magpie

Sotheby’s returned to profit in 2025 after several loss-making years, though the underlying financial picture remains complicated, according to the FT. Pre-tax profit was $53m on sales up 20% at $7.1bn tinyurl.com/8csfpypv?utm_s…

The V&A apparently altered content in at least two of its catalogues at the behest of their Chinese printer (it's cheaper to print in China, but it apparently means acceding to censorship requests) tinyurl.com/2s4brek4?utm_s…

Applications now open for Frieze Abu Dhabi (19–22 Nov), close 14 May. "Younger" galleries get a 25% discount tinyurl.com/36tv5ty3?utm_s…

“AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more" Cory Doctorow hits the mark again tinyurl.com/cwy82323?utm_s…

The just-announced Art Basel Awards – 33 medals in nine art-related categories – include Farah Al Qasimi as one of 6 Emerging Artists and Diriyah Biennale Foundation among Institutions and Museums tinyurl.com/v4ha6kbt?utm_s…

Ireland gave ~2,000 artists a Basic Income of €325 pw for three years. How did that work out? Pretty well, actually tinyurl.com/e8sfswwt?utm_s…

Apart from performers (lots of them) we could find only one actual artist in the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2026 – Cao Fei, and she’s listed under ‘innovators’. There are a couple of collectors but no curators or gallerists ... tinyurl.com/mrysc2k8?utm_s…

NASA has more than a dozen mobile wallpapers of photos taken during the Artemis II mission for free download. Gorgeous stuff tinyurl.com/4b4hzbd4?utm_s…

Reviews of sticks. Actually more like a compilation, but still ... sticks tinyurl.com/3t72mskv?utm_s…

Who's helping on the death-of-civilisation front: AI firms and their ties to US military projects tinyurl.com/mrx3r3mw?utm_s…

A software engineer from Paris had the winning €100 raffle ticket for that €1m Picasso tinyurl.com/96cbkcdf?utm_s…

DEADLINE 24 April – ADREA Public Art II competition. Submit proposals for an artwork for permanent installation within the ADREA (Abu Dhabi Royal Equestrian Arts) site on Jubail island. Two will be selected. tinyurl.com/53n7yyr9?utm_s…

2026 Guggenheim Fellowships for 223 artists, scientists, and scholars (chosen from ~5,000 applicants) across 55 fields of activity tinyurl.com/mry3wh4p?utm_s…

Morad Montazami (art historian, founder of Zamân Books & Curating, former curator of Middle East & North Africa at Tate Modern) named as artistic director for this year’s Dakar Biennale tinyurl.com/a6mcrhrb?utm_s…

How are the blockades working out? A great visual representation of what's happening (or not) in the Strait of Hormuz: seems to be 24 hrs old, and relies on publicly available info, but provides a good at-a-aglance summary ishormuzopenyet.com/?utm_source=tw…

“We can’t only be fair-weather curators. We’re here for people all the time, whatever is happening around us, or maybe particularly when things are happening around us ..." Art Jameel's Antonia Carver talks to Ocula about the arts in a time of war tinyurl.com/mrfar3hx?utm_s…

#MAGPIESEZ Here's magpie Weekly, your free guide to the best of the UAE's creative and cultural scene – this time with Art Dubai's update, a home for Barjeel Art Foundation, and why Copilot is for entertainment only ... Why not subscribe? tinyurl.com/4yuvvzzs?utm_s…

The V&A has a new collections hub page on provenance and the stories of some looted works in its collection tinyurl.com/38fsd447?utm_s…

1000+ film and TV notables have signed an open letter opposing Paramount Skydance’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (“the integrity, independence, and diversity of our industry would be grievously compromised") tinyurl.com/55styf7v?utm_s…

Anti-Trump protesters are getting older. Where are the kids? tinyurl.com/3u8w4dzc?utm_s…