Reposted from AAM

NEW RELEASE-Welcoming Museum Visitors with Unapparent Disabilities

In this actionable volume, discover how US and international cultural organizations including museums are serving individuals with mental health and neurodiverse challenges. Opening chapters explore the status of mental health in society today, and why it is crucial for museums to consider inclusive design. In subsequent chapters, organized by unapparent disability, you will learn more about the condition, find personal accounts of how it impacts the museum-going experience, and dive into actionable case studies of how this hidden disability has been supported or addressed at other museums.

See Original Post

Reposted from CISA/DHS

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in collaboration with U.S. and international partners, published a joint report, Modern Approaches to Network Access Security, that urges organizations to move toward more robust security solutions such as Secure Service Edge (SSE) and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) that provide greater visibility of network activity. While this report does not cover the planning, architecture, or adaption needs for shifting to these solutions, it does call for organizations to shift away from traditional broad remote access deployments and provides best practices to help transition to modern solutions, such as SSE and SASE. Organizations are encouraged to carefully assess their security posture and perform a risk analysis before implementing any/all solutions to determine if these approaches fit their organization. Both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) network protections are provided in this report that covers a spectrum of network sensitivities and worst-case consequences of compromise. This report will help organizations better understand the vulnerabilities, threats, and practices associated with traditional remote access and VPN deployment, along with the inherent business risk posed to an organization’s network by remote access misconfiguration. Aligned with CISA’s cross-sector cybersecurity performance goals (CPGs), the best practices in this report will also help guide leaders with prioritizing the protection of their remote computing environment security while operating under the fundamental principles of least privilege.

See Original Post

Reposted from CISA/DHS

Please join us on Wednesday, August 7th at 1 p.m. EST for our Artificial Intelligence (AI) Unclassified Threat & Initiatives Briefing.

Topics will be cyber-related and focused on potential areas of interest for the Commercial Facilities Subsector; all Commercial Facilities partners are invited and welcome to attend.

See Original Post

Reposted from The Art Newspaper

On 30 June 2022, two young Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to the frame of Van Gogh’s Peach Trees in Blossom at the Courtauld Gallery, calling for the government to end the licensing of all new North Sea oil and gas. Since then, activists have targeted Constable’s The Hay Wain at the National Gallery, Horatio McCulloch’s My Heart is in the Highlands in the Kelvingrove Gallery in Glasgow, Turner’s Thomson's Aeolian Harp at the Manchester Art Gallery, and the copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper at the Royal Academy. They have, most famously, thrown soup at the glazing on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery, and more notoriously broken the glazing on Velázquez’s The Toilet of Venus (‘The Rokeby Venus’). Most recently, activists propelled orange corn starch onto the great megaliths of Stonehenge. Similar protests have taken place around Europe and in America. All these ‘direct actions’ are part of an ongoing campaign of civil disruption that also involves concerts, theatre and sporting events. That you probably know all or at least some of this already is testament to the effectiveness of these actions, at least in getting Just Stop Oil and climate activism to the forefront of the public mind. This, it should be said, is the purpose of the actions — certainly not to be popular, liked, or to ‘save the planet’; but rather to provoke an emotive response, be it positive or negative, to counter public indifference and media silence on the dire urgency for action on climate breakdown.
For activists, such shocking tactics are necessary when the stakes are so high: unprecedented rises in ocean and land surface temperatures in 2023, and acceleration levels of C02 in the atmosphere; heat relief camps and school closures in many countries, the prospect of unlivable cities, and the devastation caused by fire and flooding around the world. The ‘delusion of normalcy’, as it has been called, in public life and in the media is intolerable to anybody who is awake to these facts. The routine description of climate activism in museums as ‘vandalism’ is misplaced. Iconoclasm itself has a long history: the shrines, monasteries, paintings, sculpture, stained glass, books, destroyed during the English reformation are an obvious example, but also the more willful vandalism of art in modern times: the man who smuggled a shotgun into the National Gallery and blasted a hole in the Leonardo drawing The Virgin and Child with St Anne and Saint John, for instance, or the person who wrote with black paint on Mark Rothko’s Black on Maroon (1958) at Tate Modern in 2012, to take just two examples. Climate activism is an entirely different matter, a point that some prominent art critics and commentators have failed to grasp. Activists know well that significantly damaging a work of art would severely undermine their cause — the ‘light surface damage’ allegedly done to the Rokeby Venus was for this reason worrying. The safety hammers used were at least a far cry from the meat cleaver wielded by Mary Richardson in 1914, and the action planned carefully, with the exact number of blows to specific areas of the glass. None of these excuses the shocking nature of the action or denies how upsetting it was for curators and gallery workers. But in truth no work of art has been in any way significantly damaged by activists, and the risk of this happening has always been very low. Such nugatory risk must be set against the climate catastrophe as a whole —the accelerating deaths throughout the world from fire and water, as well as environmental degradation, but also the widespread loss of archaeological sites in coastal areas, and in those regions, such as Iraq, on the frontline of climate change. We nurture a culture of preservation which considers works of art as sacrosanct, and yet, paradoxically, storage and transit themselves represent a threat to works of art, both in terms of immediate damage and the long-term impact of climate breakdown.
Whether you like their tactics or not, the success of the Just Stop Oil campaigns obliges us all to take a position on the catastrophic effects of climate change on nature and society, according to our own conscience. While protests may seem on the surface alienating, it is unreasonable to assume that anyone committed to climate policies will change their behaviour due to such activism, even if you disagree with the shock approach. The effect of the protests is to cut through the media silence on climate change, forcing the question—the very word ‘climate’—into the forefront of public life. You might imprison the messenger, but you are left with the message. As such, Just Stop Oil have undoubtedly been one of the most successful campaigns of civil disobedience in history — and all without causing any significant damage or harm to anyone or anything. Other inspiring art activist campaigns such as Culture Declares, who have used a combination of art and persuasion to ensure that national institutions take a stance on climate change and declare a climate emergency, or Liberate Tate, who played a part in ending BP sponsorship at Tate, have been highly effective at underlining the seriousness of the climate crisis and spurring institutional change, although remain largely unknown to a wider public. The impact of direct actions in museums is bound to lessen over time, and the 92 museum directors (including those of the National Gallery, the V&A, and the British Museum) who signed a letter drafted by Icom in November 2022 condemning climate activism in museums might be relieved to hear that, for the time being at least, Just Stop Oil have ceased targeting works of art, at least those hanging on the walls of museums and galleries. The trial of Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland on 22 July at Southwark Crown Court for criminal damages caused to the frame of the Van Gogh Sunflowers, to the value of £6,000, might well bookend this particular episode of activism. For those who see their actions from the point of view of the ever-deepening climate crisis, dire warnings from climate scientists, and the continued reluctance of world leaders to commit to a rapid phase out of coal, oil, and gas; and also considering their position as young people who do not have time to acquire power and change from within, their acquittal might appear a victory.
But by this time Just Stop Oil will be celebrating a wider victory, of sorts, if the likely new Labour government holds to its promise to stop all new North Sea oil and gas.

See Original Post

Reposted from ASB Zeitung

Over the weekend in Rosenheim, a part of a project blending climate and migration art was vandalized. As per the police report released on Saturday, a plane styled and painted for display outside the City Museum was repeatedly slashed and damaged at multiple points, but the culprit(s) apparently didn't manage to light it on fire. The destruction also extended to some "Climate Vests" - planters shaped and painted to resemble these vests in front of a local church, which were partially cut up.

See Original Post

Reposted from AP News

Animal rights activists pasted a cartoon image over a portrait of King Charles III on Tuesday at a London art gallery, the latest in a series of incidents at U.K. museums as campaigners use vandalism to publicize their causes.
A group called Animal Rising shared a video of campaigners pasting a picture of a character called Wallace, from the “Wallace and Gromit” comedy series, over the king’s head. The so-called ‘’comic redecoration″ was designed to highlight an investigation that Animal Rising said found widespread violations of animal husbandry rules at farms approved by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A speech bubble next to the head of Wallace read: “No cheese, Gromit. Look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms!”
The painting is protected by a sheet of plastic and wasn’t damaged, according to the Philip Mould Gallery, where it is on display. The larger-than-life painting by Jonathan Yeo was unveiled last month and is the first portrait of Charles to be completed since he ascended the throne in 2022. It captures the king in shades of red with his hands clasped atop the hilt of his sword and a butterfly flitting above his right shoulder.

See Original Post

Reposted from BBC

A Tube train restored to its original 1938 condition has been vandalised, leading to the cancellation of a heritage event. The London Transport Museum planned journeys along the Piccadilly line between Acton Town and Oakwood on Sunday, with ticketholders enjoying a 50-minute trip between the stations. The museum said it was working with conservators to find out the extent of the damage. It said British Transport Police (BTP) was investigating the vandalism. Elizabeth McKay, from London Transport Museum, said she was "devastated" by the news.
She added: "Our heritage Tube train operations are a wonderful way for the public to experience the history of the capital and the proceeds from ticket sales support our work as an education and heritage charity.
"It is truly disappointing that vandals would seek to ruin this experience for people and cause damage to such an iconic, heritage vehicle. "We will be working with London Underground specialists and conservators to understand the extent of the damage and return the train to its former glory."

See Original Post

Reposted from Artnet News

As the Spanish Civil War raged between 1936 and 1939, Republican forces took hold of thousands of paintings and sculptures, as well as other valuables, to safeguard them from the conflict. When the regime of dictator Francisco Franco took control, it never returned them, and these items, including books, furniture, ceramics, liturgical ornaments, and jewelry, made their way into various state museums. His regime came to an end in 1975, but it is only now, 50 years later, that Spain’s culture ministry has put forth a list of more than 5,000 items that were seized.
The artifacts are currently in the collections of nine institutions, including, in Madrid, the National Archaeological Museum, the National Museum of Romanticism, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, the National Museum of Anthropology, the Museum of America and the Sorolla Museum; in Valencia, National Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts “González Martí”; and, in Valladolid, the National Museum of Sculpture. The Ministry of Culture also uncovered a painting preserved at its own headquarters.
“We’re offering a space in which people can learn about our history,” said Spain’s culture minister, Ernest Urtasun. “We’re also opening the door to returning those pieces that can be identified to their rightful owners.”
During the first days of the military uprising, according to the department of culture, the Republican government established the Artistic Treasury Board, whose purpose was to protect cultural assets. As insurgent troops occupied more territories, they created the Service for the Defense of National Artistic Heritage, which was to be responsible for returning the works to their owners after the war. 
One group of works came from collector and art dealer José Weissberger, who was prosecuted by the Court of Political Responsibilities, which targeted supporters of the Republic. They are the only works in the newly released list that originated in embargoes carried out by the Franco dictatorship, according to the Ministry of Culture; they found their way into the holdings of the Museum of Decorative Arts. 
Yesterday’s publication of the list is an outgrowth of the Democratic Memory Law, which went into effect in 2022 and is meant to address the aftermath of the Franco regime. It also includes provisions requiring the teaching of the history of the dictatorship, renders void convictions for military rebellion, requires the exhumation of mass graves, and requires the removal of various Francoist monuments, among others. 
Those who believe they have a claim on any of the 5,126 artifacts can submit an application with the Ministry of Culture, which says that responses will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

See Original Post

Reposted from Le Monde

Smoked emerged from the Château de Versailles on Tuesday, June 11 and several thousand people were evacuated after a fire broke out on part of the roof under construction, but was quickly brought under control, Le Monde learned from the estate's press office. The fire started in the marble courtyard, a black-and-white paved area not far from the king's bedroom.
Smoke was spotted at 3:13 pm in a construction area, a press officer confirmed. The fire department was called and the visitors were evacuated as a safety precaution. The fire was quickly extinguished "with a bucket of water," the department's fire and rescue services (SDIS) told Agence France-Presse.
The Château and gardens reopened at around 4:30 pm. Almost 100 fire-fighters were mobilized and teams remained on site to prevent any further outbreak of fire in the attic, added the same source.
No one was injured and there was no damage to the collections, the press office old Reuters. The Château de Versailles, the third most visited site in France, behind Disneyland Paris and the Louvre Museum, welcomed 8.1 million visitors in 2023, 77% of whom were foreign.

See Original Post

Reposted from CJLS

There’s nothing left of the Bangor Sawmill Museum after an early morning fire in Digby County.
Firefighters were called to the scene just after 4 a.m. Saturday in Meteghan River.
Meteghan fire chief Kevin Saulnier says it was fully engulfed when they arrived.
No injuries were reported, and the cause is under investigation.
After the fire was put out, the remains of the building had to be torn down for safety reasons.
Saulnier says four other fire departments provided mutual aid, Salmon River, Little Brook, St Bernard and Southville.
He says they are all volunteers, up to 100 people were on scene at one point.
The Bangor Sawmill Museum was a restored 19th century water-powered-turbine lumber sawmill.

See Original Post