Reading list, 28 December 2019

The 11 Biggest Controversies That Rocked the Art World in 2019 and The Art Controversies That Defined the 2010s - from Artnet, so the American view. The increased scrutiny and publicity around the ethics of patronage, sponsorship and governance was my #1 trend for the artworld in 2019.

And The Biggest Cultural Moments of 2019 from Art Agency Partners

50 years of the museum in the community - a write-up from a symposium held at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum and jointly hosted by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (more a list of the talks held than insights generated but still handy)

Open storage is back - profiling the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum's new building project in Rotterdam

"An exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art shows the limits of “soft power” at a time when museums are being transformed by hard activism" - Soft Power at MOMA

Kent Monkman at the Met (NYT)

A group of American historians challenged the NYT's 1619 project: The Atlantic covers the discussion/dispute, and the NYT responds to the criticisms. Interesting for when academic imperatives and perspectives meet journalistic and activist ones.

The five stages of an art world scandal - how the banana made it

Things I missed earlier this year: a two-part interview with Glenn Lowry on the revamped MOMA, succession planning & more (part one, part two)

Reading list, 21 December 2019

In the Guardian - Australia governments urged to stamp out enslavement and exploitation of Aboriginal artists 

Opinion piece in the NYT - How the Superrich Took Over the Museum World 

On Hyperallergic - Organizations Outside the Art World Are Better at Reaching Underserved Populations

On theArtnet podcast - Is the Art World Causing a Climate Catastrophe? (it's the art fairs ...)

Looking back over the Pantograph Punch's year, I re-read an important piece: Will Hansen's Honour Thy Queer Ancestors: On Queer Progress

France Says It Will Return 26 Artifacts to Benin By 2021, in Major Move on Repatriation

Reading list, 15 December 2019

The Art World Really Is Unfair: 9 reasons why, from Artnet

Seema Rao reflects on museum work in the 2010s

The V&A have released their updated exhibition interpretation guidelines (the post has a link to download, plus 10 top recommendations)

The Guardian has launched a public appeal to track down Benin bronzes in smaller museums

Mark Amery and Megan Dunn run down 10 top moments from the past decade of New Zealand art for The Spinoff

Also in The Spinoff, Jim Barr and Mary Barr report on Ruth Buchanan's full-gallery 50th anniversary collection hang for the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. 

Jesse Green for the New York Times: How Today’s Queer Artists Are Revising History

Roberta Smith for the New York Times: A Sea Change in the Art World, Made by Black Creators

Maui Solomon for E-Tangata: Moriori: Still setting the record straight

The State of Museum Digital Practice in 2019: A collection of graduate essays and responses