ARTnews in Brief: Investigations Finds That Former Gwangju Biennale Head ‘Abused Power’—and More from August 16, 2021

Monday, August 16
Investigations Finds That Former Gwangju Biennale Head ‘Abused Power’An official investigation led by the South Korean city of Gwangju found that Sunjung Kim, the former president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, “abused power beyond her authority.” Kim left her post at the biennial at the end of June when her contract expired. Prior to her departure, she had been accused of unfairly dismissing staff by the biennial’s union. She denied the allegations, calling them “unfounded.”
Banksy Mural in England Gets Painted Over Out of ‘Sensitivity’A Banksy mural depicting a little girl being flung from an inflatable raft has been painted over in Great Yarmouth, England, the BBC reports. The town said it covered over the work out of “sensitivity” to the 2018 death of a little girl who thrown from a trampoline nearby. The work had been created as part of Banksy’s “Great British Spraycation” spree. In a statement, Great Yarmouth’s borough council said, “We thank Banksy for all the wonderful art work and fully appreciate these circumstances would not have been known by the artist,” adding that there was hope that the work could in some way be restored.

Forge Project Launches Fellowship for Indigenous CreatorsForge Project, a new initiative to support Indigenous communities and leaders working in arts and culture, has launched an annual fellowship program for Indigenous artists. The inaugural Forge Project Fellows are Oneida architect and studio:indigenous founder Chris T Cornelius; artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation / Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians; Menominee ecologist and researcher Jasmine Neosh; and language preservation activist and Mohican language teacher Brock Schreiber, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. Each will receive $25,000 to support their projects and studio space at the Forge house, a structure designed by Ai Weiwei and located on the new Forge complex in the Hudson Valley.

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