Science Museum to End Association with Shell?

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Science Museum Ends Sponsorship Deal with Shell | The Science Museum has confirmed it ‘does not have plans’ to renew its five year sponsorship deal with Shell, reports the Guardian. It is as yet unclear whether the museum – which also has funding arrangements with BP – has made the statement as a result of pressure from activists, but it does not rule out future partnerships with the energy company. Could this be a turning point for museum funding in the UK?

Anish Kapoor Speaks Out Over Human Rights in India | Anish Kapoor has penned an article in today’s Guardian, criticising India’s ‘abysmal human rights record’ under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently on a visit to the UK, and warning that the country is falling under the control of a ‘Hindu Taliban’. In an echo of Ai Weiwei’s statement on human rights this week, Kapoor also identifies Britain as turning a blind eye to ‘tyranny’ for the sake of business ties.

Cimam Museum Group in Crisis Following Departure of Board Members | Trouble in Barcelona as three museum directors resign from the board of museum ethics organisation Cimam, reports The Art Newspaper. Mathaf director Abdellah Karroum, Charles Esche of the Van Abbemuseum and Vasif Kortun, director of Istanbul’s Salt museum have apparently walked out in protest at Cima president Bartolomeu Mari over allegations of ‘censorship’.

Exhibits from British Museum Available to View Online | The British Museum and Google have announced that almost 5,000 objects from the former’s collection are now available to view online. The initiative, a digital partnership between the BM and the Google Cultural Institute, aims to ‘bridge the gap between high culture and popular culture’. Impressive, but unlikely to beat an actual visit to the museum.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation Reveals Award Winners | The Paul Hamlyn Foundation has named Emma Hart, Will Holder, Tina Keane, Patrick Staff, Karen Mirza and Brad Butler as the winners of its annual award for artists. Each award consists of £50,000 paid over three years. Champagne all round?

Byzantine ‘Flat Pack’ Church to be Reconstructed at Ashmolean | A ‘prefabricated’ church that dates from the time of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian is to be exhibited for the first time at Oxford’s Ashmolean museum. The church, which was discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, was one of several such structures used to enable the spread of Christianity by the Byzantines.

Valérie Belin Wins Pictet Photography Prize | Parisian photographer Valérie Belin has been awarded the sixth Prix Pictet. The prize, which was established in 2008, grants $100,000 to its winner, and has previously been awarded to photographers including Luc Delahaye, Michael Schmidt and Benoît Aquin.