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Israel advanced a bill on Tuesday that would expand Israeli civilian authority sweeping authority over antiquities and archaeology in the occupied West Bank, a move that human rights groups warned would lead to the annexation of the Palestinian territory. As first reported by Haaretz , the Likud-backed bill would empower a new government body under the purview of the Israeli heritage minister to purchase and expropriate land. The proposed “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority”—using the biblical term favored by the Israeli government for the occupied West Bank—“will hold exclusive responsibility for all matters relating to heritage, antiquities and archaeology in the area.” Those responsibilities would reportedly include excavating and overseeing heritage sites and archaeological digs, including those currently managed by the IDF-appointed archaeology staff officer in the West Bank Civil Administration. Tuesday’s vote (23-14) was the first of three v...

Alexis Corbière and Alexandre Portier, the French MPs overseeing the government commission investigating the shocking October 19, 2025, Louvre jewel heist , have accused the museum of deprioritizing security at the museum. The full parliamentary report was released today and also casts doubt on French president Emmanuel Macron’s nearly $1 billion plan to revamp the Louvre, which he announced in January 2025 (nine months before the heist) and referred to as a “new renaissance” for the museum, the world’s most-visited art museum.   Macron’s visit followed the release of a leaked memo written by Laurence de Cars, then the director of the Louvre (she resigned in February of this year), alerting French culture minister Rachida Dati (who also stepped down in February) of a “proliferation of damage in museum spaces, some of which are in very poor condition.”  As noted in Le Figaro , the damning May 13 report is based on over 20 hearings and roundta...

Tawa defend their line to the end in their recent tight victory over Old Boys University at Lyndhurst Park. Photo: Andy McArthur. By Ash Hayward  Premier club rugby in Wellington is in a good place right now. The fast quality of play, high levels of fitness and supreme skill sets make many matches must watch...

Air de Paris, a leading French gallery, will close its doors and declare bankruptcy after 36 years in business, the gallery’s cofounders, Florence Bonnefous and Edouard Merino, tell Cultured .  Bonnefous says the gallery owes money only to the landlord and the bank, not her artists. The gallery is closing, per Cultured , due to its “fragile” finances as well as the founders’ health (Bonnefous suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Mennino also has unspecified health issues). The gallery worked with artists including Trisha Donnelly, Joseph Grigely, Pati Hill, Pierre Joseph, Allen Ruppersberg, Lily van der Stokker, Mona Varichon, and Amy Vogel, all of whom were included in its farewell exhibition, “Oh What a Time,” notes Cultured , adding that the dealers were early advocates for now-renowned figures such as Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Dorothy Iannone, Paul McCarthy, Philippe Parreno, and S...

The streetwear brand Hurley, which is known for surf and swim apparel, has released a capsule collection inspired by Keith Haring, one of the most recognizable and oft-licensed American artists. The collection includes cotton T-shirts, board shirts, bucket and trucker hats, bathing suits, and sweatshirts for men and women, with prices ranging from $28 (a black mesh trucker hat featuring one of Haring’s blue dancing figures astride a two-legged figure that looks like some kind of dolphin/human hybrid, standing in the waves) to $100 (a reversible one-piece women’s bathing suit featuring dancing daisies on one side and an allover flower print on the other). Haring died of AIDS-related causes in 1990, at age 31. By then he was internationally known for his graffiti-inspired artworks and recurring motifs like the radiant baby, dancing figures, barking dogs, UFOs, and pulsing hearts. His subway drawings, done in white chalk on the black paper filling empty fra...

A painting stolen by the Nazis from the Goudstikker collection has surfaced in the home of descendants of a Dutch SS collaborator, according to an art detective. Portrait of a Young Girl , by Dutch artist Toon Kelder, was allegedly displayed for decades by the family of Hendrik Seyffardt, a general who aided the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands before being killed by the Dutch resistance. As previously reported, a man claiming to be a descendant of Seyffardt contacted the detective Arthur Brand after discovering the painting in his family’s possession. The source, who requested anonymity, told Brand he’d only recently learned of his familial relation to Seyffardt, and later saw the work hanging in the hallway of Seyffardt’s granddaughter.  The man’s grandmother reportedly told him that it had been purchased during World War II, and that it was “Jewish looted art, stolen from Goudstikker. It is unsellable. Don’t tell anyone.” The...