Rubin Museum to honour anniversary of Nepal earthquakes

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

New York’s Rubin Museum marks anniversary of Nepal earthquakes | One year on from the devastating earthquakes that shook the Himalayan nation of Nepal and cost it an estimated 50% of its GDP, New York’s Rubin Museum has launched a programme to honour the country’s cultural heritage. The initiative will see the launch of educational programmes, an awareness campaign and a major exhibition staged in partnership with institutions including the British Museum, the Google Cultural Institute and LACMA.

Manchester Museum receives £400,000 towards major redevelopment | Manchester Museum has been granted £406,400 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, reports the Manchester Evening News. The money represents the first step in the institution’s ambitious plans for a £12.4 million revamp, which will give it a new entrance, a two-storey extension and a new South Asia gallery created in partnership with the British Museum. The HLF grant allows preparations for the project to begin in earnest; an application for a full grant will be submitted at a later date. It is hoped that work will begin on the extension programme in 2018.

Canadian Museum of Inuit Art to close | Toronto’s Canadian Museum of Inuit Art is to close on 30 May due to falling visitor numbers and lack of funds. Opened in 2007, the museum is one of only a few institutions dedicated exclusively to Inuit art and culture. Staff are currently searching for a new home for the institution’s 1,000-strong collection of artefacts.

Recommended reading: censorship in Egypt | In the wake of the demolition of Cairo’s Townhouse Gallery, the BBC’s monitoring service has published an article on the Egyptian government’s heavy handed crackdown on artistic freedom of speech. According to the article, the government wishes to prove itself as a ‘guardian of public morals,’ and has punished perceived ‘debauchery’ with ‘unprecedented’ harshness, says a researcher for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. Elsewhere, Deutsche Welle carries a report from the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, which despite its troubled associations with Islamist extremism, is also home to a vibrant artistic community.