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Candida Gertler, co-founder of the Outset Contemporary Art Fund, has stepped down from the organization’s board of trustees and all voluntary roles within UK arts institutions, according to a report by  The Art Newspaper . Her resignation follows an open letter signed by over 1,100 artists and art workersa and addressed to Tate leadership ahead of the Turner Prize ceremony on December 3, calling for the museum to divest from the Zabludowicz Art Trust, Zabludowicz Art Projects, and Outset Contemporary Art Fund. The three organizations are run separately by arts philanthropists Anita and Poju Zabludowicz and Gertler. As ARTnews ‘ Angelica Villa reported earlier this week , the letter accuses the groups’ founders of being connected to Israel’s “genocidal” policies in Gaza, citing findings from the International Court of Justice and the United Nations that describe Israel’s military actions as being consistent with genocide and apartheid. Amnesty International has also labeled Israel...

K Road Chronicles | Online series Returning to Whangārei after filming two seasons ago, we were hoping to hear stories of success and recovery. We didn’t. If anything, problems around poverty and homelessness are worse. This episode, however, is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, the importance of community and the resourcefulness of underfunded support services. Homelessness in Te Tai Tokerau is largely hidden homelessness. Many people live in cars beside the beautiful bay. They arrive at dusk and leave before dawn, taking any evidence of their stories with them. One resident we met at Open Arms says they are under increasing pressure from the police and the council to move on. “Where are we meant to go? We can’t afford campground fees. They are just making us poorer,” he says. 155 Whare Āwhina opened in 1993 to provide a community hub offering anyone in need a safe space to seek refuge, housing assistance and enjoy kai. Anyone is able to access la...

The story about cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun and Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian keeps on giving. Sun made good on the promise he made immediately after buying the artwork, comprising a banana duct-taped to the wall, by eating it on Friday in front of baying journalists . The day before, though, he made an even stranger announcement on X: he said he was going to buy 100,000 bananas from the New York street vendor who sold the fruit to Sotheby’s before the house displayed the artwork at auction last Wednesday. Each banana comprising  Comedian , which is represented by a certificate of ownership, is replaced every two to three days when the work is displayed. The fruit seller, a 74-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant called Shah Alam who runs a stall near the auction house on East 72nd Street and York Avenue, reportedly sold the banana for 25 cents to a Sotheby’s employee. When a New York Times reporter told Alam that the banana sold for over $6 million, he started to cry....

ADGA Group (“ADGA”), a longstanding defence and security Canadian partner since 1967, plays a pivotal role in the cybersecurity landscape. We provide a broad range of security solutions that span both defence and security lines of business. Recently, our Security Line of Business Head, Jean-François Séguin, sat down with Vanguard Radio to discuss our involvement in cybersecurity and the Canadian Program for Cybersecurity Certification (CP-CSC). ADGA’s Comprehensive Approach to Cybersecurity Our approach to security is holistic, encompassing strategy development, program design, emergency management, business continuity planning, maturity assessments, and audits. We conduct cybersecurity program reviews, compliance checks, threat and risk assessments, and threat intelligence operations. Our expertise has now extended to supply chain security within the defence sector, ensuring that both physical and electronic security measures are in place and aligned with federal requirements. W...

An entrance to what may have once been a sanctuary was found by researchers among the cliffs of Athribis in a small Egyptian village near present-day Sohag, roughly 124 miles north of Luxor. Arthribis was once a hub for the worship of the god Min-Re; his wife, lioness goddess Repyt; and their son, the child-god Kolanthes. It spans more than 74 acres and includes a temple complex, a settlement, a necropolis, and ancient quarries. Researchers from Germany’s University of Tübingen, with support from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, identified a pylon or two towers flanking the main entrance to a larger structure. Excavations over the last few months have focused on the northern tower. At the entrance gate, the team uncovered reliefs of a king offering sacrifices to Repyt and Kolanthes. Hieroglyphic inscriptions showed that the king Ptolemy VIII, who ruled during the 2nd century BCE, was responsible for the decoration and likely the construction of the pylon. Ptolemy V...

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance , the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday. With the fall marquee sales in New York complete, let’s take a look at the scoresheet. This time, there were a few big winners and some surprising disappointments, even for blue-chip names. That may come down to what we might call a granular market: one dependent on the quality of the specific work that hits the block. “The art market is not a monolith,” art adviser Megan Fox Kelly told ARTnews after the sales week. “It’s often more accurate, I think, to analyze the market at the level of the individual work.” Works that were in demand, like Ed Ruscha’s Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half (1964) and René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières (1954), commanded long-bidding wars and record-breaking prices ($68 million and $121 million, with fees, respectively). There were others carrying eight-figure estim...

Bottle shops and supermarkets will stop trading from 9pm from December 9. Photo: Stuff Local Democracy Reporting | Free Public Interest News Service By Torika Tokalau of Local Democracy Reporting Alcohol outlets in Auckland will have shorter and stricter trading hours next month, including no booze being sold from bottle shops and supermarkets after 9pm. The rule is the final phase of the implementation of Auckland Council’s new Local Alcohol Policy. Auckland Council policy general manager Louise Mason said the changes to trading hours will apply to all off-license, on-licences and clubs from December 9. “At off-licences, such as bottle shops and supermarkets, alcohol sales will end at 9pm,” Mason said. Before this, bottle shops and supermarkets could operate till 11pm, if permitted. “On-licences, such as bars and restaurants that are permitted by the District Licensing Committee (DLC) will be able to sell alcohol up until 4am in the city centre, and 3am outside of the...

María Berrío, whose collaged paintings mesh folklore with her own personal lore, will join the roster at Hauser & Wirth. The gallery, which will mount a solo show of her work in 2025, will co-represented the artist with her London-based gallery Victoria Miro. Hauser & Wirth will also bring one of Berrío’s works to its Art Basel Miami Beach booth this December. Born in Colombia and based in New York, Berrío has received attention for her paintings of people, mainly women, in domestic settings and forests. These works refer to issues related to immigration, displacement, and diasporas. In a statement, Marc Payot, president of Hauser & Wirth, said, “Part of a generation of artists bringing fresh energy to the medium of painting, María is a confident innovator dedicated to both technical inventiveness and new interpretations of the deep, psychologically rich reservoir where folklore, mythology and history mingle.” Her work has been the subject of a spread of solo shows over...

More than 600 artists and art workers have signed an open letter calling on the Tate in London to sever ties with arts organizations whose founders have financial ties to Israel. The letter, addressed to Tate leadership ahead of the Turner Prize ceremony on December 3, calls for the museum to divest from the Zabludowicz Art Trust, Zabludowicz Art Projects, and Outset Contemporary Art Fund. The three organizations are run separately by arts philanthropists Anita and Poju Zabludowicz and Candida Gertler. Signatories of the letter include Jasleen Kaur, a current Turner Prize nominee, as well as past Turner Prize winners such as Charlotte Prodger, Helen Cammock, and Lawrence Abu Hamdan. Artists Jumana Manna, Sophia al-Maria, Gala Porras-Kim, Evan Ifekoya and Dala Nasser were also among the signatories. The letter accuses the groups’ founders of being connected to Israel’s “genocidal” policies in Gaza, citing findings from the International Court of Justice and the United Nations that d...

Two climate activists who doused a display case containing the U.S. Constitution in red power at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. earlier this year have received prison sentences, ABC News reported earlier this month. Donald Zepeda of Maryland received a two-year sentence, while Jackson Green of Utah received 18 months. Both will have two years of supervised release. Additionally, they are expected to pay the National Archives $58,607.59 for damaging the display case. Zepeda and Green pleaded guilty to one charge of destruction of government property. Though the Constitution was unscathed by the incident, the museum closed its doors to the public for four days and has increased security. “I did genuinely think we were going about the actions in such a way that they wouldn’t cause significant harm to others, but I realize now the ignorance and lack of consideration that belief represented. I also recognize that regardless of my intentions, the harm I caused is real and is ...

 The Beautification Trust’s Chorus Cabinet Art programme in South Auckland transforms plain utility boxes into vibrant art, celebrating local communities, histories, and nature while serving as an anti-vandalism measure. Photo: Beautification Trust Local Democracy Reporting | Free Public Interest News Service By Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting More than 23,000 tags have been removed across Auckland city, thanks to an ‘A-class’ service provided by a social enterprise. Specifically, 3070 of these were removed from the Māngere- Ōtāhuhu local board area. The Beautification Trust has become a key player in South Auckland’s efforts to maintain clean and vibrant communities. The Trust transitioned from an Auckland Council-controlled organisation to a South Auckland-based social enterprise in 2024. On Wednesday night, Community Programmes Manager Sterling Ruwhiu and Community Coordinator Erin Bowers presented to the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board, showcasing the Trus...

Updated: This column and our 2024 rugby coverage is fast coming to a close for the year, as we are running out of content. This may or may not be our last column of the year! An advertising spot on Club Rugby has opened up for next year. If interested in this and/or advanced sponsorship please...

 9 Lives Orphanage in Manurewa re-home hundreds of cats a year. Photo: Supplied Local Democracy Reporting | Free Public Interest News Service By Torika Tokalau of Local Democracy Reporting An animal rescue group is looking to set up a hub in South Auckland to help reduce strays and rehome older cats in the area. 9 Lives Orphanage presented their need to the Manurewa Local Board, asking for support to establish a cat rescue centre. Roxanne Mason said the hub would benefit local strays and domesticated cats, and would educate, re-home and offer support services. The group was currently operating from a volunteer’s home. “We would also like the centre to be housing for older cats, a designated place because older cats are hard to re-home,” Mason said. She had some in her house last year for nine months, “because people want kittens, they don’t want older cats”. “So, if we get one place, a community hub where we could have older cats, people could come through the day...

K Road Chronicles | Online series By Six Often, the people with the least are the people who give the most.  Debbie and her partner Troy say they struggle themselves, but that doesn’t stop them from offering a valuable social service not only to the people of Manurewa and South Auckland but also to the wider Auckland community.  “We have people coming in from Maraetai, Pukekohe and from over the North Shore and all over Auckland,” says Debbie. Everything at Waka of Caring is free.  “We only need smiles,” says Debbie. If we don’t have what someone needs, we’ll find it for them.”  Since our visit in Season 2, I was hoping to hear good news stories about progress and success, but unfortunately, we are losing the war on the poor.  The good news is we have thousands of new recruits, with more than 40,000 more unemployed, joining welfare queues in recent months.  “I can see why more and more families are living together, says Debbie. It is th...

The Kunsthaus Bregenz, a beloved contemporary art museum in Austria, has announced what might already count as the most mysterious show of 2025: an exhibition by an artist whose identity may never be known to the press and the general public. That makes the show an unusual one for this institution, whose programming regularly includes grandly scaled exhibitions by well-known names. Its programming for next year features shows by Precious Okoyomon and Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, artists who appeared in the main exhibition and the Polish Pavilion of the 2022 Venice Biennale, respectively. The museum’s release for its 2025 programming included images and extensive information about Okoyomon and Mirga-Tas’s shows. But the exhibition opening in October 10, by an artist referred to in the release only as ███████, came with no description. Its sole image was a confidentiality agreement between the unidentified artist and museum management. During the course of the exhibition, that agreement read...

A recent poll found the majority of Britons, 53 percent, support a permanent exhibit at the British Museum about the transatlantic slave trade. New polling data by British research and data analytics firm YouGov found that 53 percent of respondents thought a permanent display about Great Britain’s role in the trade of slaves from Africa would be appropriate at the British Museum. Two-thirds of respondents said they believe the institution should educate the public about the country’s history with the slave trade. The data also showed 72 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement, “As a society, public education about the reality of the British empire is important in order for us to understand Britain’s multicultural society today”. The online polling was co-commissioned by the Good Law Project and The World Reimagined. The World Reimagined is a national art education project best known for its 103 globe sculptures featuring the work of artists about the history, lega...

An exhibition of precious miniature objects from the 18th century at the Cognacq-Jay Museum in Paris was robbed on Wednesday, according to Le Monde . Four hooded men stole smashed a display case with axes and baseball bats before stealing five collector’s boxes and diamond-encrusted snuffboxes in front of museumgoers. They fled on scooters in a matter of minutes. The two 18th-century snuff boxes were made by Johann Christian Neuber and Daniel Baudesson. Among the items stolen were two works from the English royal collections and the Louvre, according to the French ministry of culture. The show also contains works from the Palace of Versailles. The Cognacq-Jay Museum houses an extensive collection of 18th-century art and objects donated by French businessman Ernest Cognacq. Though no one was injured, the museum is closed until further notice (with plans to reopen on December 10) as the investigation of the incident continues and the amount of damage assessed, authorities said. The r...

The second annual post-covid revived Central Region 7s is being hosted by the Manawatu Rugby Football Union on Saturday. This is the tournament that was played in Levin for many years, prior to Covid 19 striking the nation and it going into abeyance for three years. There were green shoots in its revival last year...

Steve Locke’s best-known works are paintings of faces with their tongues sticking out. This fatuous facial gesture is immediately relatable but also, as Locke discusses below, one that can be read in a number of different ways. Such multifaceted readings are typical for Locke, who trained as a painter and considers his subjects carefully and from many different vantages. Often, in work that can be moving or maddening, inspiring or impish, and sometimes more than a little funny, he captures stark realities related to the violence that has haunted Black and queer people. The 61-year-old artist, long based in Boston but now living and working in New York, was the subject of “the fire next time,” a survey on view at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, until November 8. The show—whose title alludes to James Baldwin’s 1963 book of essays—included paintings, some of them freestanding portraits with tongues sticking out attached to poles and made to look like signposts. It also featured ...

Boston University will not be accepting applications for PhD students in the humanities and social sciences for the 2025–26 academic year, the institution wrote in an undated post on its website. The university has not officially announced the change in a press release nor has it fully explained the implications the news will have on applicants and existing programs. The affected programs include American and New England Studies, Anthropology, Classical Studies, English, History, History of Art and Architecture, Linguistics, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Romance Studies, and Sociology. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, which oversees all of the affected academic programs, at Boston University could not be reached by ARTnews for comment by press time. In an email obtained by  Inside Higher Ed , however, the heads of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) put the blame on increased costs associated with the graduate student workers union contract. After an...

An ancient figurine of a female deity, once held in the collection of longtime Met donor and trustee Shelby White, has been returned to Turkey. The artifact, a miniature stone statue of a seated figure, resurfaced in the US as part of a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into the origin of art and objects in the collection of White. The repatriation was facilitated by officials of the Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, overseen by Mehmet Nuri Ersoy. Esroy’s administration included the piece in a display at the Karatay Madrasa Ceramic Art Museum in Konya. The latest return is part of a wider push by Turkish cultural officials to recover artifacts stolen from Turkey, and often illegally exported outside its borders. In 2022, Turkey signed an agreement with Switzerland to address issues related to the trafficking of antiquities in the international art market. Turkey’s cultural property campaigning comes amid declining tourism numbers. Accordin...

On November 10, Vice Admiral Angus Topshee, the 38th Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), paid a visit to Hanwha Ocean’s shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. This important meeting centered on Canada’s plans to modernize its submarine fleet through the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP), a procurement effort in which Hanwha Ocean is a key contender.  The visit underscored the strategic partnership evolving between Hanwha Ocean and Canada, particularly in the realm of advanced submarine technology. During the tour, the Vice Admiral was introduced to Hanwha Ocean’s state-of-the-art KSS-III Batch-II submarine, a model serving as the foundation for Hanwha’s proposed solution for the CPSP. This hands-on demonstration offered an in-depth look at the shipyard’s innovative design and construction capabilities, as well as a detailed briefing on the submarine’s unique features.  Hanwha Ocean emphasized that its KSS-III platform is the only solution capable of meeting all of ...

Tauanu’u Perenise Sitagata Tapu shares his journey with diabetes and dialysis, highlighting health inequities faced by Pacific patients in receiving transplants. Photo: Candice Ama / PMN News Local Democracy Reporting | Free Public Interest News Service By Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting A Sāmoan community leader and educator was stunned to see former students step forward as potential kidney donors, following a public appeal. For 20 years, Tauanu’u Perenise Sitagata Tapu has been a respected teacher at McAuley High School and in the community. He struggled with diabetes and kidney failure for decades, and despite being asked to consider a kidney donor multiple times, had accepted his situation. “I look at it this way: the Lord gave me life. I’ve lived a good life. I accept what’s happening in my life. “I do not want any other person’s life shortened because they have to help me. That was simply my view. I will accept any time that I [might] leave this world, ...