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Ai Weiwei Says London’s Royal Academy Sought to Eject Him After Post–October 7 Tweet about Jews

In a new interview with The Guardian in advance of his forthcoming book On Censorship , artist Ai Weiwei talked about experiencing censorship not just in his native China but also in the West—including an incident involving his membership in London’s Royal Academy. After chronicling some of his storied challenges and acts of defiance against China’s communist regime, Ai told writer Lanre Bakare he feels “the same kind of surveillance, same kind of censorship in the west.” As Bakare recounts, “Pressed for an example, he tells me a story about the Royal Academy in London, an institution that gave him a landmark exhibition in 2015 and made him an honorary member in 2011 following his detainment in China. In November 2023, an exhibition of new works to be shown at the Lisson Gallery was pulled after he posted a tweet that began: ‘The sense of guilt around the persecution of the Jewish people has been, at times, transferred to offset the Arab world.’ The tweet was deleted, with the ar...
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Debbie Harry, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Al Green Appear in New Factory Images Acquired by the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art has added more than 400 rarely seen images of famous figures who passed through Andy Warhol’s Factory, from David Hockney and Debbie Harry, to Georgia O’Keeffe and Paloma Picasso. According to the institution, the images were captured by the artist Ronald “Ronnie” Cutrone as stereoscopic slides, pairing two photographs to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth. Cutrone, a performer (with the Velvet Underground, notably), painter, and nightclub impresario, worked as  Warhol’s  studio assistant from 1972 to 1982, documenting  during that decade  the creative constellation that comprised his orbit.  He worked closely with Warhol throughout his career — reportedly calling the Pop artist a  “ second father ”  following his death — and went on to exhibit his own paintings and illustrations of canonical cartoon imagery alongside downtown titans such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Building on Pop...
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Artist Who Represented Ireland at 2024 Venice Biennale to Face Trial for Protest Against US Military

Eimear Walshe, who represented Ireland at the 2024 Venice Biennale, will face trial starting tomorrow for a case centering around the artist’s involvement in a protest against the US military staged at an airport in their home country. Walshe will appear in court alongside Áine Treanor and Aindriú de Buitléir, who, alongside Walshe, are known as the Shannon Three. Their protest was staged in 2024 at the Shannon Airport in the country’s southern County Clare, where they were arrested by Irish law enforcement. According to the Irish broadcaster RTÉ , between 2022 and 2024, nearly 2,000 aircraft associated with the US Armed Forces and American civil operators used the Shannon Airport. As RTÉ noted, the Shannon Airport is geographically useful to the military because it is near Europe. By the time the RTÉ report was published, the Ditch had already reported that nine civilian aircrafts that flew through Shannon Airport had carried munitions that were en route to Israel. On March 30, ...
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Jack Lang Steps Down from Paris’s Institut du Monde Arabe After Appearing in Epstein Files

Jack Lang, the former French culture minister, stepped down as president of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris after his name surfaced in newly released Jeffrey Epstein files, according to the Guardian . Lang, who served two terms as culture minister under President François Mitterrand, resigned on Saturday amid mounting scrutiny. He had led the Institut du Monde Arabe since 2013. The immediate catalyst was a tranche of documents released by the US Department of Justice on January 30. In those files, Lang and his daughter, Caroline Lang, appear among hundreds of public figures whose names are connected in some way to Epstein’s vast web of contacts. Both have denied wrongdoing. Their inclusion in the files does not in itself suggest any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes. Still, the fallout in France was swift. Prosecutors announced that they had opened a preliminary investigation into Jack and Caroline Lang for alleged “aggravated tax fraud money laundering,” a move...
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Sideline Conversions 9 February (some rugby news and information to start the week)

Ethan Webster-Nonu flies in for his match-winning try in home team Paremata-Plimmerton’s 21-17 semi-final win over Nelson Marist on Saturday. This last-gasp try set up an all-Wellington National Club 7s final, with Hutt Old Boys Marist winning 19-12. Photo: Andy McArthur – full gallery at https://ift.tt/IGj7ZDT  A busy day of rugby in Porirua and Mana...
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Forging the Foundations of Canada’s Submarine Future

TKMS and EllisDon align on long-term infrastructure cooperation for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project Canada’s next-generation submarine enterprise is increasingly being defined not only by the vessels themselves, but by the industrial ecosystem required to sustain them for decades. From maintenance and repair facilities to advanced training infrastructure, the backbone of the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP) will be built on long-term, resilient, and Canadian-led capabilities. Against this backdrop, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and EllisDon have signed a Strategic Teaming Agreement that signals their shared intention to develop a cooperative, sustainable, and enduring collaboration focused squarely on infrastructure cooperation for CPSP. The agreement reflects a joint commitment to explore, develop, and implement cooperation related to submarine maintenance, sustainment, and associated training facilities in Canada—recognizing that world-class platforms require ...
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Canada’s Shipbuilding Heavyweights Look to Korea to Shape the Future of a Canadian Submarine Enterprise

When representatives from Irving Shipbuilding , Seaspan Shipyards , Davie Shipbuilding , and Ontario Shipyards arrived at Hanwha Ocean’s vast shipbuilding complex, they were stepping into one of the world’s most advanced industrial environments—and into conversations that could shape Canada’s submarine enterprise for generations. Joined by the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, the Canadian delegation toured the South Korean shipbuilder’s state-of-the-art facilities and engaged in detailed discussions on how collaboration under the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP) could translate into long-term sustainment, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) cooperation, and workforce development inside Canada. At its core, the visit reflected a shared focus: ensuring that CPSP is not only about acquiring submarines, but about building enduring in-country industrial capability that spans decades of operation, sustainment, and modernization. “...
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