Lost cities discovered beneath Cambodian jungle

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Laser technology reveals lost cities hidden by Cambodian jungle | Airborne laser-scanning technology has revealed what appear to be the ruins of several enormous cities between 900 and 1500 years old in the Cambodian jungle. The Guardian reports that the archaeologists behind the study, to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, believe that some of the lost cities may rival the Cambodian capital in size; experts also think that the discovery may shed light on the decline of the Khmer empire, which ruled the area until around the 15th century.

Museum of London reveals design shortlist | The Museum of London has revealed six design proposals for its future home in Smithfield Market. Practices shortlisted for the job include Bjarke Ingels Group, Caruso St John, and Stanton Williams. It is hoped that the project will be completed by 2021.

Quimper’s Le Quartier art centre closes due to funding difficulties | The Le Quartier contemporary art centre in Quimper, Brittany, is to close in several months due to lack of funds. The closure comes despite culture minister Audrey Azoulay’s opposition to the local administration’s move.

Marie Lavandier named director of Louvre-Lens | Marie Lavandier has been named as the next director of the Louvre-Lens, the Parisian museum’s satellite outpost in the Nord-Pas de Calais region. Lavandier, currently director of exhibitions for the city of Nice, takes up the job at the end of the summer. She will replace founding director Xavier Dectot, who is leaving to head the department of art and design at the National Museum of Scotland.

Michael Craig-Martin and others arts figures in Queen’s birthday honours | Michael Craig-Martin and Tony Cragg have been knighted for services to Art in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours, while outgoing Serpentine co-director Julia Peyton Jones has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

Scott Stulen named director of Philbrook Museum of Art | The Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has named Scott Stulen as its new director. Stulen, who is currently curator of audience experience and performance at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, succeeds Rand Suffolk, who accepted a position at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art last year.

Recommended reading | Following the announcement that BP was to end its sponsorship arrangement with the Tate group, The Art Newspaper has published an article wondering whether the oil giant will end its deal with the British Museum when the current arrangement ends next year. Elsewhere, the New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl admires the Whitney’s Stuart Davis retrospective, while in the Sunday Times, Waldemar Januszczak hails the return of Abstraction.