German culture ministers issue declaration on post-colonial restitution

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German culture ministers issue declaration on post-colonial restitution | Yesterday, Germany’s culture ministers met to discuss the coordination of a strategy for the repatriation of colonial-era heritage in national collections, reports the Art Newspaper. A joint declaration was issued in which it was stated that repatriation regulations would be created with ‘the necessary urgency and sensitivity’. This comes following the German government’s allocation of €1.9m for provenance research, overseen by the German Lost Art Foundation, on artefacts that entered museums in the country during the colonial era. Monika Grütters, the federal government commissioner for culture and the media, said that yesterday’s agreement is a ‘statement of historical responsibility’.

Artists Otobong Nkanga and Emeka Ogboh win Sharjah Biennial Prize | It was announced yesterday that artists Otobong Nkanga and Emeka Ogboh have been awarded the Sharjah Biennial Prize, for their collaborative project Aging Ruins Dreaming Only to Recall the Hard Chisel from the Past (2019), currently on view in the 14th edition of the biennial in the United Arab Emirates. Members of the judging panel included Homi Bhabha, Octavio Zaya and Solange Farkas.

Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala to curate 13th Gwangju Biennale | Artnews reports that curators Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala have been selected as the artistic directors for the 13th iteration of Gwangju Biennale in South Korea in 2020. Ayas is currently curator-at-large at V-A-C Foundation in Moscow, and Ginwala is an associate curator at Gropius Bau in Berlin.

Elizabeth Glassman to depart from Terra Foundation for American Art | The president and CEO of Terra Foundation for American Art, Elizabeth Glassman, has announced that she will step down, after eighteen years of leading the organisation. She will remain at the institution until the vacancy is filled.

Outset Contemporary Art Fund announces museum grants | The Outset Contemporary Art Fund has announced the inaugural recipients of its new arts funding programme, Outset Partners. A total of £275,000 will be granted this year to various museums in the UK and Europe, with the lion’s share (£150,000) going to the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven for a joint initiative, entitled ‘The Constituent Museum’.