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Leo the Lion leads the Wellington side out on the field for the start of the final last October. Will there be one mascot to rule them all in 2025?  By Kevin McCarthy  The NPC kicked off last night – and traditionally that’s the cue for laments over its loss of status, pushed to the...

Robert Wilson, a playwright and artist who cultivated a loyal following in the art world for spare productions that bridged the gap between performance art and theater, died on Thursday in Water Mill, New York, at 83. His death was announced by the Watermill Center, the arts center he founded there, which said he died of a brief but acute illness. “While facing his diagnosis with clear eyes and determination, he still felt compelled to keep working and creating right up until the very end,” the arts center wrote in its announcement. “His works for the stage, on paper, sculptures and video portraits, as well as The Watermill Center, will endure as Robert Wilson’s artistic legacy.” Wilson’s work ran the gamut from artworks shown in museums to unconventional stage adaptations premiered in theaters. Much of his work was characterized by an interest in stillness and slowness, qualities that could be found in both his durational performances and his art. One widely seen series of videos,...

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. By late July, Aspen’s social calendar runs on high-altitude overdrive. The Food & Wine Classic has come and gone; the Aspen Ideas Festival has tossed around geopolitics, economics, and the creeping influence of AI. Then, almost without warning, the art world arrives—collectors, dealers, artists, and advisers—armed with printed dresses, cowboy hats, and more Alo gear than a California wellness retreat. And, of course, there is lots of art. The second edition of the  Aspen Art Fair  opened Tuesday with more than 40 exhibitors from over 15 countries. Staged in the ground-floor rooms of the historic Hotel Jerome, the fair has more than two times as many exhibitors as it did last year—a leap that feels both ambitious and, somehow, appropriate. What might sound like a logistical h...

All Heart NZ Chief Encourager LJ Unuia stands centre with team members working to bring a Pacific-led community recycling centre to Ōtara-Papatoetoe. Photo: All Heart NZ Local Democracy Reporting | Free Public Interest News Service By Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting A South Auckland charity aims to establish a community recycling centre (CRC) in Ōtara-Papatoetoe. The proposal has been described as a legacy project rooted in sustainability, social outcomes, and local leadership. All Heart New Zealand, founded in 2016 with a mission to divert quality corporate surplus from landfill while supporting families in need, operates a Resource Recovery Hub on Cavendish Drive in Manukau. The charity presented its vision to the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board during a public meeting. The charity aims to transform waste into opportunities. Lindsay Unuia, the Chief Encourager at All Heart NZ, also known as LJ, says the charity has already diverted 7.1 million kilograms of corp...

Tate Modern may officially be the world’s most visited modern and contemporary art museum, but the critics are circling after it reported a budget deficit six months ago. As The Art Newspaper reports, some have pointed the finger at the London museum’s programming and curatorial strategies for its financial woes, while claiming that Tate’s programing is to blame for a decline in foot traffic. Domestically, it is back to 95 percent of the pre-Covid level, but it’s down at 61 percent internationally. However, research shows that the picture is more nuanced, with Brexit and socioeconomic shifts also impacting footfall. TAN’s annual visitor report, published in April, outlines how visitor numbers at Tate’s institutions last year was considerably lower than in 2019, which was a year of record highs. In 2024, Tate Modern witnessed 25 percent fewer visitors in total compared to before the pandemic and Tate Britain was down 32 percent. Tate St Ives witnessed an almost 40 percent drop in...

To receive  Morning Links  in your inbox every weekday, sign up for our  Breakfast with ARTnews   newsletter . The Headlines ART WORLD RALLIES AFTER FLOODING.  Flash flooding over the July 4 weekend in  Texas  claimed at least 137 lives, devastating the Hill Country region between Austin and San Antonio. The area, known for its scenic rivers, limestone cliffs, and iconic bald cypress trees, has long inspired artists, including Texan Impressionist painter  Julian Onderdonk . As the  Art Newspaper  reports,  Kerrville , a town of roughly 25,000, bore the brunt of the destruction. Darrell Beauchamp, executive director of the city’s  Museum of Western Art  , was jolted awake in the early hours of Independence Day by the sound of rescue efforts. He rushed out to assist and found emergency crews evacuating elderly residents as the  Guadalupe River  burst its banks in a heartbeat. In the days after the...

Grit and determination wins Jubilee Cups – HOBM openside flanker Jordan Gillies looking for the chargedown of Tawa first-five Solomona Uelese’s exit play in Saturday’s final. Photo: Andy McArthur. By Adam Julian Jordan Gillies finally reached the pinnacle of Wellington club rugby on Saturday by winning the Jubilee Cup. As a result, the resolute and...

A double highlights package this week, to end the Premier season for 2025. Jubilee Cup: Hutt Old Boys Marist (29) v Tawa (22) Hardham Cup: Poneke (27) v Upper Hutt Rams (23) +++++ Reports of the games and Finals Day in the link below HOBM Eagles, Pōneke, Upper Hutt Rams, Pare-Plim and Tawa win trophies...

Monday morning post – updates likely to come throughout the day: That’s not quite a wrap for Wellington club rugby for this year. There is still the remainder of the Reserve Grade competition to play out and some National Knockout U85kg matches, involving five Wellington clubs. Games at a glance this weekend are: Wellington Axemen...

Entertainment mogul and renowned art collector David Geffen was sued on Tuesday morning by his estranged husband, model Donovan Michaels, for alleged breach of contract, Variety reported earlier this week .  The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and accuses Geffen, who initiated divorce proceedings, of treating his former partner as “a living social experiment — a trophy to show off to his wealthy friends, under the guise of benevolence.” The 33-page complaint compares their nine-year relationship, including two years of marriage, to the rag-to-riches plot of “Trading Places,” with a “young vulnerable black man, orphaned as a toddler” invited into the world of “an exploiter, masquerading as a white knight while hiding behind wealth, philanthropy and fame.” According to Forbes , Geffen, 82, is worth $9 billion. Michaels, who Variety notes was placed in the foster care system at 18 months, is 32. In his suit, Michaels claims Geffen promised him “lifelong” financ...

It is Finals Day of Wellington club rugby. We will carry all the news and reviews from Saturday evening on our website, followed by photo and video highlights of as much as we can cover. In the meantime, a number of streaming operations will be up and running today at both Kilbirnie Park, as well...

The CT-102B Astra II (Grob G 120TP)—Canada’s next-generation basic training aircraft—completed its first test flight at Grob Aircraft’s facility in Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany. The 30-minute flight marked a major milestone for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as it prepares to modernize its pilot training under the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program “The CT-102B is a very impressive aircraft to operate, and its capabilities greatly exceed the current piston-powered CT-102As that are in service in Canada,” SkyAlyne’s Chief Pilot, Michel “Savvy” Savard stated in a press release. “The CT-102B will be an impressive upgrade that introduces new capabilities into the Basic Flying Training element of the new Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program.” The test flight included functional testing of the engine, aircraft systems and flight controls that is a routine part of Grob Aircraft’s manufacturing and delivery process. Lyle Fair, Head of Aircraft Acquisition for SkyAlyne, confirme...

Just the teamlists for week 17 of Wellington Premier club rugby as at 12.00pm Friday – the fourth round (Finals) of the 2025 Jubilee and Hardham Cup competitions. All teams subject to change. A full round preview will be published as a separate feature article on this website later on Friday afternoon. Jubilee Cup Round...

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) will begin “paying off” the Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDVs) in the fall of 2025 when eight of the 12 vessels will be recognized and celebrated for their long and distinguished service. “Paying off” is a British term referring to paying a crew their wages once a ship has completed its voyage. The RCN will hold a formal ceremony where the naval jack, ensign and commissioning pennant are taken down, the crew leaves the ship for the last time and the ship is no longer referred to as His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS). The Kingston-class warships were built and launched in the 1990s and are now at the end of their service life. The retirement of these vessels allows for the modernization of Canada’s naval capabilities, as resources and personnel shift to address evolving maritime threats. The formal naval ceremonies will take place for the HMC Ships Shawinigan, Summerside, Goose Bay, Glace Bay, Kingston, Saskatoon, Whitehorse and Bran...

A US appeals court on Wednesday overturned an $8.8 million judgement for Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible token (NFTs) creator Yuga Labs, amid its legal dispute with artist Ryder Ripps and his business partner Jeremy Cahen over their alleged counterfeits of the NFTs. On July 23, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said Yuga Labs had not yet proven that Ripps and Cahen’s tokens, which they have described as would confuse buyers of NFTs. Ripps and Cahen said their NFTs were “satirical works of appropriation art”, according to Reuters , which first reported the news . Yuga Labs filed the lawsuit against Ripps in federal court in June 2022, accusing the LA-based conceptual artist and creative director of false advertising, trademark infringement, and cybersquatting, amongst other charges. The complaint also named Cahen, the founder of NFT marketplace Not Larva Labs. ARTnews previously reported that “Ripps contends that BAYC, from its logo to the Apes’ accessories — like “sus...

Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting in Suva, Fiji. Photo: Shane Reti / Facebook Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti reaffirmed New Zealand’s commitment to Pacific-led development during this week’s Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting in Suva, Fiji. Dr Reti emphasised the importance of regional cooperation in addressing shared challenges such as economic development, access to banking services, and labour mobility. While in Suva, he announced two new initiatives supporting climate resilience and public health in Fiji. The New Zealand government launched Fiji’s NZ$3.2 million involvement in the Pacific Climate-Smart Agriculture and Sustainable Land Management Partnership. Dr Reti also announced NZ$4 million in funding to assist Fiji’s response to its national HIV outbreak. Both programmes are aligned with the Duavata Partnership and funded through New Zealand’s International Development Cooperation Programme. “New Zealand is committed to supporti...

Rachida Dati, France’s culture minister, will face trial for an accused of abuse of power and corruption while she was a member of the European Parliament (MEP), the AFP reported on Tuesday. Dati, 59, who has publicly outlined her ambition to become mayor of Paris in 2026, was charged in 2019 on suspicions she lobbied for the car-making group, Renault-Nissan, while an MEP, which is the only directly elected body of the European Union. Dati has denied the allegations. She is accused of taking 900,000 euros ($1 million) in lawyer’s fees between 2010 and 2012 from a Holland-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, while not actually working for it. This is alleged to have happened during her 10 years as an MEP from 2009 to 2019. French investigating magistrates are looking into whether she was lobbying for the car giant in the European Parliament, which is a banned activity. French authorities have also reportedly ordered Carlos Ghosn, Renalt-Nissan’s 71-year-old former boss, to be trie...

This September, Phillips will debut a new fee structure, a “first-of-its-kind buyer’s premium structure” featuring “priority bidding,” the auction house said in an announcement Tuesday. Here’s how it will work: A binding written bid must be placed at least 48 hours before the auction’s start time and must be equal to or greater than the lot’s published low estimate. According to Phillips, the winning priority bid will benefit from a “significantly lower” buyer’s premium rate. “We have a history of delivering positive results for our clients, evidenced by our 90 percent sell-through rate this spring,” Martin Wilson, Phillips chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Our aim now is to strengthen our position on this front by encouraging early engagement in order to generate spirited bidding while also providing greater certainty for sellers. Rewarding all buyers who commit early will create more momentum in the early stages of bidding and a compelling auction experience. We belie...

Above: Post-match scenes from the 2014 and 2016 Jubilee Cup Finals with winners Hutt Old Boys Marist and Tawa who meet in this coming weekend’s decider.  Five tries in the modern era of Jubilee Cup Finals that either broke the game open, broke the opposition, sealed victory and in a couple of instances almost brought...

The two sides met at Lyndhurst Park in their Premier 2 HD Morgan Memorial Cup semi-final. Tawa came home with a wet sail to establish a match-winning 29-19 lead with a few minutes to play, despite having been reduced to 13 players following to sin-binnings midway through the second half. An unanswered try during this...

After seven years, more than 1,500 court filings, and a fire that may or may not have damaged any art, billionaire collector Ronald Perelman’s $410 million legal standoff with his insurers has finally reached a courtroom, reports The Art Newspaper . At issue are five paintings, by Cy Twombly, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol and others, that survived a 2018 fire at Perelman’s East Hampton estate. They were, however, exposed to smoke and sprinklers, which Perelman claims stripped them of their market appeal—what he described in filings as their “oomph.” The insurers, underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, did not accept that argument. Not only do they dispute the claim that the works suffered any detectable damage, they also allege that Perelman quietly attempted to sell some of them. The case raises a common question in the art market: how do you measure intangible losses, a so-called aesthetic “oomph?” In court, Perelman’s legal team leaned on scientific testimony to suggest that damage may lur...

Daniel Chrisp speaks at the Family Forum beside the cemetery chapel, as Mayor Anita Baker and whānau gather to honour 1,800 patients buried in unmarked graves. Photo: Friends of Porirua Cemetery / Facebook Local Democracy Reporting | Free Public Interest News Service By Mary Afemata of Local Democracy Reporting Porirua City Council is set to create a memorial for more than 1800 former patients of the local hospital buried in unmarked graves. But Pacific leaders are asking to be meaningfully involved in the process, including incorporating prayer, language, and ceremonial practices. More than 50 people gathered at Porirua Cemetery last month after the council’s plans became public, many of whom are descendants of those buried without headstones. Daniel Chrisp, the Cemeteries manager, says it was encouraging to see families engaging with the project. Chrisp’s team has placed 99 pegs to mark the graves of families who have come forward so far. One attendee told him that it ...

Above: Lyndhurst Park semi-final scene on Saturday. Photo: Tane Nathan. Gearing up for Wellington club rugby Finals Day this coming Saturday, at Kilbirnie Park and Evans Bay Park. Full preview on Friday and more content to come midweek, but Wellington club rugby finals at a glance are: For the record, Club Rugby’s position is that...

While much of the art world is off on summer holidays, news broke earlier this week of a bitter legal battle between top art advisor Barbara Guggenheim and her former partner Abigail Asher. The implosion of the advisors’ high-profile partnership, Guggenheim Asher Associates (GAA), has sent waves through an industry already reeling from dealer Tim Blum’s announcement earlier this month that he was shuttering his eponymous gallery. In a widely shared post on LinkedIn, collector Sylvain Levy—former partner of high-powered dealer Dominique Lévy—put the news in stark terms. “The collapse of Guggenheim Asher Associates, once a pillar of the international art advisory landscape, is more than a private dispute between two prominent figures,” Levy wrote. “It is a public moment of reckoning for an industry that has long operated on trust, discretion, and informality at the highest levels.” The dispute, Levy continued, reveals a “systemic failure in governance” in the art world, and in pa...

The Canadian and Australian government signed a landmark technology partnership arrangement on June 20, 2025, in the rapid development and deployment of Canada’s Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar (A-OTHR) system. Canada’s A-OTHR system is a key component of Canada’s North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) modernization plan and will provide advanced early warning, enable faster detection and decision making by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) for airborne threats, and provide long-range surveillance to meet Canada’s domestic and continental security needs. “Defending and asserting our sovereignty in the Arctic is becoming ever more important as our adversaries are increasing activity the region,” David McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, stated in a press release. “This arrangement with Australia will help advance delivery of the Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar system. A-OTHR is a key component of Canada’s NORAD modernization plan as it enhances our abil...

A juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil sold for $30.5 million with fees at Sotheby’s, blasting past its high estimate of $6 million. The top lot of Sotheby’s natural history sale on July 16 prompted a six-minute bidding war between six bidders on the phone, online, and in the room, resulting in the third-highest price for a dinosaur at auction. The auction result on July 16 follows the sale of 27-foot long skeleton nicknamed ‘Apex’, which sold for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s in July 2024 to Top 200 collector Ken Griffin and is currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History; and a $32 million  Tyrannosaurus rex  skeleton that sold at Christie’s in 2020. A Sotheby’s press release described Lot 11 as “exceptional” and “one of the finest and most complete examples of its genus ever found,” with 139 original fossil bone elements and “a remarkably complete and fully articulated skull.” The carnivorous dinosaur roamed the early Earth approximately 154 million–149 million yea...

The Yale Art Gallery,  the renowned university museum in New Haven, Connecticut, has withdrawn two federal grant applications for an African art exhibition after rejecting the new, anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) stipulations introduced by the Trump administration on federal funding, the Connecticut Insider reported earlier this week . The museum is now responsible for raising the $200,000 cost of mounting the show, and has announced its plan to dip into its endowment to ensure it opens as scheduled. Roland Coffey, director of communications for the Yale University Art Gallery, confirmed to CT that the gallery withdrew its grant applications to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as it “objects specifically to the grant compliance stipulation that ‘the applicant does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.’” The ...

Hanwha Ocean awarded a multi-million USD contract to Toronto’s Hepburn Engineering for its Replenishment-at-Sea (RAS) system. The RAS system will be a critical component in enabling high-speed auxiliary vessels, often referred to as the naval equivalent of aerial tankers, to replenish fuel, ammunition and provisions. The system will be installed on the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy’s AOE-II (Auxiliary Oiler and Explosives) vessels and is being procured as part of a larger USD $332 million fast combat support ship order that Hanwha Ocean secured from Korea’s Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in August 2024. This contract represents a major step forward in defence collaboration between South Korea and Canada, underscoring Hanwha Ocean’s dedication to forging strategic partnerships with Canadian firms under Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) framework. The ITB policy requires defence contractors to generate economic activity in Canada equivalent to the ...

It’s semi-finals time in Wellington Premier club rugby. Games below: Jubilee Cup: Hutt Old Boys Marist v Paremata-Plimmerton at the Hutt Rec and Tawa v Johnsonville at Lyndhurst Park Hardham Cup: Pōneke v Old Boys University at Kilbirnie Park and Upper Hutt Rams v Marist St Pat’s at Maidstone Park Wellington club rugby Premier, Premier...

Mealani Matavao, Theo McFarland and Duncan Paia’aua at Eden Park for the launch of the new Lakapi Samoa kit. Photo: Neueli Mauafu Neueli Mauafu | Reporter On the eve of their rugby Clash against Scotland, Manu Samoa’s coach backs the squad he’s selected for the international season despite what appears to be some key omissions. Manu Samoa kick off their international campaign for 2025 this Friday at Eden Park when they take on Scotland.  The clash will also be their first match with newly appointed head coach and former Manu Samoa playmaker Lemalu Tusiata Pisi. Last month Lemalu announced his 35 man squad for their international hit outs this year, which was met with a few questions by the public regarding some names missing from the squad. The most notable absentee was Miracle Fai’ilagi who was a major standout for Moana Pasifika in the Super Rugby Pacific season.  Manu Samoa Coach Lemalu Tusiata Pisi and Theo McFarland. Photo: Photosport Lemalu did not com...