who were already working in the area. This tomb, and others in Sardinia, was built as a collective burial site around 1800 BCE by the Nuragic people. It was previously unknown due to thick vegetation and other debris concealing the structure, made up of a burial chamber and a semicircular exedra, or an area by the entrance, where members of the  Nuragic civilization would gather to worship their ancestors. Over time, this element would become a recognizable feature of Nuragic funerary architecture. One particular detail stood out to the archaeologists overseeing this e...

Dealer Elizabeth Mulholland, who for the last two decades has served as director and then partner at New York’s Andrew Kreps Gallery, is heading west to serve as a senior director at megadealer David Zwirner’s Los Angeles outpost.  “I genuinely wish Liz the best,” Kreps told ARTnews . “It’s a big life decision, and I’m supportive. She made a huge contribution to the gallery and I’m forever grateful.” Founded in 1993, Zwirner’s gallery empire expanded to Los Angeles in 2023, when he opened a 15,000-square-foot showroom in East Hollywood and a 30,000-square-foot Melrose Hill flagship, adding to its portfolio of galleries in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong. He joined Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace with outposts in LA.  Asked to recall some of her proudest accomplishments at Kreps, Mulholland, in an email, said, “It’s difficult to single out just a few moments or milestones. Spending two decades with a gallery has given me ...

To receive  Morning Links  in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our  Breakfast with ARTnews  newsletter . Good Morning! As budgets tighten, museums are joining forces to buy expensive artworks they could not afford on their own. A UK tech firm is using AI and knowledge graphs to strengthen art authentication.  Collectors are increasingly using freeports to defer taxes, protect valuable artworks, and manage sales more strategically. The Headlines TEAMWORK, DREAMWORK.  Museums are increasingly joining forces to buy expensive artworks they could not afford alone, a reflection of rising prices, tighter acquisition budgets, and growing pressure to diversify collections,  Artnet News  reported . Shared ownership allows institutions to split costs, rotate works between venues, and broaden public access while reducing financial risk. These partnerships also strengthen relationships between museums and can attract additional philant...

Clarrie Gibbons was synonymous with rugby in Wellington for many years Gibbons was a player in Wellington in the early 1930s, then a Wellington A selector and coach in the 1950s and 1960s and later an administrator and WRFU Chairman between 1964-68 and NZRU President in 1967. As well as rugby, Gibbons was a track...

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi took another significant step toward its December 11 opening, naming Valerie Hillings as the institution’s inaugural director. In choosing Hillings, the Guggenheim tapped a trusted name for the high-profile appointment. She spent five years on the Guggenheim’s staff in New York before joining the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project in 2008 as curator and associate director of curatorial affairs. She worked alongside the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi through 2018, laying the groundwork for its acquisition strategy and curatorial focus on art from West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia from 1960 onward.  “I am honored to return to Abu Dhabi to complete the once-in-a-lifetime journey of founding and opening Guggenheim Abu Dhabi,” Hillings said in a statement . “I look forward to welcoming local and global audiences to the magnificent Frank Gehry-designed building and inviting them to explore points of interconnection and uniq...