June 28 | Hiwa K awarded the Arnold–Bode-Preis

On November 3 the artist will receive the €10,000 prize money during a ceremony organized at the  Kasseler Kunstverein. The artist’s work — heavily influenced by his escape from Iraq and Saddam Hussein — are overtly political, addressing subjects of history, social justice and the spread of knowledge. Former laureates of the prize include Thomas Bayrle and Iranian artist Nairy Baghramian. More information via Art News.

Against a backdrop of uncertainty, Phillips London 20th century and contemporary auction went slightly better than expected. Aided by the drop of the pound (10 to 15%) the auction house saw a number of American and Asian buyers participate, closing the sale with a total of £9.8 million (not including buyer's’ premium) slightly under the pre-sale £10.21 million. Ten of the 31 lots remained unsold. The key lot of the sale was Anselm Kiefer’s For Velimir Khlebnikov; The doctrine of War; Battles, (2004-2010), realizing £2.4 million. More via The Art Newspaper.

Frieze London, due to celebrate its 40th anniversary this year from October 6 through 9, has revealed details of this next edition. 160 contemporary galleries from across 30 countries, whilst a new section “The 90s” will be organized by curator Nicolas Trembley, featuring recreated passed exhibitions. “Frieze Projects” is to feature artists Coco Fusco, Julie Verhoeven and Opendork Afrika. More details on the  Frieze website.

Artworks looted by the nazis, subject to great media attention over their restitution, might just have been restituted to nazi families rather than victims. According to a study realized by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE) based in London shows that a shocking amount of looted art returned to Germany after the war. Until the 1990s Munich-based museums also profited from these works whilst others were sold off cheaply by the families of high-ranking nazi officials. Details via artnet news.