museums

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Mississippi Museum Puts Gun in Emmett Till Case on Display

'I've never had an artifact affect me quite like this," says museum official

(Newser) - Seventy years after a murder that helped spark the civil rights movement, the gun believed to have killed Emmett Till is going on public display. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson has acquired the .45-caliber pistol thought to have been used in the 1955 killing, reports NPR . The...

Trump: Smithsonian Fixates on 'How Bad Slavery Was'

President says museum is 'OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is'

(Newser) - The Trump administration has already made clear it will ensure the Smithsonian Institution aligns "with American ideals." On Tuesday, President Trump expounded thusly: "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden...

The Fossil in Front of Him Looked Eerily Like Another

Fossil slab split in half a century ago reveals a new species, the oldest known tree-dwelling reptile

(Newser) - A chance encounter in a London museum has led to the identification of a new prehistoric species, thanks to the keen eye of paleontologist Victor Beccari. While examining reptile fossils at the city's Natural History Museum, Beccari noticed a skeleton that looked strikingly familiar. His memory of a...

Museum Visitor Makes Bad Decision to Sit on Pricey Chair

'Van Gogh chair' on display in Italy collapses beneath the man's weight

(Newser) - A museum in Italy would like a word with a couple whose attempt at a selfie ended up damaging a delicate chair on display. As the BBC explains, the incident unfolded at the Palazzo Maffei in Verona. CCTV footage captures the moment a man sits down on a museum piece...

On Display: A 200-Year-Old Condom With Naughty Art

Prophylactic decorated with erotic art is at Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum

(Newser) - The Netherlands' national museum has a new object on display that merges art with Amsterdam's infamous Red Light District: a nearly 200-year-old condom, emblazoned with erotic art. The Rijksmuseum said in a statement that the playful prophylactic, believed to be made around 1830 from a sheep's appendix, "...

Tiny Home Where Brontes Were Born Is Now Open to Public

Newly refurbished Bronte Birthplace in Thornton, England, is where literary sisters lived until 1820

(Newser) - What inspired not one, not two, but a total of three young women in the Bronte family to write literary masterpieces? If the answers can be found within the walls of where they grew up, fans may soon find what they're looking for: The Bronte Birthplace , a tiny cottage...

In One Swiss Town, Art Is (Free) Medicine

Doctors in Neuchâtel can now prescribe free museum passes under a pilot program

(Newser) - The world's got you down? Burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness? As the AP reports, the Swiss town of Neuchâtel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor's note to do it for free....

Trump Targets 'Improper Ideology' at Smithsonian

Executive order cites 'divisive, race-centered ideology' at museums

(Newser) - President Trump signed an executive order Thursday targeting what he calls "improper ideology" at the Smithsonian Institution. In recent years, Trump said, the institution has "come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology," which has "promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently...

Louvre Boss Says Museum 'No Longer Watertight'

Artworks at risk as building deteriorates, director writes in leaked memo

(Newser) - Priceless artworks are at risk from water leaks at Paris' Louvre, according to a leaked memo to France's culture minister. Louvre director Laurence des Cars wrote to Rachida Dati earlier this month, complaining about the "proliferation of damage in museum spaces, some of which are in very poor...

Museum to Kid Who Broke Ancient Artifact: Come Back

Israel's Hecht Museum let the 4-year-old who accidentally smashed jar piece it back together

(Newser) - A 4-year-old boy who accidentally broke a rare 3,500-year-old jar in an Israeli museum has been forgiven and was even invited back on Friday to help piece the jar back together, as curators hoped to turn the disaster into a teachable moment. Alex Geller, the boy's father, said...

Ordered to Return Native American Artifacts, Museums Are Dawdling

New federal rules mandate institutions return significant items to tribes, but it's been slow going

(Newser) - Tucked within the expansive Native American halls of the American Museum of Natural History is a diminutive wooden doll that holds a sacred place among the tribes whose territories once included Manhattan. For more than six months, the ceremonial Ohtas, or "Doll Being," has been hidden after the...

Art Student Pulls Off an Unusual Museum Theft

Ile Sartuzi steals coin at British Museum, redeposits in donation box as part of thesis

(Newser) - It's one of the more unusual museum heists you'll read about—the thief kept his bounty for only a few minutes before returning it, publicly documenting the entire thing. As the Art Newspaper reports, the strangeness unfolded at the British Museum on June 18. That's the day...

Museum Admits Picassos Are Fake, Part of a Stunt

Kirsha Kaechele comes forward in Australia

(Newser) - The Picassos were fake, as it turns out. The curator of a controversial exhibit at a museum in Australia has admitted that she painted three purported works by the artist that were hung in a women's restroom, reports the AP . Kirsha Kaechele moved her exhibit to the restroom to...

Curator of 'Macabre' Museum Gets Macabre Package in Mail

Anonymous mailing of 2 preserved fetuses prompts Philly's Mutter Museum to call the cops

(Newser) - On Tuesday, Anna Dhody, the curator of Philadelphia's Mutter Museum—known for its "macabre curiosities" —received a package at work addressed to her, with no return address. What she found inside has now started a police investigation: two preserved fetuses floating in fluid in glass jars, with...

Tate Modern Sees Another Fall, This One Fatal

Man dies after plummeting from London art gallery

(Newser) - A visit to London's Tate Modern art gallery ended in tragedy for one guest on Friday morning. The Metropolitan Police in the UK's capital city say a man fell to his death from the museum around 10:45am local time, reports the AP . First responders attempted to resuscitate...

Mad Scramble in US Museums on Native American Displays

New rules handed down by Biden administration prohibit such exhibits without consent from tribes

(Newser) - Museums across America have started closing exhibits highlighting Native American artifacts in an attempt to comply with new Biden administration rules that mandate venues get the OK from Indigenous tribes before displaying those samples. The requirements under the updated Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act , originally passed in 1990,...

DNA Links Africa's Stolen Skulls With Living Descendants

Germany to return skulls tied to Chagga people of Tanzania, stolen under colonial rule

(Newser) - Scientists have for the first time identified living descendants of people whose skulls were pillaged from Africa under German colonial rule. Since 2017, Berlin's Museum of Prehistory and Early History has been working to trace at least 1,100 of 7,700 skulls it acquired from a local hospital...

Museum Sues Ex-Director Over Fake Basquiats

Orlando Museum of Art says damage from fraud scheme may be irreparable

(Newser) - The Orlando Museum of Art has admitted its "99-year legacy was shattered" when it was found to be exhibiting fake paintings attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat. Now it wants justice. In a lawsuit filed Monday, OMA "seeks to hold responsible the people the Museum believes knowingly misrepresented the works'...

Dish on Museum's Juneteenth Menu Sparks Backlash

Locals say menu item at Children's Museum of Indianapolis perpetuates racist trope

(Newser) - A kids museum in Indiana is at the center of controversy after a menu item for Juneteenth didn't go over so well. The Indianapolis Star reports that included among the food options at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis was a prepackaged watermelon salad ( TMZ has a pic),...

'Unacceptable Behavior' Shuts Kids Museum for 10 Days

Anti-mask patrons were 'inappropriately directing their anger' toward museum staff

(Newser) - If you're a Denverite who'd planned on taking the kids to the local children's museum over the weekend, you'll have to wait. NPR reports the Children's Museum of Denver has closed its doors for 10 days after angry patrons harassed staff over its mask policy....

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