Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Will Finally Open

After 20 long years of delays and allegations of abuse against migrant workers, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has finally announced an opening date: December 11. Yay? Across the world, another major museum is just gearing up its labor battle. Unionized workers at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s East Storehouse location voted unanimously to strike, alleging insufficient time to use the toilet or drink water. All the world’s an Amazon warehouse, it seems.

But not everything trends toward shit. Sometimes the reverse takes its course — as a former military settlement-turned-artist settlement in Taipei shows us. May we all head that way.

— Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editor

How a Former Military Settlement in Taipei Became an Artist Residency

Tucked away in a small forested area on the banks of the Xindian River in Taipei City lies the Treasure Hill Artist Village. Founded by retreating soldiers in the 1940s, the former anti-aircraft base turned squatter settlement has been through a number of reincarnations.

Its latest form, launched in 2010, is as a so-called “living history,” where the descendants of its original inhabitants live side by side with artists in residence. | Andrew Nachemson

After 20 years of delays, allegations, and recalibrations, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation will open the doors to its Frank Gehry-designed Abu Dhabi outpost on December 11.
The new exhibition Help Wanted / Leave Now traces “Operation Wetback,” one of the United States’s worst deportation campaigns against undocumented Mexican workers.
Unionized workers at the Victoria and Albert East Storehouse, a publicly accessible museum storage site, vote unanimously to strike over alleged “Amazon-style” working practices.