In Brief: other news this week

Protesters Disrupt a BP-Sponsored Exhibition at the British Museum Art activist group BP or not BP? have staged a double intervention to protest BP’s sponsorship of ‘Sunken Cities’, a new exhibition showcasing artifacts from two ancient, submerged Egyptian ports.
Italy squanders €150m in EU grants Sicily and Naples miss out on culture and tourism grants to protect crumbling cultural heritage sites due to chronic mismanagement.
Museum free entry policy debated at Parliamentary inquiry Former director of the British Museum Sir Neil MacGregor warns Select Committee to “meddle with great caution”, while Dr Gibson of the University of Leicester comes out in support of introducing entrance fees.
Boston artist builds ‘Smallest House in the World’ – rents it on Airbnb Boston-based sculptor Jeff Smith’s movable neon-green pod, which resembles a glorified dog crate, is available to rent for $55 a night.

Pyotr Pavlensky convicted of vandalism in Moscow for pro-Ukraine protest The Russian performance artist and dissident has been found guilty for 2014 protest but still has case 2015 pending for setting fire to the doors of the KGB’s Lubyanka Building.
Where there’s muck: Artangel artist wraps Houses of Parliament in latex Created by the Spanish artist Jorge Otero-Pailos, new work will collect and showcase the dirt that has lined the walls of the Palace of Westminster for hundreds of years.
Grayson Perry creates huge phallus to represent bankers’ worldview Turner Prize-winning artist says his latest work, which was created after exploring masculinity in the 21st century for a Channel 4 series and is covered in banknotes and George Osborne’s image, was inspired by the industry’s self-denial about gender bias.
Pigeon protesters target ‘inhumane’ New York avian art show More than 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for a piece of performance art featuring 2,000 pigeons with LED lights strapped to them to be shut down.

Image:
1. BP or not BP? protest the British Museum’s BP-sponsored exhibition ‘Sunken Cities’. Photo: Kristian Buus, courtesy BP or not BP?