Sadiq Khan launches ‘London Borough of Culture’ competition

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Sadiq Khan launches ‘London Borough of Culture’ competition | The Mayor of London has announced a new initiative in which London’s 32 local authorities can bid for more than £1m of funding for cultural projects. Two boroughs will be announced as winners in February, taking on the mantle of London Borough of Culture in 2019 and 2020. Major institutions including the Barbican, the Roundhouse, and the Museum of London will work with the successful boroughs to achieve the proposals. A further £600,000 for ‘exemplary individual projects’ will be divided between six other boroughs.

Study suggests pay increase across US museum sector | A study by the Association of Art Museum Directors has found that institutional pay at North American museums outstripped the overall jobs market’s rate of growth in 2016. The study compared data from 291 museums in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, looking at more than 50 staff positions in every institutional department, and found that the average median salary increased by 3 per cent in 2016.

Arts Council warns arts organisations to increase diversity or forego funding | Ten arts organisations set to receive Arts Council England funding from 2018 have been warned that they must meet diversity targets or risk losing their status in the national portfolio. Speaking to Arts Professional, ACE Deputy Chief Executive for Arts and Culture Simon Mellor said that these organisations must demonstrate ‘much stronger’ commitment before final funding agreements are confirmed.

Recommended reading | Pope L has received a lot of attention this year for his contributions to Documenta and the Whitney Biennial, and is now the subject of an exhibition at Manhattan’s Mitchell-Innes & Nash gallery. Roberta Smith reports for the New York Times, and finds much to admire in the work of this ‘complex, always challenging artist’. In the Guardian, Charlotte Higgins talks to artist Phil Collins about his decision to transport a statue of Friedrich Engels from eastern Ukraine to northern England for the Manchester International Festival. Across the Channel, Le Figaro (French language article) has brought together its favourite photographers to analyse Soazig de la Moissonnière’s official portrait of President Emmanuel Macron, which was unveiled earlier this week.