Germany

Report into Documenta 15 backs claims of antisemitism

The 2022 edition of the German exhibition became mired in controversy after criticism that some works included antisemitic images

Chiara Zampetti Egidi. With additional reporting by Kabir Jhala

Overdue review shakes up Germany's largest cultural institution

World-famous museums overseen by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation will be given more autonomy and their own budgets

No plans to return Berlin's star museum attractions Nefertiti and Pergamon Altar, German official says

Statement comes after Berlin state secretary for diversity and anti-discrimination spoke out in favour of restituting the artefacts to their countries of origin

Germany kicks off major Benin bronze restitution with return of 20 artefacts to Nigeria

The agreement—signed by the two countries in July—involves the return of 1,100 objects in total

Cologne museum to transfer 92-strong Benin bronze collection back to Nigeria

The Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum is the latest Western institution to return its collection of artefacts looted from Nigeria in the late-19th century

Mexican émigré Olga Costa makes a fruitful return to her native city with Leipzig exhibition

The German city is hosting the first major European exhibition of her paintings, which are barely known outside her adopted country of Mexico

Provenance database shines light on looted art in Bavarian collections

Munich-based foundation follows other German institutions in quest for transparency, disclosing ownership of 1,200 works acquired since 1933 with over 500 pieces flagged as "former Nazi property"

Exhibitionsinterview

'Germany has cancelled us': As embattled Documenta 15 closes, its curators ruangrupa reflect on the exhibition—and what they would have done differently

This edition of the Kassel quinquennial was engulfed by a row over antisemitism and racism that has drawn comment from Germany's senior politicians

Museumsanalysis

Berlin's controversial Humboldt Forum is finally complete—but 'the work inside begins now', German Culture Minister says

Twenty years since its conception and at a cost of around €680m, the new German museum must now follow through on its restitution promises

Sticky fingers: German climate activists strike museums four times in past week

Protestors from the Letzte Generation group have glued themselves to works by Rubens, Poussin and Cranach

Iraqi artists decry Berlin Biennale’s display of photographs showing tortured inmates at Abu Ghraib prison

Artists Raed Mutar and Sajjad Abbas protested against the inclusion of Jean-Jacques Lebel's work and have moved their own pieces

As Documenta's antisemitism row 'spirals out of control', vandals attack exhibition space of pro-Palestine artist group

A building in Kassel was graffitied with threatening words in what is being considered a politically motivated incident

Major court battle looms over NFT launch of August Sander photographs

Bold move by German photographer’s descendant to put archive on the blockchain sparks copyright row

German museums offer curator jobs to Ukrainian and Russian refugees

Berlin-based Ernst von Siemens Art Foundation is supporting roles for a one-year period

German museums foundation returns ancestral human remains in Berlin collection to Hawaii

A group of skulls is being handed over to a Native Hawaiian group during a mission this month to receive dozens of items from German and Austrian museums

Gerhard's Geburtstag: Richter to mark 90th birthday by curating exhibition of his work in Dresden

The Albertinum show brings together works from the artist's personal collection with museum loans, including portraits of his wife and children

Museum devoted to George Grosz to open in a former Berlin petrol station

The privately funded museum is to be led by Ralph Jentsch, the managing director of the Grosz estate

Van Ham auction house to sell inventory of insolvent Galerie Michael Schultz

Schultz, who died last month, was arrested in 2019 on suspicion he cheated customers

Cameroonian provenance researchers denied visas for Munich conference

The researchers are investigating the origins of 200 artefacts from Cameroon at Munich’s Museum Fünf Kontinente

Decolonising museums, embracing 'Green Culture' and boosting arts funding: Germany’s new culture minister reveals plans

Claudia Roth says she will rethink Humboldt Forum and set up a central “green culture” desk in the country

Germany launches online portal for museum objects acquired in the colonial era

So far 25 institutions have contributed 8,000 entries; the plan is to expand it and translate it into several languages

Claudia Roth, a former Green party leader and rock band manager, named German culture minister

The women's and gay rights campaigner brings extensive political experience to a position that has gained in stature under the incumbent Monika Grütters

Germany’s incoming government plans to improve Nazi-looted art restitution

Proposals include eliminating statutes of limitation for claims, creating a central court for cases and strengthening the advisory commission

Blockbuster Vermeer exhibition forced to close as Germany faces fourth coronavirus wave

German health minister warns that by the end of the winter, everyone will be “vaccinated, recovered or dead”

Art Cologne passes pandemic subsidy on to exhibitors, offering 34% discount

Both foreign and domestic art galleries benefit from the discount

German auction of Latin American antiquities goes ahead, but many works fail to sell

Ambassadors from eight countries—Mexico, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama and Peru—whose heritage was included in the sale launched a united front against it, with calls for Unesco to intervene

Dusseldorf exhibition on Jewish dealer Max Stern finally opens next month—but former backers want nothing to do with it

A previous version of the show was due to open in 2018, but was cancelled at short notice. Now it is being shunned.