Tour of Queen and Country, McQueen's tribute to British soldiers killed in Iraq, ends with exhibition at National Portrait Gallery, 18th March 2010
Queen and Country, Steve McQueen's response to his commission as Official War Artist for Iraq, goes on display at the National Portrait Gallery during the week that marks the 7th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. The four month display opens to the public on Saturday 20 March and closes on Sunday 18 July around the 1st anniversary of British troops withdrawing from Iraq. The display is the culmination of The Art Fund's UK tour of the artist's work commemorating British servicemen and women killed in Iraq.
Hand-stitched sampler from 1825 finds home at Foundling, 16th March 2010
The Art Fund today announces that London's Foundling Museum has acquired a rare, embroidered sampler made by a ten year-old girl in 1825. The sampler is the only known child's depiction in any medium of the original Foundling Hospital, London's first home for abandoned children, which was demolished in 1928. The girl who worked the sampler is believed to have had close family connections with the Foundling Hospital.
Eleven institutions in the running for national contemporary craft prize as Edmund de Waal is confirmed as judge, 15th March 2010
Independent art charity The Art Fund, and the Crafts Council, today announced the eleven institutions short-listed to take part in Art Fund Collect, a nationwide initiative championing contemporary craft and increasing its presence in UK collections. Now in its third year, Art Fund Collect offers a fund of £75,000 for curators from UK institutions to select and acquire outright a unique work from COLLECT, the Craft Council's international art fair for contemporary objects.
Joint display signals return of Anglo-Saxon hoard, 10th March 2010
A selection of 59 items from the Staffordshire Hoard will be on display in Birmingham from 13 March 2010. The items from the world's largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure include helmet fragments with animal decorations and warriors, previously unseen in Birmingham, and a crumpled gold cross and a red garnet stud.
Major Collection of Middle Eastern photography being built for national museums, 2nd March 2010
The Art Fund today announces that it has embarked upon an exciting new venture - the creation of a national collection of recent Middle Eastern photography, to be owned jointly by the V&A and the British Museum.
