Who, visiting an exhibition, has not felt the need to follow up their experience with the support of an audio guide? An instrument that everyone knows but which is now evolving in order to become increasingly user-friendly and truly useful for visitors.
One of the new frontiers of this evolution is the mobile phone audio guide. The idea generates from a simple observation: nowadays mobile phones are the most common means of communication and they are the most used instrument by categories of heterogeneous users.

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

Damien Hirst, ex symbol of the Young British Artists, still has the absolutely particular ability to draw to himself the attention not only of the art system, but of the whole world. Everyone will remember the scandal caused by “For the Love of God”. For this human skull covered with 8,601 diamonds for a total of 1,106 carats, a group of anonymous buyers forked out 73 and a half million euros, against a valuation of 18.8 million dollars.
“For the Love of God”, the now famous work by Hirst presented at the White Cube Gallery in London, has levelled out a new road and the artist intends to go along it right to the end. The diamond-studded skull was a scoop, even for the various philosophical digressions stirred up and impressed on the relation between death and life, love, immortality and art itself.

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A few days ago Sotheby’s auction house announced that on 1st July, during the “Contemporary Art Evening Sale” that will be held at the London venue in New Bond Street, a very interesting work will be auctioned, a work that is interesting not only for economic-artistic reasons, but also because it has been for years a masterpiece in the hands of the star system world.

CHELSEA PATRON HAS DISCOVERED A PASSION FOR ART COLLECTIONS THANKS TO NEW FIANCÉ

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Roman Abramovich, the forty-year old businessman of Russian origins, seems to be tired of dealing only in real-estate properties, yachts and football teams (for Chelsea he has so far spent a billion dollars). As for many Russian oligarchs, Abramovich’s new “toy” is art. Indeed, on 12th June 2008 the super-billionaire inaugurated in Moscow a new gallery centre, event that attracted to the Russian capital great names of worldwide art, such as the famous art gallery owner Larry Gagosian, director of the Tate Modern and of the Hermitage, but also many VIPs of the International Jet Set.

Last 12th June, Lithuania approved the project for the new museum of the capital city Vilnius (nominated European capital of culture for 2009), realized in collaboration with two great international realities: the Guggenheim Museum and the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg.
It is estimated that the project will cost 117 million dollars, 15% of which will be funded by the Lithuanian government. The date scheduled for its realization is 2011. According to previsions, more than 400,000 visitors are expected every year.

BOROS OPENS TO THE PUBLIC HIS CONTEMPORARY ART COLLECTION

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Recently, in German cities, a new architectonic trend has started to spread, a trend that tries to modify existing buildings not in their space or aspect, but in their use. Indeed, Berlin has recently experienced a similar operation regarding a bunker. Built in 1942 for the German railway company, it was supposed to protect from air raids travellers arriving from Friedrichstrasse Station.

In the last few days rumours about the news have been going round; at last it has been confirmed. Last 15th May, French billionaire François Pinault, famous collector and owner in Italy of Palazzo Grassi, sold 60% of his shares of Piasa. The auction house was 100% owned by his firm Artemis, financial group with interests in various sectors: from the real estate to the insurance sector, from industry to services and distribution (among the various chains owned, even FNAC), from luxury goods (Gucci) to wines (Chateau Latour) and naturally auction houses. Indeed Pinault managed to combine his interests for the art sector with his financial interests. Through Artemis, he has owned Christie’s since 1998 and, until a few days ago, he was the owner of Piasa.

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Twenty-five years after being stolen, a wonderful twelfth-century crucifix will at long last return home, to the Cathedral of Canosa in the province of Bari. It is a very precious object made of ivory, recovered in Paris thanks to the joint work of the Paris Central Office against the trafficking of cultural goods and the Carabinieri Unit for the protection of cultural heritage. A synergic operation, which also led to the arrest of a French woman, who had been delegated to surveying the precious object, to then try and sell it, by a collector from Bologna, also incriminated for receiving stolen goods.

The June auction session has started and the first results seem positive. Starting from Finarte’s antique furniture and paintings, sold on 4th and 5th June in Milan. The auction totalled about 2,100,000 euros.
The catalogue offered objects from precious private residences, including an elegant residence of Belluno, many of which had not been on the market for a while. This was an important incentive for collectors.
The evening’s top lot was “Madonna col Bambino” (also called “Madonna di San Luca”). This is a painting by an anonymous artist from the Venetian-Cretan school.