Boston Museum of Fine Arts takes action over racism claim

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Boston Museum of Fine Arts takes action over racism claim | The Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) has banned two museum visitors and issued an apologetic public statement in response to allegations of racist comments and profiling directed at a group of students from a local school, by both visitors and staff. Speaking to the Boston Globe, the Helen Y Davis Leadership Academy’s principal Arturo Forrest claimed that as well as racist remarks made by visitors and a tour guide, non-white students were subjected to disproportionate scrutiny by security guards. The MFA’s director Matthew Teitelbaum has vowed to address the alleged incident ‘both with immediate steps and longterm commitments’.

Staff strike closes doors at Louvre | The Louvre shut its doors to visitors yesterday after security personnel went on strike over issues relating to overcrowding and safety. The Sud Culture Solidaires union claimed that the museum is ‘suffocating’ due to a more than 20 per cent increase of visitors over the last ten years, with a lack of additional space to accommodate the growth. In a statement, the union said that ‘staff have noticed an unprecedented deterioration in working and visiting conditions’.

Former Macron aid appointed director of Pinault Collection | Sylvain Fort, a classical music expert and the former communications director to President Macron, is set to assume directorship of the collection and museums belonging to billionaire François Pinault. Fort, who takes up the position in September, will be responsible for overseeing Pinault’s two Venetian locations, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, as well as a new contemporary art space in the historic Bourse de Commerce in Paris.