Museums Taskforce publishes report on museum sector in UK

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Museums Taskforce publishes report on museum sector in UK | The Museums Taskforce, convened by the Museums Association in 2016 to review ‘the increasingly difficult financial situation that many museums in the UK face’, has published a report on its findings. The report, chaired by Bristol City Council’s head of culture Laura Pye, focuses its recommendations on three key areas: the relevance of museums, their collections, and their funding. Its publication follows the recent releases of two other reports on museums in the UK: the Mendoza review and David Cannadine’s report, both discussed in Apollo here.

Over 200 inaccuracies in Avedon biography, foundation claims | The Richard Avedon Foundation yesterday released a document containing a list of more than 200 factual inaccuracies that it claims to have located in Norma Stevens and Steven Aronson’s recently published biography of the American photographer, Something Personal (2017). The foundation first demanded that publication of the book cease in December 2017, alleging that its contents was stolen by Stevens, Avedon’s former studio manager, from an unfinished, semi-autobiographical work of fiction that the photographer had been writing before his death.

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller honoured at Savannah College of Art and Design | Artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have been honoured at the ninth edition of Savannah College of Art and Design’s annual programme of exhibitions and events, deFINE ART, the Art Newspaper reports. Two works by the artists are currently on view at the institution’s museum of art in Savannah, Georgia.

Creative Scotland chief promises review of funding processes | Janet Archer, chief executive of Creative Scotland, called to the culture committee at Holyrood, has apologised in response to the recent outcry over the governmental body’s decision to cut 100 per cent of funding to 20 organisations (five of which have since had the funding reinstated) across Scotland. Archer has now pledged to carry out a ‘root and branch review’ of decision-making processes for allocating funding.