Museum

Motswedi: Botswana’s 2,488-Carat Gem Draws Global Cultural Interest

The world's second-largest diamond could soon find a new home in a museum or a sheikh's collection, but first needs to be properly evaluated, the Belgian firm holding it told AFP Monday. Unearthed last year in Botswana, the 2,488-carat stone known as Motswedi is currently being analyzed by gem dealer HB Antwerp in the namesake port city ...

France Confirms Loan of Bayeux Tapestry to British Museum Amid Conservation Concerns

French President Emmanuel Macron's office stressed Monday that the planned loan of the nearly 1,000-year-old Bayeux Tapestry to Britain next year was a surmountable challenge following expert outcry over the diplomatic gesture. Several heritage advisors have argued that the extremely fragile 11th-century masterpiece depicting the Norman conquest ...

The Metropolitan Opera Reimagines Itself with New Themes and Celebrity Stars

The iconic Metropolitan Opera of New York is continuing its evolution amidst financial challenges, launching its new season this Sunday with a politically charged opera featuring a comic book superhero. The season also welcomes actress Sandra Oh, known for her roles in Grey's Anatomy and Killing Eve, in a beloved opera-comique. The Met is ...

Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh’s Gold Bracelet Melted, Sold Cheaply

Egyptian police said on Thursday they arrested a museum employee and three alleged accomplices after a priceless ancient gold bracelet was stolen from Cairo's Egyptian Museum, sold for about $4,000, and then melted down. The 3,000-year-old bracelet, a gold band adorned with lapis lazuli beads, dated back to the reign of Amenemope, a pharaoh of ...

Viking Ships Make Final High-risk Voyage to New Oslo Home

Three 1,200-year-old Viking ships that have stood the test of time are embarking on their final and possibly riskiest journey to their new forever home in Norway. The first to relocate is the Oseberg, which on Wednesday slowly made its way from its current location in the old Viking Ship Museum, arriving intact with a newly built addition that ...

Smiling Viking Figurine Discovered After Centuries in Denmark

Denmark's National Museum unveiled Wednesday what it described as the first "portrait" of a Viking: a miniature 10th-century figurine depicting a man with an imperial moustache, braided beard and neatly groomed hairstyle. Carved out of ivory walrus tusk, the partially damaged representation of a head and torso measures just three centimeters (1.2 ...

France Returns Colonial-Era Human Remains to Madagascar

France on Tuesday returned three colonial-era skulls to Madagascar, including one believed to be a Malagasy king beheaded by French troops during a 19th-century massacre. The skull presumed to be that of King Toera and two others from the Sakalava ethnic group were handed over at a ceremony at the French culture ministry. French troops beheaded ...

Painting the Heat Away: Vienna Museum Uses Art to Cool Urban Spaces

Equipped with an infrared thermometer, Austrian artist Jonas Griessler measures the sweltering heat in an inner courtyard in the center of Vienna. Thanks to his collective's art work covering the black asphalt with a multitude of bright colors, the ground temperature has dropped from 31C to 20C. Initiated by the museum showing the private ...

Egypt to Open Grand Museum Near Pyramids of Giza on November 1

Egypt said on Wednesday that its much-anticipated new $1-billion archaeological museum near the Pyramids of Giza will officially open on November 1 after several delays. Authorities hope that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which boasts the treasures of Tutankhamun among its collection of more than 100,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts, will ...

Madame Tussauds Honors Taylor Swift With Record 13 Wax Figures

US pop megastar Taylor Swift will be honored with 13 waxworks of her at Madame Tussauds venues around the globe, the museum said on Wednesday. In honor of Swift's lucky number, 13 of the waxwork museum's 22 branches will each receive a statue of the Love Story and Blank Space singer, in what it called the "most ambitious project" of its 250-year ...

France Museum Visitor Eats Million-Dollar Banana Artwork Again

A visitor to a French museum bit into a fresh banana worth millions of dollars taped to a wall last week, exhibitors said on Friday, in the latest such consumption of the conceptual artwork. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan — whose provocative creation entitled Comedian was bought for $6.2 million in New York last year — said he was ...