The Headlines
OASIS OF ART. Located near the cracked, dried remnants of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan, the I.V. Savitsky State Art Museum (aka the Nukus Museum) in Nukus is a hidden treasure. As the Art Newspaper reports, it houses nearly 100,000 works from the mid-20th century, spanning canvases, etchings, and sketches of rural life, alongside regional folk art and textiles. In 2025, the museum has gained unprecedented attention. A few years ago it made the headlines for a scandalous leadership feud after one of its directors accused the culture ministry of advertising her job behind her back, but after exhibitions in Florence and Venice in 2024, the insittution underwent a major overhaul under Italian scholars and its new director, Gulbahar Izentaeva. Art historian Silvia Burini of Ca’ Foscari University calls it “Central Asia’s most important and up-to-date museum of 20th-century art.” The museum has also become a magnet for cultural tourism, attracting visitors from across the world and drawing attention to Uzbekistan’s broader heritage. These efforts, led by the Art and Culture Development Foundation, include the Bukhara Biennial and a partnership with Art Basel Paris, helping put the country firmly on the global arts map.
‘DECOLONIZE SANTA!’ The Brighton and Hove Museums, a consortium comprising the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Preston Manor, Hove Museum of Creativity and Booth Museum in the UK, has called for Santa to be “decolonized,” criticizing the traditional festive figure and his “naughty or nice” list, according to GB News. In a blog post, the museum group argued that Santa, often depicted as a white, Western judge of children’s behavior, reflects problematic colonial assumptions and overlooks the diversity of cultural traditions worldwide. The group questioned who gave Santa authority to evaluate children across all societies and how he could fairly assess Indigenous or non-Western customs. The museum also advocated for more “Mother Christmases” to challenge gender norms and show that men do not need to dominate festive stories. Suggested changes include portraying Santa working alongside elves in the toy factory to demonstrate equality and presenting him as a more diverse figure who celebrates cultural exchange. The museum emphasized that the goal is to shift away from a narrative of dominance toward one that values cultural diversity, mutual respect, and shared festive joy.
The Digest
Robert Mnuchin, who left his Wall Street job to become an influential art dealer, has died at 92. [ARTnews]
Gallerist Todd von Ammon denounced how galleries and art fairs have become dominated by a rigid, “grid-like” system that stifles discovery and creativity. [Artnet News]
The second Hengshan Calligraphy Biennale has opened in Taoyuan, highlighting calligraphy as an “act of writing.” [Ocula]
Artist Arnulf Rainer, a central figure in Europe’s postwar art scene, died on December 18 at the age of 96 at his home in Austria. [ARTnews]
Nottingham Contemporary, a gallery in the UK, has announced the first institutional solo exhibition of the late British artist Sarah Cunningham, who died last year at the age of 31. [The Art Newspaper]
The Kicker
WORDS OF WISDOM. The New York Times has paid tribute to several of the prominent artists who passed away this year by highlighting some of their most compelling words. They include David Lynch (“People are like detectives and our lives are filled with clues”), Rosalyn Drexler (“Just be honest, say something that means something, and amuse yourself”), Robert Grosvenor (“I’ve never been shy of copying things”), and Jackie Ferrara (“I know no one’s really going to copy me, because it’s too much trouble”).
