The government of New South Wales in Australia released the state budget on June 22 for the year of 2021–22, in which it commits AUD 1.3 billion (USD 981 million) to arts and culture. The 2021–22 budget will fund high-profile projects, capital works, and renovations of public spaces, and aims to revive the economy from the devastating impact of Covid-19. Projects such as the Australian Museum’s 2023 summer program “Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” which features the largest collection of Ramses II items from Egypt, will be supported by an AUD 40 million (USD 30 million) Blockbuster Funding agreement. The historical Macquarie Street East Precinct will also be transformed into a cultural hub with a AUD 119 million (USD 89.8 million) commitment.

A display that drew death threats when it was shown at the 2019 Aichi Triennale has once again been stymied by public outrage over its inclusion of Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Eun-sung’s comfort woman sculpture, which detractors consider “anti-Japan.” Slated to open on June 25 at Tokyo’s Session House Garden gallery, the latest staging of “After ‘Freedom of Expression’?” was postponed after the venue owner backed out of hosting the exhibition. As reported in The Mainichi, the gallery began receiving phone and email complaints since the planned event was announced on June 3. Three days later, a group of around 26 protestors parked in front of the venue and shouted objections to the exhibition through loudspeakers. The organizers will refund approximately 500 tickets on request. They are running a series of online events about the artwork, among other topics, on June 25–26, and forging ahead with plans for physical exhibitions in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. A lawyer for the exhibition team also stated at a press conference on June 24, “We believe that obstruction of the event constitutes a crime of intimidation and interference with business, and we are considering legal action.” 

On June 21, international auction house Bonhams tapped Hong Kong-based co-chairman Malcolm Barber as its CEO for Asia, effective immediately. During his over-two-decade-long tenure at Bonhams, Barber has served as group managing director and group CEO. In 2014, he led the opening of Bonhams’ Hong Kong saleroom, and also expanded the auction house’s network to Beijing, Taiwan, and Singapore. Barber is notable for having conducted prominent auctions for classic motor cars, such as the record-breaking 2017 Los Angeles sale of the 1914 Peugeot L45 grand prix racer. Bruno Vinciguerra, Bonhams’ global CEO, stated, “Malcolm’s vast experience of the international auction world and his track record of inspirational leadership are precisely what we need at this time to further strengthen our offer in the key Asian markets.”

The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) canceled its plans for a large exhibition and celebration of Nam June Paik’s work for the second year in a row, as reported by The Korea Herald on June 21. The MMCA was planning to unveil the restoration of the late video artist’s largest work, The More, The Better (1988), comprising over 1,000 CRT monitors, which is permanently installed at MMCA Gwacheon. The restoration process has been plagued with technical problems and there are copyright issues with the artist’s estate. Additionally, the latest gift of 1,369 artworks from the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee’s art collection to MMCA also affected the schedule, as the museum plans to host an exhibition of the donation in July instead of the original date in August in response to public interest.

Due to the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney, the National Indigenous Art Fair has been rescheduled for the following year, July 2–3, 2022. The annual event was set to take place at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rock on July 3–4 and had planned a series of live events with Indigenous creatives traveling from all over Australia to participate. Following the cancellation, the event organizers are urging the public to purchase artworks online, directly through the galleries’ websites, to support their creative endeavors during the ongoing pandemic.

On June 23, the New York-headquartered Asian Cultural Council (ACC) named Judy Kim as its new executive director, effective July 6. A New York native, Kim holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree from the Center for Curatorial Studies in Contemporary Art and Culture at Bard College. Following her ACC fellowship in 1998 to research at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea, Kim worked positions at numerous US institutions including the Brooklyn Museum (2007–10), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and was the deputy director at the yet-to-open Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (2015–20) in Los Angeles.

As the US launches into the #hotvaxsummer season, on June 23, the private Rubell Museum, in Miami, reopened two “Infinity Rooms” by the iconic Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama: Where the Lights in My Heart Go (2016) and INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER (2017). The immersive installations (perfect for post-pandemic selfies) feature kaleidoscopic mirrors that play with the audience’s perspective. In addition, the museum is also showing Kusama’s Narcissus Garden (1966– ), which comprises 700 stainless steel spheres along the museum’s central hall. While the Museum reopened in July 2020 with protective measures in place, Kusama’s interactive works had remained closed throughout the year due to their “enclosed and immersive nature,” according to the museum.

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