Stolen Durga Idol Returns to India

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Germany Returns Stolen Durga Idol to India | In a visit to New Delhi for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chancellor Angela Merkel has officially handed back a 10th-century Durga idol that surfaced in Germany after disappearing from a temple in Kashmir, reports The Indian Express. It is thought that art dealer and alleged trafficker Subhash Kapoor, currently on trial in Chennai, may have been behind the idol’s disappearance.

Russian Jets Target ISIS in Palmyra | According to Syrian State Television, jets belonging to the Russian airforce have attacked ISIS in and around the ancient city of Palmyra. The news comes just a day after ISIS destroyed a triumphal arch in the city. Syria’s Director of Antiquities has told Newsweek that the Russian attacks could save the UNESCO World Heritage site – if it is not already too late. There have as yet been no reports of ‘collateral damage’ to the city’s monuments.

‘Controversial’ Montpellier Museum Opening Scheduled for 2019 | After a troubled genesis that has reignited debate over France’s colonial past, Montpellier’s Centre d’art contemporain is finally to open in 2019, reports Le Journal des Arts. The mayor’s announcement follows years of indecision: the site was controversially intended to house a museum dedicated to the history of France in Algeria until the newly elected DVG administration cancelled the project abruptly in 2014.

Architects’ Journal & Architectural Review Go Digital-Only | British titles Architects’ Journal and Architectural Review are to cease publication of their print editions within the next 18 months to focus on online content, reports Dezeen. The news will come as no surprise to readers of rival publication Building Design, which made a similar switch to digital-only last year.

Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) | The Belgian artist and filmmaker Chantal Akerman died on Monday night, reports Le Monde. Akerman, whose experimental film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles was named as one of the greatest films of the 20th century by Village Voice, is suspected to have taken her own life.