Finnish state funding blocked for Helsinki Guggenheim

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Funding blocked for planned Guggenheim franchise in Helsinki | Plans to open a new satellite of the Guggenheim Museum in Finland’s capital city are in doubt after a party in the country’s ruling coalition blocked state aid for its construction, reports Reuters. The nationalist and Eurosceptic Finns party has deemed plans for the €120-140m project a ‘waste of taxpayers’ money’ at a moment of heightened austerity measures. ‘This is the end of the matter, we have ruled out state funding [for Guggenheim] once and for all, for this government,’ said Sampo Terho of the Finns party. ‘We are not opposed to the project as such, we just don’t think it is something that the state should participate in.’

Mary Fedden and Julian Trevelyan collection to be sold to fund studio refurbishment | Sotheby’s is to auction the collection of artists Julian Trevelyan and Mary Fedden in a sale intended to fund the refurbishment of the couple’s former studios in west London. Fedden and Trevelyan, who married in 1951, inhabited a space at Hammersmith’s Durham Wharf Studios for more than 40 years. Though the studios are still in use by artists, they are in need of restoration. The sale will include works by Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso and is expected to raise around £600,000. Turner Prize-winning architectural collective Assemble will carry out the complete refurbishment of the studios.

Bankside residents clash with Tate Modern over viewing deck concerns | Residents of Neo Bankside, a luxury high rise adjacent to Tate Modern’s recently opened Switch House extension, have complained that the structure’s viewing deck allows visitors intrusive views into their homes. Tate dismissed their original demand that parts of observation platform be closed to the public, stating that ‘the viewing level is an intrinsic part of the free public offer of the new building’, and that it has conducted ‘extensive consultation’ with local residents since plans were drawn up for the Switch House a decade ago. Flat owners have since requested that screens be erected instead.

Nominees revealed for 2017 Absolut Art Award | The nominators for next year’s Absolut Art Award have revealed a longlist of 49 artists and writers from around the world. The award will allow winners in two categories (for artwork and art writing) to create their ‘dream projects’. Both winners will receive a €20,000 cash prize, along with additional budgeting of €100,000 for the artist and €25,000 for the writer. Nominees in the artists’ category include Neïl Beloufa, Cao Fei, Maryam Jafri and Simon Denny.