Pope Returns Parthenon Marbles

December 19, 2022

Good morning. 🌤️ I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’ve spent another weekend watching Twitter’s meltdown, including the banning of prominent mainstream journalists and a visit by Musk to the World Cup final match in Qatar to sit beside Jared Kushner.

As the world's richest, I mean second richest man, continues to dismantle a major social media platform, Hyperallergic's tweet about its new Mastodon account was removed by the site. Twitter looks desperate to stop the outflow of users (there were 3M accounts, mostly unused, on the platform when Musk took over Twitter and currently there are 8.6M). In case you want to connect with us, you can follow us over on Mastodon at https://newsie.social/@hyperallergic.

On Friday, Roman Catholic Pope Francis announced that he would make a “donation” of all the fragments of the Parthenon Marbles held at the Vatican Museums to the Greek Orthodox Christian archbishop His Beatitude Ieronymos II of Athens as a gesture of his intention to “follow in the ecumenical path of truth.”

And finally, I want to wish a Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate. And in this edition, Sarah Rose Sharp takes a look at how artists from Salvador Dalí to Peter Shire have remixed the traditional menorah.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

Airport Art Is Taking Off

Airports across the US have been taking art more seriously in recent years. Have a look. | Lynn Trimble

SPONSORED

LATEST NEWS

A marble horse head fragment from the Parthenon displayed in one of the Vatican museums will be returned to Greece. (via Wikimedia Commons)

Pope Francis announces he would be repatriating all the fragments of the Parthenon Marbles held in the Vatican’s collection.

The last city-owned Confederate monument in Richmond, Virginia, has come down.

SPONSORED

Call for Applications: Charles Gaines MFA Fellowship at CalArts

The program, along with recently announced visiting critics, will provide long term funding, promote access, and safeguard experimentation for future students of color. Learn more.

ART & FILM

Modern Menorahs That Break the Mold

From a banana menorah to versions by Dalí and Peter Shire, artists have long remixed the traditional Hanukkah lamp. | Sarah Rose Sharp

SPONSORED

Wallach Art Gallery Presents Sin Autorización: Contemporary Cuban Art

This New York City exhibition features artists who protested Cuba’s 2018 censorship decree, including members of Movimiento San Isidro. Learn more.

For Julie Buffalohead, Animals Express What Words Cannot

There’s something very funny — and unsettling — about Buffalohead's paintings of animals engaged in human situations. | Emily Wilson

Seven Iconic Films From the Dominican Republic

Whether documentary, experimental, or somewhere in between, there is no shortage of intriguing Dominican films through which to consider life on the island. | Michael Piantini

Support Hyperallergic's independent journalism

Become a member today to help keep our reporting and criticism free and accessible to all.

MOST POPULAR

Cézanne Portrait, Hidden for 158 Years, Found Under a Still Life

The Typography of Change

You Can’t Coat the Holocaust With Gold

Necklace Found in Medieval Burial Site Is “Once-in-a-Lifetime” Discovery

An Exhibition of Cat Art Worthy of a Meowseum