Our co-founder and partner Gail Lord recently spoke at the MuseumNext Forecast Summit, challenging museums to rethink their collections.

Collection expansion is a source of both dynamism and disaster, with the vast majority of museums lacking the wealth and power to make international acquisitions. Why not open the bursting storerooms of major museum collections to make works of art available on long-term loan or as gifts to the thousands of less affluent museums that want them? Will advances in AI now make this approach finally possible? 

“Now is the time to embrace a more generous approach to sharing the objects we care for so more people can enjoy them.”

Watch the talk here: 
Passcode: iz&0Ta6t

“The National Museum of Natural Sciences, considered the largest construction project in the history of Mongolian museums, is being built in the ‘Great Mouth of the Sky’ of the Bogdhan Mountain Reserve, and as of today, the construction work is 65 percent complete.”

“Led by Thelma Golden, the museum’s longest-serving director, the Studio Museum currently positions itself as a nexus for artists of African descent.”

“The collection chronicles social, political and cultural change spanning the breadth of Hong Kong’s modern and contemporary art history. It comprises painting, sculpture, printmaking, film, installation and lens-based media by artists from middle of the 20th century until today.”

Lord's Yvonne Tang and Jamie Bennett explored Toronto’s The Bentway with their dogs last summer to chat about why public art is so much more than decoration.

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“The museum, Libya's largest, was closed in 2011 during a NATO-backed uprising against longtime ruler Gaddafi, who appeared on the castle's ramparts to deliver a fiery speech.”

“Free admission begins in January, thanks to a donation. Officials expect visitation to climb as the Queens-based museum celebrates its 50th anniversary.”

"Nineteen years after its last renovation, Toronto’s Gardiner Museum recently unveiled a ground-floor rebuild that reshapes 9,000 square feet of interior space for a new moment: warm, legible and welcoming to broader audiences."

“The Barbados Museum & Historical Society (BMHS) has been announced as the winner of the inaugural ICOM Award for Sustainable Development Practice in Museums for its project ‘Shared Island Stories Between Scotland and the Caribbean: Transnational Youth Exchange.’ Selected from 130 projects across 60 countries, the winning initiative stood out for its creative and community-driven approach.”

This episode of ‘The Loop’ podcast visits the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, where a group of incarcerated dads from Rikers Island are playing games, eating lunch, and doing arts and crafts with their kids. 

“The Whitney Museum of American Art has named 56 participating artists, including duos and collectives, organized by an in-house curatorial team including Marcela Guerrero, Drew Sawyer, Beatriz Cifuentes, and Carina Martinez.”

“The Institute of Museum and Library Services is reinstating all grants that were previously terminated by the Trump administration. A short statement posted on the agency's website reads, 'this action supersedes any prior notices which may have been received related to grant termination.'"

“It is essential to recognize the role of architecture in building integrated, multicultural communities and in responding to the conditions that lead people to migrate from their territories in the first place.”

“Architects, artists, clients and partners assess his life and impact over eight decades.”

“The researchers found when the chatbots went down, people reported self-described ‘symptoms of withdrawal,’ such as feeling anxious or depressed - as well as having disrupted sleep or neglecting their responsibilities.”

“Interstellar Arc is an immersive sci-fi experience that uses recent advances in headset tech to break new ground in virtual reality. And it all happens inside an empty-looking room in Las Vegas.”

“The repatriations are linked to long-running investigations into looting at Bubon and other archaeological sites, as prosecutors in New York step up pressure on museums and collectors.”

“The Benin Bronzes, taken from what is now Nigeria, have become a symbol in the effort to return looted artifacts to their home countries.”

“The items will not be on public display in the near term as a group of Inuit advisers works to trace each artifact back to its community of origin. The artifacts will be kept for now at the Canadian Museum of History in a secure facility with temperature controls.”