Larry Kramer, 1935–2020
The playwright and activist fought for years to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic, first founding the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and then, in 1987, the more militant Act Up. Realising that gay friends and neighbours were dying at an alarming rate Kramer was moved into action. ‘No-one was saying anything,’ he later said. ‘I often make the comparison with a war reporter whose parachute drops behind enemy lines and he realises he’s faced with the greatest story he can tell. I was not a political person before all this.’ He also spoke out through his writing, most notably the seminal 1985 play The Normal Heart. Other credits include the his Oscar-nominated 1971 adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love and the 1977 novel Faggots.
Algorithm to curate next Bucharest Biennale
The curator of the 2022 Bucharest Biennale is to be an AI algorithm called Jarvis. The programme will ‘use deep learning in order to learn by itself from databases from universities, galleries, or art centres’, developer Razvan Ion of Vienna-based studio Spinnwerk told the Art Newspaper. The exhibition will then be viewable via VR headsets. The current Bucharest Biennale, which was supposed to open 28 May, curated by the human Henk Slager, has also gone online.
Biennale of Sydney reopens
The Biennale of Sydney has been given the green light to reopen earlier than expected. Australian museums, galleries and arts events had expected to be allowed to resume business in July, but with low ongoing infection rates the government has brought forward the lift in restrictions for cultural organisations to 1 June. The change of timetable, as well as ensuring social distancing, has caught organisers on the hop, with biennial chief executive Barbara Moore telling the Sydney Morning Herald, ‘You get the doors open and figure out the finances and everything else later.’ The biennial, titled Nirin, and which features 700 artworks by 101 artists across multiple venues, is curated by artist Brooke Andrew. He said: ‘It’s awesome. Awesome. I just can’t believe it, to tell the truth. People just can’t wait to get back into museums and galleries.’
Christie’s insurers seek almost $20 million from decorating firm
An insurance company acting for the auction house in New York is taking legal action against a commerical decorating business to recoup the money paid out against damage to a $100 million work by Picasso. The 1943 self-portrait, titled Le Marin, was due to be sold by casino mogul Steve Wynn two years ago. An employee from T.F. Nugent, who had been engaged to touch up the auction house’s gallery walls, is alleged to have left a paint roller leaning near the masterpiece, which then fell onto the canvas causing a substantial tear. Steadfast Insurance Co. says it paid out for both the $487,625 restoration of the work and a further $18.74 million, money which Christie’s gave Wynn in recognition of the reduced value of the damaged painting.
Johny Pitts wins Jhalak prize
The writer and photographer Johny Pitts has won the Jhalak prize which recognises British or British-resident black, Asian and minority ethnic authors. Pitts won for his book Afropean, an exploration of black communities in Europe. Reviewing the book for ArtReview Ismail Einashe wrote: ‘To explore these deeper histories of black people in Europe means to uncover histories in which black bodies have been invisible, marginal in the continent, and present too, in which black communities experience insecure lives blighted by social deprivation, unemployment and racism.’ The Jhalak prize was set up in 2016 and has been previously won by Jacob Ross, Reni Eddo-Lodge and Guy Gunaratne.
Christian cross for Humboldt Forum draws criticism
Plans by the new institution to install a Christian cross on top of the dome of the museum have been widely criticised. The Humboldt Forum will be housed within a reconstruction of the old Berlin Palace on the city’s Museum Island. The original fifteenth-century design included a cross but many in the city argue that to place a Christian symbol above a building which will house objects collected from Africa during Germany’s colonial era is insensitive. The new $700 million institution incorporates two existing museums, the Ethnological Museum of Berlin and the Museum of Asian Art. Culture minister Monika Grütters says the large cross is a symbol of charity, freedom, open-mindedness, and tolerance – ‘an invitation to get to know the various cultures that will be at home in the Humboldt Forum’. But city mayor Klaus Lederer argues that installing the cross ‘sends out the wrong signal’ and ‘its monopoly goes against almost everything that we want to do with the Humboldt Forum’. The original Berlin Palace was demolished in the 1950s by the East German government.
New art fair for Hong Kong
Unscheduled is to feature 12 galleries from Hong Kong and will run for ten days at the Tai Kwun art centre from 17 June. Organised by the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association and Fabio Rossi, and the brainchild of gallerists Fabio Rossi and Willem Molesworth, the event came about following conversations in the aftermath of Art Basel’s cancellation of Art Basel Hong Kong in March
Krist Gruijthuijsen to direct KW Institute through 2024
The Dutch curator has had his contract renewed, with artist Ólafur Elíasson, a member of the Berlin institution’s board, praising ‘The positive increase in visitor numbers, as well as professional institutional collaborations that have seen the production of unprecedented exhibitions which have traveled internationally.’ Gruijthuijsen has been in the position since 2016, and his programming has included solo exhibitions for David Wojnarowicz, Image Bank, Lucy Skaer, Lynn Hershman Leeson and Hiwa K. KW Institute also hosts the Berlin Biennale.
Philadelphia Museum of Art workers seek to unionise
Employees at the American institution have requested that the National Labor Relations Board oversee an attempt to unionise. If successful, employees would join District Council 47 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Slimline Amsterdam Gallery Weekend announced
A reduced-sized Amsterdam Gallery Weekend will take place 18–21 November. The event normally attracts 48,000 visitors, but this slimmer version, which won’t include the customary open studio programme, primarily aims to ‘stimulate the Dutch art market’.
