Nigeria presents plans for new Benin Royal Museum

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Nigeria presents plans for new museum in Benin City | Nigeria has presented plans for a new Benin Royal Museum of artefacts from the historic region of Benin, including some of the Benin Bronzes looted from the royal palace by a British punitive expedition in 1897, the Art Newspaper reports. At a meeting in Leiden of the Benin Dialogue Group, which includes representatives from Nigeria as well as from museums in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, a time-frame of three years was agreed for a permanent display in a new museum. The museums have each agreed to lend artefacts to the Benin Royal Museum on rotation.

Co-founder of Kochi-Muziris Biennale resigns | Riyas Komu, the co-founder of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kerala, has resigned from his position as secretary of the event, the Art Newspaper reports. The news follows allegations of sexual harassment against Komu, published on Instagram by the account Scene and Herd. The Biennale is due to host its fourth edition from 12 December.

Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha announces plans for expansion | The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, has announced a major expansion that includes new galleries, educational spaces and a bigger public programming. The museum has appointed Snøhetta as the lead architect on the project, which also includes a refurbishment of the institution’s Memorial Building, designed in 1931.

Brooklyn’s Signal gallery to close | Signal gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn, has announced that it will close on 2 November, with a farewell event called ‘No Signal’. The gallery, which was founded in 2012, has provided solo shows for a number of important emerging artists in New York, including Rachel Rossin and Meriem Bennani.

Recommended reading | In ArtForum, Karl Ove Knausgaard discusses his upcoming book on the paintings of Edvard Munch. And in Artnet News, Rachel Corbett explores the controversy surrounding a new biography of Cy Twombly.