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THE HEADINGS
ISRAELI PAVILION SHUT. The Israeli artist and curators chosen to represent their country at Venice Biennale refused to open their National Pavilion exhibit titled “(M)otherland” until there was an “agreement for a cease-fire and release of hostages.” In the early hours of today’s press opening, the doors to the art exhibition remained closed Ruth Pather, which deal with the pressures on women to become mothers. In front of the entrance of the pavilion there was a sign plastered, which has been widely shared on Instagram, which read: “The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when an agreement is reached on a ceasefire and the release of hostages.” Speaking to New York Times, Patir admitted: “I hate it, but I think it’s important.” Earlier this year, pro-Palestinian activists called for a ban on Israel’s participation in the Biennale, but organizers flatly rejected those demands. Patir also said he hoped there would be a ceasefire and the release of hostages before the show closes on November 24 so that the public can see the artworks inside. “I believe we will open it,” Patir said. “I believe we will.”
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FIRE EXTINGUISHING. Copenhagen’s iconic 400-year-old stock exchange building caught fire and the first pictures showed rescuers and bystanders scrambling to save art treasures as the monument’s spire burned and then collapsed. “Our own Notre Dame moment,” said Denmark’s deputy prime minister, Troels Lund Poulsen in a social media post. As of this morning, there are no reports of injuries, as everyone inside managed to leave in time. The 1625 building, which houses the Chamber of Commerce and is full of paintings by 17th-century Danish artists, was under renovation when the fire broke out and can be seen covered in scaffolding. Emergency services also told reporters that scaffolding made it difficult to extinguish the fire.
THE DIGEST
The Center for native future raises concerns about the ethics of the sale and display of historic ledger drawings by imprisoned Native Americans in recent times Expo Chicago. “I was surprised to see ledger art outside of a tribal cultural center, museum or archive and also available for purchase,” said Casey Brown (Ho-Chunk), artist and member of the Center. “This art was made under duress while these men were unjustly imprisoned; ownership of any of these works is problematic. [Hyperallergic]
The Hudson Yardsis 150 feet tall, beehive-like Court the sculpture will reopen this year, following a series of suicides by the artwork, which was unveiled in 2019. Many of the structure’s landings and staircases will now be covered in protective “floor-to-ceiling steel mesh” as a precaution. [The New York Times]
In recent months, thefts of bronze and copper sculptures and plaques in the Los Angeles area, which can be valuable when melted down, reworked and sold, have increased. In the latest case, earlier this month a newsboy was removed from a sculpture of the military officer and owner of the publication that preceded it Los Angeles Times, Harrison Gray Otislocated in MacArthur Park. Paul Trubetskoy made the sculpture more than 100 years ago and his work will be the subject of an upcoming exhibition in The Musée d’Orsay in Paris. [The Los Angeles Times]
The flame for The 2024 Paris Olympics was consecrated today in a choreographed dance and performance in Olympia, Greece, by actresses dressed as ancient priestesses. Held where the earliest recorded games took place in 776 BC, the flame will now be passed on its journey to Paris. [CNN]
Did the United States mount a Win a Golden Lion with Robert Rauschenbergthe 1964 victory? A new documentary revisits the historic Venice Biennale scandal in a documentary called Capture of Venicefrom I loved Wallachwhich links the commissioner, the insider, the dealer and the artist in a web that draws on examples from the espionage genre. [ARTnews]
Ushio Amagatsuthe Japanese Bhutto dancer, whose real name was Masakazu Ueshima, died at age 74 of heart failure after a battle with hypopharyngeal cancer. Amagatsu brought global recognition to the minimalist performance art form, which derives from the Japanese “ankoku buto” meaning “dance of darkness”. [The Japan News]
Protesters from environmental groups occupied London Science Museum over the weekend and were joined by a broadcaster and an environmental activist Chris Packham. Around 30 people took over the museum’s new themed gallery, Energy Revolution, in the latest action against the museum’s sponsorship by the coal mining conglomerate Adani. [The Standard]
THE KICKER
THERE IS NO BLANK MOVE in VENICE. When in Venice, “it is essential not to walk or idle or appear casual or relaxed,” writes the author Colm Toibin in a poetic, fast-reading for Frieze magazine this is sorely needed amid the onslaught of criticism filled with news and art jargon. An astute observer, Tóibíin describes his time in Venice as a writer, artist and/or someone interested in both. “In the city, it is necessary to fight against the vice of loitering, idle loitering. In Venice, as in life, it is necessary to have a clear goal, with no time for daydreams or diversions,” he wrote. Tóibíin explains how Henry James experienced the city, traced the room in which he wrote, and admitted that he felt moved by it. So how does one properly follow Tóibíin’s sound advice when in Italy’s lagoon city? He says to either pick three great paintings and visit them every day – so you know your route by heart – or pick three “lesser-known paintings that hang in places that are harder to find or in churches , which are often locked’. And it just is.
