ARTS

Why they are being returned—and who gets them ARTS | AGENCIES | In the largest restitution of its kind, the Netherlands recently returned 119 Benin Bronzes to the Nigerian government—part of a growing international reckoning with the colonial-era looting of African cultural heritage. A week later, the Museum of Fine Arts, …

How pain, trauma and politics silenced art criticism ART | EDDY FRANKEL | My friend winced. He’d asked for my thoughts on a recent exhibition of abstract paintings and I told him the truth: I found the show heinous. It was wall-to-wall brain-petrifying, gentle, zombie abstraction; the kind of painting that …

The Benin Bronzes were stolen from Africa during colonial times ART | AGENCIES | It took more than a century but they are finally home. The Netherlands have returned 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, nearly 130 years after they were looted by British colonial troops. This shipment is the largest physical …

Sello Letswalo transforms the boundaries of contemporary art with a unique palette of steel and oil ART | AGENCIES | Sello Letswalo (33) stands as a pioneering multimedia artist whose innovative approach to painting and sculpture is reshaping contemporary African art. With a background rooted in visual arts, design, and dramatic …

The mosaic artist has also done campaigns for other companies, including Keep Britain Tidy ARTS | VICTORIA COOKS | A mosaic artist based in London said he had some “trepidation” when McVitie’s called and asked him to make some famous portraits out of biscuits. Ed Chapman said: “I wondered if it …

Reach A Hand Uses Expressive Arts to Break Menstrual Health Stigma in Schools Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  Reach A Hand Uganda, through its “Undo The Taboo” and “GN Trybe” initiatives, brought together over 1,000 students from more than 20 schools across the country to highlight the effectiveness of edutainment …

The genesis of this rather controversial opinion stems from the familiar stereotype on what is art from the lenses of the western art world. ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | It may come as a big surprise that there is still a large section of western art patrons who perceive art from …

Mozart had many admirers and would no doubt have countless followers on Instagram today. But did he have real friends? Or did he live solely for music? All is explored at the Mozart festival in Würzburg ART | GABY REUCHER | If the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were a child …

Kamya and Nabulime set a precedent in sharing space for an exhibition and break the norms in art making through their individualistic approach to their work ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | Rarely does it happen that a father and daughter share the same exhibition. When this scenario presents itself, there’s certainly …

The Roduza Collection by Rodney Muhumuza showcases the best of our times while instigating conversations on the urgency of a national collection in Uganda. ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | The culture of art collecting has not yet found its firm grounding in Uganda. Certainly, there’re a handful of Ugandan collectors but …