Front Row

We announce the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2019 shortlist. Chair of the Judges and Director of the Art Fund Stephen Deuchar explains why these museums are in contention for the £100,000 prize.A recent report commissioned by President Macron has recommended that France should return all of its African artefacts unless they can prove that they legitimately acquired them, marking a significant shift away from the status quo in how museums deal with contested objects. As the debate about cultural repatriation and restitution intensifies we consider what impact it'll have on the way museums operate in practice. Subhadra Das, Curator at the UCL Collections, and Neil Curtis, Head of Museums and Special Collections at Aberdeen University, reflect on this complex issue. The Cranberries were in the process of recording their eighth album in 2018 when lead singer, Dolores O’Riordan, tragically died. The remaining band members decided to finish the album and on tonight’s Front Row, Noel Hogan, guitarist and co-songwrite