Hasta La Ideas

Museums in the UK have had a particularly rotten year so far and it might soon get worse. Following a host of numerous protests this summer, and that mysterious, possible gas leak at the British Museum, now cultural institutions are facing plans by the government to cut funding of arts programs by more than 25%. Fortunately, there have been two big responses. First, over the weekend Lord Sainsbury, who as his title implies is a very wealthy man, gave the British Museum a £25 million following news of the big cuts. The money will go to build a new wing for the museum, which has been designed by fellow Lord, Richard Rogers. Second, and more generally art supporting than specifically museum focused, a consortium of artists and arts organizations called the Turning Point Network has rallied the UK’s biggest names in art to come to its aid, hoping to push people into signing a petition to stop the cuts, or at least lessen their blow. Called Save the Arts, the project will introduce new work by artists each week on their site, kicking things off with the animation below by David Shrigley. Among the other participating artists are Anish Kapoor, David Hockney and Damien Hirst. Here’s the video:

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