Matteo Renzi Pledges €1 billion to Italian Culture Budget

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Italy: Renzi Pledges €1 Billion for Culture in Response to Terrorism | Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has pledged €2 billion to security and culture in the wake of recent terrorist atrocities in Paris. ‘What happened in Paris signalled a step up in the cultural battle we are living’, said Renzi by way of explanation. ‘They imagine terror, we answer with culture.’

Medieval Judas Painting Saved by 16^th-Century ‘Recycling’ | A rare medieval panel showing Judas’s betrayal of Christ, which has been in the collection of Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum since 2012, was saved from Reformation-era iconoclasts by being quite literally turned around to show a different image. The extraordinary discovery of invention in a time of need is a rare one: experts estimate that 97% of English religious art was destroyed in the Reformation.

Tate Modern Appoints New Curators | Tate Modern has announced the appointment of curators Clara Kim and Nancy Ireson to its roster. While Kim will focus on art from Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Ireson will be tasked with working on new exhibitions and researching acquisitions at the institution.

Fiona Gasper to Direct Manchester International Festival | Fiona Gasper, the head of the Royal Exchange Theatre, has been appointed director of the Manchester International Festival. Gasper, who received an MBE in 2009 for services to the arts, has previously worked as executive director of the Contact Theatre and producer of Liverpool’s 2008 European Capital of Culture programme.

New Curator Named for Frieze Projects | Congratulations to Raphael Gygax, who has been named as new creator at Frieze Projects. The Swiss curator, currently based at the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art in Zurich, will be directing next year’s programme of projects.