Our daily round-up of news from the art world
Creative Industries Federation’s report focuses on future of EU citizens in the UK | A new report published by the Creative Industries Federation looks at the effect leaving the EU will have on the sector. Among the pressing questions the report raises is the future of EU citizens working in the UK. According to the CIF, this group makes up between 10 to 40 per cent of the sector’s workforce, a figure thought to be higher in the commercial gallery sector. The Federation says it is a ‘matter of priority’ that EU citizens in the sector be allowed to stay in the UK. The report also examines the likely replacements for EU funding, which, when withdrawn, will have a particularly detrimental impact on regional arts organisations.
Herzog & de Meuron win competition to design Berlin’s Museum of the 20th century | Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron has been chosen to design the Museum of the 20th Century in Berlin, reports The Art Newspaper. The firm was chosen from a shortlist of 42 practices, from which the jury selected a design without knowing the identity of the architect. The museum, which is intended to display Germany’s huge collections of 20th-century art, will be situated between the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berlin Philharmonic, and the proposed opening date is 2021.
Architecture Research Office selected to renovate Rothko Chapel | New York-based partnership Architecture Research Office has been chosen to renovate Houston’s Rothko Chapel with a view to improving its skylight, interior, lighting, and acoustics. The firm will also assess whether the chapel, which opened in 1971, requires further renovations. ‘For more than forty years, the Chapel has been a deeply moving experience of personal contemplation that furthers the Chapel’s mission of social action,’ said ARO partner Stephen Cassell. ‘We feel enormous responsibility toward its future.’
George Lucas reveals competing plans for his museum in two cities| After his plan to open a museum of narrative art in Chicago was rebuffed, film director George Lucas has turned to California as a location. Earlier this week, he revealed renders for the museum in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Designed by Chinese architect Ma Yansong, who was set to design the failed Chicago venture, the proposals envisage a site for the museum on either San Francisco’s Treasure Island or Los Angeles’s Exposition Park. According to the LA Times, Lucas will probably decide on a site next year.
Recommended reading | In Australia, Liberal senator James Paterson has raised eyebrows with a proposal to sell Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles, currently owned by the National Gallery of Australia, for its insurance value of $350 million. Paterson also proposed to plug holes in the country’s budget by ending public funding for sports and the arts. The Sydney Morning Herald carries an angry response to these proposals. Meanwhile in the Guardian, Jonathan Jones criticises MoMA’s intentions to display the original set of 176 emojis, comparing the venerable institution’s new acquisition to a ‘teacher trying to twerk’.