Our daily round-up of news from the art world
Art Stage Singapore cancelled | Art Stage Singapore’s 2019 edition, which was scheduled to take place from 24–29 January, has been cancelled. The contemporary art fair’s founder and president, Lorenzo Rudolf, informed the 45 participating galleries about the decision today via email, stating that the circumstances left ‘no other choice’ and promising to offer a fuller explanation in due course. Art Stage Singapore has been held annually since 2011.
Global fund Aliph announces its first cultural heritage projects in Iraq and Mali | Aliph, a $60m global fund that aims to conserve cultural heritage in war zones, has announced its inaugural projects. Among the sites chosen in Iraq are the Behnam monastery and the Mosul museum, which have been allocated $250,000 and $480,000 respectively for an initial damage assessment. The 15th-century Tomb of Askia in Mali will receive $500,000 for a similar assessment. Aliph is a Geneva-based project launched in 2016 by France and the United Arab Emirates and chaired by American billionaire Thomas Kaplan.
‘Michelangelo’ painting stolen from Belgian church | A painting stolen from a Belgian church on Friday morning could be a Michelangelo, according to its custodian, Pastor Jan Van Raemdonck. The priest of Sint-Ludgerus church in Zele had noticed a resemblance to Madonna del Silenzio, a Michelangelo sketch from c. 1538 in the Portland Collection, reports artnet. The painting of the Holy Family was awaiting analysis by Michelangelo expert Maria Forcellino when it went missing.
Bloomberg awards $1m to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for public art project | The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma has won $1m through the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2018 Public Art Challenge to stage ‘The Greenwood Art Project’. Eight public works will commemorate an area of Tulsa known as Black Wall Street, largely destroyed during racial violence in 1921, when as many as 300 people are thought to have died.
Winners of Creative Capital Awards 2019 announced | Creative Capital has announced the 50 winners to receive funding totalling $5m for various arts projects. The awardees will each receive up to $50,000 for specific projects and a further $50,000 for career development. A full list of winners can be found via ARTnews.