Lord Cultural News
January 2026
A curated review of this month’s cultural news
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Cultural News January 2026
Featured Story:
Home is where the art is

The Globe & Mail, January 16, 2026

“Stroll along the streets of Yellowknife and into the historic Old Town and you will see vibrant, uniquely northern public art: colourful murals on garage doors; paintings splashed on dumpsters and the sides of stores; art etched on rock; and sculptures hanging off the front of houses. You will not see any visual art, however, in a dedicated public art gallery, because the capital of the Northwest Territories doesn’t have one. The NWT Art Centre Initiative hopes to change that.” Read more about our role.

Discover this month
OUR WORK IN THE NEWS
MUSEUMS
ART & CULTURE
ARCHITECTURE
TECHNOLOGY
REPATRIATION
OUR WORK IN THE NEWS
Carney says Holocaust Remembrance Day a time to remember Canadian complicity
CBC, Jan. 27

“Speaking on Tuesday in front of the National Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa to mark the day, Carney said Canada was complicit in the murder of millions of Jewish people during the Second World War due to its silence. He said the history must be remembered to ensure it is never repeated.”

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OUR WORK WITH THE National HOLOCAUST MONUMENT
La Brea Tar Pits receives largest-ever donation toward new Ice Age research center as part of campus makeover
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 22

“The development is part of the organization’s Reimagine project — a yearslong site renovation aimed at making the Tar Pits more accessible, and emphasizing their function as the only active paleontological research hub located in a major urban area.”

Lord Cultural Resources was engaged by The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to develop a financial model and business plan for the redesign of the La Brea Tar Pits.

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Canada's Art Gallery of Hamilton gets federal funding for expansion that will double its exhibition space
The Art Newspaper, Jan. 20

“The AGH is already the largest art museum in the region—Hamilton is the fifth-largest city in the province of Ontario and the tenth largest in all of Canada—and its permanent collection, which numbers around 10,000 objects, is recognised as among the finest in Canada.”

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OUR WORK WITH THE ART GALLERY OF HAMILTON
‘We are just so proud’: Queer history exhibit at CMHR receives Governor General’s Award
CTV News, Jan. 20

“’Love in a Dangerous Time: Canada’s LGBT Purge’ took home the Governor General’s Award in the category of Excellence in Museums: History Alive! The exhibition is the first of its kind at a major museum to explore queer history and 2SLGBTQI+ rights in Canada, according to CMHR.”

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OUR WORK WITH THE CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
How a dream became a museum: Documentary screenings begin in Almaty
DKN World News, Jan. 16

“The film traces the journey of Almaty Museum of Arts from the initial idea and intuition of its founders to the emergence of a unique cultural space that has taken its place on the global art map.”

The Almaty Museum of Arts was Lord Cultural Resources’ fourth specialized planning engagement in the Republic of Kazakhstan since 2015. We collaborated with the client - affiliated with Astana Group - in undertaking the initial Strategy, Business and Facility Planning, working alongside project Contemporary Art Advisors, and appointed Design/Engineering teams.

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Miami pledge fuels Black History Museum on Virginia Key
Miami Today News, Jan. 14

“The park was created in 1945 after a protest at Baker’s Haulover Beach, when Miami’s Black residents waded into the waters and demanded access to the county’s White-only beaches. The establishment of a Black-only beach at Virginia Key marked an early and significant victory in the civil rights movement in South Florida.”

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OUR WORK WITH VIRGINIA KEY BEACH
Ten out-of-this-world design exhibitions to see in 2026
Wallpaper, Jan. 1

“Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the inauguration of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, this exhibition examines Noguchi’s enduring efforts to give back to the city that inspired him.”

Lord is currently working with The Noguchi Museum on their Strategic Plan.

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MUSEUMS
Museum of Personal Failure exhibition turns defeat into triumph in Vancouver
CBC, Jan. 24

“The Museum of Personal Failure, which runs Jan. 24 to Feb. 3, explores the experiences of failure through artifacts submitted by the public, ranging from a wedding dress of a failed marriage, to non-working knives, to a can of spilled paint.”

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The McMichael rebrand is a work of art
Creative Bloq, Jan. 16

“Constantly striving to tell the story of Canada's vibrant artistic sphere, the McMichael's fresh rebrand weaves a tapestry of past and present, rooting the institution as a beacon of culture.”

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Met Museum employees vote to unionize
The New York Times, Jan. 16

“The bargaining unit, which includes curatorial, conservation and retail departments, could represent about half of the Met’s work force.”

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Rijksmuseum reveals plans for new sculpture garden
Blooloop, Jan. 13

“The sculpture garden will be a green space with three pavilions, home to sculptures by artists such as Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Jean Arp, Roni Horn and Henry Moore.”

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Can you insure a national treasure? Bayeux tapestry loan sparks $1.1 billion debate
Artnet, Jan. 9

“France’s historic loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum may be one of this year’s most highly anticipated exhibitions, but it has also been beset by controversy. Chief among these is the question of whether it is possible to safely transport such a fragile, 950-year-old textile.”

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ART & CULTURE
New research could rewrite the story of one of New York’s earliest shipwrecks
Artnet, Jan. 28

“The Museum of the City of New York is taking a fresh look at timber remains believed to be from the Dutch vessel Tyger.”

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New experimental art organisation opens in New York
The Art Newspaper, Jan. 23

“In its first year, Times will work with a cohort of artists who are ‘thinking through absurdity, economic uncertainty, contemporary and historical forms of therapy and alternative models for presenting art.’”

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Philadelphia sues Trump administration over removal of slavery exhibits
Hyperallergic, Jan. 23

“The city of Philadelphia is suing the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Park Service (NPS) after officials removed wall text and illustrations describing slavery from a historical park on Thursday, January 22.”

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Ian McKellen brings beloved British painter L.S. Lowry to life in new documentary
Artnet, Jan. 15

"L.S. Lowry is perhaps not the first name that springs to mind when considering British painters. When it comes to writing the British art canon, then, he’s been easily overlooked. But the tides are slowly shifting in his favor.”

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Smithsonian removes Trump impeachment text as it swaps his portrait
The Washington Post, Jan. 10

“The National Portrait Gallery removed a swath of text that mentioned President Donald Trump’s two impeachments and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as it swapped out a prominent photo of him this week.”

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ARCHITECTURE
ZHA proposes ‘Donald J Trump Terminal’ as Brits vie for Dulles Airport job
Architect’s Journal, Jan. 28

“A raft of UK architects have thrown their hats into the ring following an open call to rethink the Eero Saarinen-designed Washington Dulles International Airport, with Zaha Hadid Architects promising to ‘Make Airports Great Again’”

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Inside Albania's creative construction boom, through the eyes of global architects
Designboom, Jan. 25

“Albania’s Prime Minister has even pointed out that ‘Albania produces more architecture than the rest of Europe,’ a claim that reflects a construction frenzy that has made architecture one of the most visible symbols of change in the country.”

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Vitruvius's only building discovered in Italy
Dezeen, Jan. 22

“The only building attributed to Roman architect Vitruvius, who wrote the first book on architecture, has been identified in Fano, Italy.”

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TECHNOLOGY
Pioneering NFT platform Nifty Gateway shutters amid market collapse
Artnet, Jan. 26

“Analysis suggests a whopping 95 percent of NFTs are now worthless.”

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Augmented reality experience lets museum visitors 'swim' with orcas
Times Colonist, Jan. 24

“Anyone who has dreamed of swimming with orcas can now have their wish granted at the Royal B.C. Museum with a little help from an augmented-reality headset. A new exhibit titled Critical Distance lets visitors dive into the world of a 10-year-old J Pod orca dubbed Kiki.”

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Are AI agents ready for the workplace? A new benchmark raises doubts
TechCrunch, Jan. 22

“Models have mastered in-depth research and agentic planning, but for whatever reason, most white-collar work has been relatively unaffected.”

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REPATRIATION
Meet the global taskforce working to recover stolen cultural heritage
The Art Newspaper, Jan. 19

“A reporter for The Art Newspaper has been on the scene with the Heritage Crime Task Force (HCTF), tracking, identifying and repatriating a wide variety of art and antiquities lost to crime and conflict.”

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'This is our future': Return of Indigenous mask has powerful impact on B.C. community
Vancouver Sun, Jan. 12

“In 1957, a carved red cedar mask known as the ‘King of the Underworld’ was sold, given a catalogue number, labelled and placed in storage at the Museum of Vancouver. The mask's previous life of dancing, ceremony and record-keeping in Gwa'yi village was over.”

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