World’s largest indigenous rock art site at risk

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Indigenous rock art at risk in Western Australia | Murujuga, better known as the Burrap Peninsula, a site in Western Australia that holds the world’s largest concentration of indigenous rock art has been vandalised with graffiti and is under threat from an invasive weed. The Guardian reports that the Australian Senate is conducting an inquiry into the impact of a nearby ammonium nitrate plant, emissions from which may be threatening the ecological conditions of the site.

National Gallery of Denmark scammed by fraudsters | The National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen has been defrauded of almost £91,000 by criminals who hacked the email account of its director and used it to send false messages. According to the Copenhagen Post, employees received an email from the account of director Mikkel Bogh, requesting the urgent transfer of funds to a UK bank account. Similar requests followed until a total of 805,000 kroner had been transferred to various overseas accounts.

Director of Swindon museum project resigns | Hadrian Ellory-van Dekker has resigned as director of The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust, which hopes to build a multi-million pound new art gallery in the town. Ellory-van Dekker, who took up the post just over a year ago, cited personal reasons for his departure, although according to the Museums Journal, this was not his main reason for leaving. The project has faced some local opposition, and critics have expressed doubts as to whether the trust will be able to submit a £10m Heritage Lottery Fund bid later this year.

Peggy Guggenheim’s heirs accuse Guggenheim Foundation of ignoring her wishes | Peggy Guggenheim’s great-grandchildren have claimed that an exhibition at New York’s Guggenheim museum violates the conditions she stipulated when granting her collection to the foundation, reports the Art Newspaper. The show, entitled ‘Visionaries: Creating a Modern Guggenheim’, features works from Peggy Guggenheim’s collection in Venice. Her descendants say that Peggy did not want the works in question to leave the Italian city in high tourist season, which runs from April to November.