What is the future of the art world in Hong Kong now that a new national security law curbs human rights and threatens freedom of expression? We look at the effects on artists and the wider art scene with two people based there: the artist Kacey Wong and the commentator Alexandra Seno.And in our Work of the Week Alyce Mahon, the author of the new book The Marquis de Sade and the Avant-Garde, explores one of Leonor Fini’s illustrations for Story of O by Pauline Réage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we look at the destruction on 24 May of sacred Aboriginal sites in Western Australia by a mining company. We talk to Sven Ouzman, an archeologist and activist at the University of Western Australia about the most recent events and the wider context. Can anything be done to better protect Aboriginal country and Australia’s ancient heritage? Also, this week, as a Russian referendum approves Vladimir Putin’s new constitution—a foregone conclusion, of course—we look at the Russia's alarming crackdown on artists.And in the latest in our series Lonely Works, in which explore art behind the doors of museums closed due to Covid-19, we look at a work that will soon be lonely no more. The artist George Shaw tells us about Thomas Jones’s A Wall in Naples, which will be seen for the first time in more than three months at the National Gallery in London when it re-opens on 8 July. Links:Our full guide to gallery openings in UK, Europe and the USThomas Jones's A Wall in Naples at the National GalleryThe University of Western Australia's Centre for Rock Art Research and Management Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plus, artist Rita Keegan on her postponed show and Julia Peyton-Jones on Leonardo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we address the toppling of statues around the world amid the Black Lives Matter protests: is this an airbrushing of history as some claim or a long overdue corrective to historic prejudices?We explore what happens now: we talk to Richard Benjamin, the director of the International Slavery Museum (ISM) in Liverpool, UK, about the events which saw the pulling down of the statue of the slaver Edward Colston in Bristol and how museums like ISM can respond to the increased focus on histories of the transatlantic slave trade. We speak to Astrid de Bruycker, the alderwoman for equal opportunities in Ghent, Belgium, where a bust of Leopold II, the king responsible for one of the most brutal of all the colonial regimes, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is being removed. And Hew Locke, the artist who has made works about problematic statuary in various parts of the globe for many years, tells us about his work as some of the statues he has addressed become flashpoints for a new movement. Hew also chooses the latest in our series Lonely Works, looking at art behind the doors of museums that are closed because of the coronavirus pandemic—a painting in the Tate Collection by Agostino Brunias, depicting slaves in the Caribbean. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's podcast, as galleries in London re-open amid a pandemic, we ask: what does the new normal look like for the art world?Ben Luke takes his first steps in an art gallery for three months and talks to Stefan Ratibor and Millicent Wilner at the Gagosian Gallery in London as they plan to re-open on the 15 June. We look at the ways that galleries across the British capital have joined together to share information and plan for the future. Is this a new, kinder era for commercial galleries? Jo Stella-Sawicka from the Goodman Gallery offers her views. And in the latest in our series of Lonely Works behind the doors of closed museums, the artist Deborah Roberts explores Benny Andrews’s No More Games in the Museum of Modern Art, New York.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, we talk about the history of black resistance in the US and how the art world can respond to this latest tragedy. As protests grow throughout the country, Margaret Carrigan, one of The Art Newspaper’s senior editors in New York, speaks to Spencer Crew, the interim director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, about the museum’s Talking About Race online portal. Also this week, we pay tribute to Christo, who died earlier this week. With his collaborator and wife Jeanne-Claude, Christo most famously wrapped the Pont Neuf in Paris and the Reichstag in Berlin in coloured fabric. And in the latest in our series of Lonely Works behind the doors of closed museums, Caro Howell, the director of the Foundling Museum in London, explores William Hogarth’s portrait of Thomas Coram, the painting that is the cornerstone of the Foundling’s collection—which she now hasn’t seen for months because of the coronavirus lockdown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As cultural institutions across the world are faced with deciding if and when to re-open, we look at two extremes: we hear from Brandon Zech, the publisher of the Texas-based art publication Glasstire, about a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, one of the first museums in the US to re-open. And we discuss the Southbank Centre in London’s announcement that it’s at risk of closure until April 2021, with Ralph Rugoff, the director of the Hayward Gallery, one of the centre’s venues. And in the latest in our series Lonely Works—about objects in museums that are closed due to the virus—the artist Michael Rakowitz tells us about some ancient Sumerian figurines in the Oriental Institute in Chicago. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode begins by celebrating good news: that the once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of works by Raphael at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome—which only opened for three days before being closed due to Covid-19 in March—will re-open on 2 June and run for three months until 30 August. The show, which begins with Raphael’s death and moves back in time, is the jewel in the crown of the celebrations across Europe and the US marking the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death. Hugo Chapman, the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum and a Raphael specialist, heralds the genius of an artist whose fame has somewhat unfairly been eclipsed by Leonardo and by his great rival Michelangelo.Also this week: the renaissance of mail art. Margaret Carrigan looks at the radical history of art in the post with Mariam Kienle, assistant professor of art history at the University of Kentucky, and about its revival as the US postal service is under threat from the Trump administration.And in the latest in the series Lonely Works, the artist Mark Dion discusses the American Museum of Natural History and its profound effect on his work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week would have been so-called "gigaweek", with the major auctions of Impressionist, Modern and contemporary art in New York. The events have, of course, been postponed. But are collectors buying art online instead? An explosion of digital initiatives and online galleries or viewing rooms followed the cancellation of fairs and the closure of auction houses and galleries over recent months due to the coronavirus. So this week, we’re looking at the implications of going digital for the art market.We talk to Scott Reyburn, who writes on the art market for The New York Times as well as The Art Newspaper, and our art market editors Anna Brady and Margaret Carrigan take us through some of the initiatives including their experience of the viewing room for Frieze New York. Also this week, in the latest in our Lonely Work series, exploring art behind closed doors in museums… Rebecca Salter, the president of the Royal Academy in London, tells us about Cemetery (1900-02) by the Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert, and gives us an update on the RAs exhibition programme.UPDATE: A new version of this episode was uploaded on 21 May to rectify an incorrect statement made by Scott Reyburn that the Frieze Viewing Rooms were only accessible to VIPs. After the initial VIP days, the Viewing Rooms were in fact open to all from 8-15 May.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we have an exclusive interview with Marina Abramovic: what's the future of performance in the post-pandemic art world? Also, as the lockdown steadily eases in Germany, we ask Catherine Hickley, The Art Newspaper's correspondent in Berlin, how it feels to step foot in a museum again. And in the latest in our Lonely Works series, the painter Ian Davenport tells us why he’s made a new body of work inspired by Pierre Bonnard’s Nude in the Bath (1936). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.