Brighton & Hove Museums has announced the return of 45 cultural artefacts to Khama III Memorial Museum, marking a significant moment in ongoing restitution efforts between European institutions and African communities. The objects, originally acquired in the late 19th century, include clothing, tools, and domestic items tied to the Gammangwato region. Emerging from a broader academic and institutional collaboration led by University of Sussex, the repatriation reflects a growing emphasis on ethical stewardship, cultural sovereignty, and community-led narratives. Read more here. (AM)

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on key organizers and participants of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale, following Russia announcing it’s controversial return to the exhibition after its 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine. Enacted through a decree signed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the measures target individuals involved in the pavilion’s production, which Ukrainian officials characterize as part of a broader effort to normalize Russia’s cultural presence amid ongoing conflict. The decision, initiated by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, reflects growing tensions over the role of international cultural institutions in times of geopolitical crisis. For more analysis on sanction regimes, we invite you to review our recording from the April 25 London event. Read more here.

Dataland, described as the world’s first museum dedicated to A.I.-generated art, is set to open in Los Angeles on June 20, introducing an immersive, multisensory approach to digital creativity. Founded by Refik Anadol and Efsun Erkiliç, the museum departs from traditional exhibition models by presenting large-scale, data-driven environments that integrate sound, image, and spatial experience. Its inaugural exhibition, “Machine Dreams: Rainforest,” draws on millions of nature images to generate evolving “digital sculptures,” raising important questions about authorship, data sourcing, and the role of artificial intelligence in artistic production. Read more here. (AM)

A recent dispute involving the sale of works by Banksy highlights ongoing concerns around transparency and financial accountability in the art market. Television personalities Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly purchased six prints for £550,000 through art dealer Andrew Lilley of Lilley Fine Art Ltd, who claims to have received only £300,000 from the transaction. The buyers are now seeking to trace the missing £250,000, raising allegations of potential “unauthorised profits” and prompting further scrutiny into how the sale was structured. Read more here.

A leading authority on art crime related to cultural heritage and Associate Professor in the Criminal Law and Criminology department at Masstricht University, Donna Yates has been appointed UNESCO Chair in Cultural Heritage and Emerging Crime. Her research combines criminological theory with empirical investigation of how looted, stolen, and trafficked objects move through commercial spaces. Her current research focuses on new and emerging cultural heritage crime, filling a gap in future-oriented research by identifying risks before they become a widespread problem. Read more here. [JKL]

Lord Elgin commissioned a ship, the Mentor, to transport Greek antiquities from Greece to England, but it sank more than two centuries ago during its voyage. In a recent underwater excavation, divers working with Greece’s Culture Ministry recovered a small marble fragment whose size and features resemble architectural elements associated with structures like the Parthenon. However, researchers caution that it is still too early to confirm that the fragment definitively originated from the Parthenon. Read more here. [LS]

Colorado legislators are considering a bipartisan bill that would establish the country’s first “Artist Corporation” (A-Corp) This distinct artist-only LLC could ameliorate the costly and ill-suited corporate structures currently available for artists. Championed by Yancey Strickler, former Kickstarter CEO, this development has the potential to enshrine intellectual property rights and expand healthcare access for cultural workers. If passed (in approximately July 2027) it would allow artists to take on investors without surrendering ownership of their creative work. Read more here. [JKL]

After an 11-year-long legal battle, a $25 million Amedeo Modigliani will be restituted to the heir of Oscar Stettiner. A New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the art dealer, David Nahmad, should return the Modigliani to Stettiner’s grandson, Philippe Maestracci, who initiated the claim in 2015. The court found that Stettiner was the rightful owner of the Modigliani who was forced to flee Nazi-Germany (leaving behind his art collection) and who never voluntarily relinquished the painting. Read more here. [MR]

Melissa Chiu has stepped down as director of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., to become director of the Guggenheim Museum in New York as of September 1, 2026. Current director, Mariët Westermann, will be stepping back from her role in New York to oversee the global Guggenheim portfolio in Venice, Bilbao, and Abu Dhabi. Read more here. [MR]

The Getty Center in Los Angeles will close for one-year for major renovations which are said to cost between $600 million and $800 million. The museum will begin renovations starting 15 March, 2027. The renovation itself will include a major revamping of the iconic tram – foreseeing to transport 400 people more per hour than the previous tram, new outdoor art, reworked gallery space, improved parking, renovations of its welcome hall, and improving internet connectivity on its hilltop site. The Getty Villa will remain open during this time. Read more here. [MR]

After four-years of construction, the Colosseum’s southern piazza has been fully restored for pedestrians. Led by architect Stefano Boeri, the project has recreated the travertine-paved pedestrian plaza outside of the amphitheater where spectators used to wait to enter the arena. Rectangular plinths of stone have been placed as seating options for pedestrians, which have been strategically placed there where each former original 160-feet high column used to stand. Read more here. [MR]

In decades-long fight for the repatriation of looted artworks acquired during times of colonial violence, France’s lower house of parliament’s vote marked a historic step in the right direction, moving to facilitate the restitution of cultural material to Africa. Following a lengthy and revealing session, the decision makes good on Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to return colonial cultural goods that were unfairly and violently seized in the 19th and 20th centuries. Read more here. [JKL]

South Africa has withdrawn its national pavilion from the 2026 Venice Biennale following a legal and political dispute over the planned presentation by artist Gabrielle Goliath. Goliath’s project, Elegy, which memorializes victims of gender-based and political violence, became the center of controversy after the country’s culture minister moved to cancel the exhibition, citing its engagement with ongoing geopolitical conflict. The decision—challenged in court and described by the selection committee as censorship—ultimately resulted in the complete withdrawal of South Africa’s participation. Despite the cancellation, Goliath has indicated she may still RESTITUTIONpresent Elegy independently in Venice, emphasizing that the work is not bound to a single institutional platform and could instead be realized in an alternative space “to grieve, refuse and imagine the world differently.” Read more here.

African Futures Lab, together with the Pan African Lawyers Union and Reform Initiatives, has issued a statement responding to France’s new law on the restitution of cultural property, adopted on 13 April 2026. While the legislation establishes a formal pathway for returning cultural objects, the statement critiques its failure to explicitly acknowledge the colonial violence and systemic extraction that underpinned many acquisitions of African cultural heritage. The group argues that this omission reflects a broader pattern in which recent Western restitution efforts risk depoliticizing and dehistoricizing colonial histories, advancing procedural reform without substantive engagement with the conditions that made restitution necessary. Read more here.

On April 30, the International Jury of the Biennale Arte 2026 resigned. Just days before the VIP previews and the official opening ceremony, the Jury comprised of Solange Farkas (president), Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, and Giovanna Zapperi called it quits. What does this mean for their contracts with the Foundation? Will there be no Golden and Silver Lions awarded in 2026? Visitors are supposedly invited to vote on their top choices. Law and morals are brushing up against each other on the shores of the Venice lagoon. Read more on the official page and media coverage.