On Sunday a must-rumoured prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia, which included the director Oleg Sentsov, took pace. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the Ukrainian filmmaker, who has been held in a Russian penal colony in the north of the country for five years, says he just wants to “make films and live”. On Tuesday, Robert Frank, the photographer best known for his series The Americans, made during two years of road trips across the country, and for Cocksucker Blues, a tour film for the Rolling Stones, died.
The formation of the largely centrist coalition government in Italy, which keeps the far-right Nationalist League out of power, has ensured that Dario Franceschini, is back as culture minister. The centre-left politician was responsible for allowing foreign nationals to take director positions in the country’s museums, a move that many in the culture sector were worried would be reversed if the populist movement has succeeded in gaining control. On Wednesday, the Istanbul Painting and Sculpture Museum appointed Vasıf Kortun as director. The institution is currently being renovated (but is temporarily hosting a section of the Istanbul Biennial) and is scheduled tol reopen in 2020. Kortun is a high-profile choice: he was previously the director of research and programs at SALT Istanbul from 2011 to 2017 and the founding director of Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center in Istanbul from 2001 to 2010. In 1992 he curated the city’s third biennial in 1992, and its ninth, with Charles Esche, in 2005. In London, the Tate announced the appointment of three new geographically-focused curators, Nabila Abdel Nabi, who will focus specifically on art from the Middle East and North Africa; Osei Bonsu (a contributor to ArtReview), who will focus on developing the representation of art from Africa in Tate’s collection and programme; and Dr Devika Singh who will specialise in art from South Asia. Also taking up a new job is Fatima Hellberg. She has been announced as the new director of the Bonner Kunstverein, succeeding Michelle Cotton, who joined the MUDAM in Luxembourg in April 2019. Hellberg will be packing her bags from Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, where she is currently director.
Stay tuned to keep abreast of what’s happening in the artworld, from open calls and appointments to scandals and protests…
