Art Outlook: 16 October

Some of the stories and discussions we’ve spotted online this week:

Frieze Frenzy

The biggest and most hotly anticipated of all the art fairs rolled in to town this week. But what’s Frieze like for a novice?

Dual-city Documenta 

Documenta, one of the most important events on the contemporary art calendar, is heading to Greece for its 2017 edition. Usually held solely in Germany, Documenta 14 artistic director Adam Szymczyk has announced that the exhibition will instead be split between Athens and Kassel. The relocation plans have apparently outraged many Germans.

Loans to Louvre Abu Dhabi

Masterpieces by Monet, Matisse and Van Gogh are among the 300 works being lent from French museums to the £400 million Louvre Abu Dhabi museum, which opens in December 2015. The Jean Nouvel designed space is part of a sprawling new cultural hub on Saadiyat Island which also includes outposts of the Guggenheim and New York University.

Venice at Risk

UNESCO has threatened to put Venice on its Heritage at Risk list after expressing concern over development projects which pose an environmental threat to the historic city. The Italian government’s decision to deep-dredge a channel through the lagoon to allow cruise ships to enter the port of Venice without sailing through the city has been met with widespread criticism.

Turkish Biennial on hold

The third edition of a Turkish biennial due to open on the 17 October has been postponed due to Islamic State’s attacks on the nearby Syrian town of Kobani. Set in Mardin, in south-eastern Turkey near the Syrian border, ‘Mythologies’ was due to host international artists Ursula Mayer, Stuart Brisley and Pedro Torres.

Burrell at Bonhams

Debate raged late last year as to whether the Burrell collection, contrary to the terms laid out in William Burrell’s bequest, should be allowed to travel overseas. With a bill endorsed by the Scottish Parliament in November 2013 to relax the terms of the bequest, it has now been announced that, as a prelude to an international tour, the collection of more than 9,000 objects will be exhibited at Bonhams from 15 December–9 January. This is the first time the part of the collection will be shown outside Scotland.

Public Art Challenge

In an attempt to improve America’s public art, Bloomberg Philanthropies (established by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg) has announced that it will award at least three cities in the US $1 million each over two years to fund creative temporary public art projects.

Art of Slowing Down

How often have you rushed through a museum or gallery, jumping from one masterpiece to the next? A recent New York Times article has suggests slowing down when visiting museums and taking time with individual works…

Lead image: used under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-SA 2.0)