Lionel Barber tipped to be next chairman of Tate board

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Lionel Barber tipped to be next chairman of Tate board | Financial Times editor Lionel Barber is set to be confirmed as the permanent chairman of Tate’s board of trustees, reports the Evening Standard. Barber, who was first appointed to the board in 2011, has served as interim chair since Lord Browne of Madingley stepped down from the leading role last summer. Critics of the rumoured appointment have suggested that Barber’s involvement with fundraising at the institution would represent a conflict of interest with his editorship of a business newspaper.

Julia Kristeva accused of Cold War espionage | Philosopher, critic and cultural theorist Julia Kristeva has been accused of spying for the intelligence services of communist Bulgaria during the Cold War, reports the Balkan Insight website. A government-appointed committee tasked with announcing the ‘affiliation’ of Bulgarian citizens to the intelligence services of the former regime has alleged that Kristeva, who was born in Bulgaria, was recruited by an agency responsible for foreign intelligence gathering. The committee says that its findings are based on declassified files; although it has not specified the details of Kristeva’s alleged contact with the Bulgarian security services.

Michael Rakowitz commission for fourth plinth unveiled | Mayor of London Sadiq Khan today officially unveiled the latest commission for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square: Michael Rakowitz’s sculpture The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist. The artwork is a recreation of a statue of a winged bull which stood at the entrance to the ancient city of Nineveh, near present day Mosul, before being destroyed by ISIS in February 2015.