UK bids to be European Capital of Culture 2023 cancelled | The European Commission has informed the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport that the bids from UK cities to be the European Capital of Culture in 2023 are now void. A Commission spokesman says, ‘As one of the many concrete consequences of its decision to leave the European Union by 29 March 2019, the UK cannot host the European Capital of Culture in 2023.’ DCMS says it is in ‘urgent discussions’ with the commission on the subject. The two European countries due to host the capital culture in 2023 were, until now, the UK and Hungary. The five UK bids, which were submitted in October, were from Belfast/Derry/Strabane jointly in Northern Ireland, and Dundee, Leeds, Milton Keynes, and Nottingham.
Germany appoints new head of commission on looted art | Hans–Jürgen Papier is to be the new president of the advisory commission on Nazi-looted art, a post held by Jutta Limbach until her death last year. Like Limbach, Papier is a former president of Germany’s federal constitutional court. The commission, which was founded in 2003, has been heavily criticised for its slow rate of progress.
Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson to open larger space | The Fondation Henri Cartier–Bresson in Paris is to move from its current location in Montparnasse to a bigger space in the Marais, reports the Art Newspaper. François Hebel, who was the director of Les Rencontres d’Arles for 13 years until 2014, has been appointed as the foundation’s new director. The new space in Rue d’Archives is set to open in October 2018 and the first exhibition will be by the photographer Martine Franck.