Headlines: Museums, Trees and Internships
1) Palestine Museum Opens Without Any Art
The new 3,500 square-foot Palestine Museum opened on May 18th, without a collection or a current exhibition. Director Mahmoud Hawari was only appointed two weeks prior to the opening. While perhaps a strange opening in the tradition of art museums, the show focused on the architecture and design of the building and its gardens, and was apparently reasonably well-received. In future, the museum will focus on art and artifacts surrounding the cultural history of Palestine. It has already received a donation of over 500 rare and original posters about Palestine.
2) Step into a Room with Thousands of Trees
Hollow, Katie Paterson
After spending three years collecting samples of wood from various species of trees as well as salvaged wood from historical and recently-destroyed landmarks, Berlin-based artist Katie Paterson has created an artwork like no other, allowing viewers to see the spectrum of wood from around the world. Called Hollow, the art piece takes the form of a small room of sorts, installed permanently outdoors in the Royal Fort Gardens in Bristol. The exterior of the space is designed with large blocks of wood, reminiscent of toy building block. The inside, which accommodates two people at a time, is entirely composed of blocks and strips of wood in varying sizes, hanging from the ceiling or coming up from the floor. Representing almost every imaginable variety of wood from nearly every country, Hollow is a unique meditation on a history both intrinsically linked to humanity, and entirely outside of our experience.
3) Some Tips for Spotting a Worthwhile Gallery Internship
If you’ve ever taken an unpaid internship and been dissatisfied, or are considering taking one, this article dissects the benefits and costs of unpaid internships. It seems that unpaid internships are the norm in the art world today – but should they be? And are they really worthwhile? The article also offers some helpful pointers for how to determine if an unpaid internship will benefit you or the company.