Patrice Lawrence "has a practical vision for her laureateship. ‘To change policy you need evidence,’ she says. ‘We say stories work, let’s show how they work.’” - The Guardian (UK)
“Hemingway is etched into the landscape of Pamplona. Hotels and bars have busts of him or signs up that he was once there. Outside the Pamplona bull ring, ... a huge banner hangs in honor of the novel, including a quote that shows how the festival left the writer speechless.” - AP
The strategy with saying Alex Jones exploded; “We’re trying to draw him in ... he’s not hurting anybody else for a few minutes or he’s not, you know, spreading more ridiculous lies about innocent people. So we want to waste his time.” - Slate
“What resulted was not just an outré and out lesbian ‘Latin spitfire,’ in words, but also decades of film and theater work on topics ranging from racism and homelessness to revolution to questions of identity.” - Hyperallergic
“Through the process of opening the museo and welcoming the globe into Frida’s world, there has been one constant refrain: Más amor, más família, más Mexico – more love, more family, more Mexico,” said the artist’s grandniece. - ARTnews
The Emperors’ courts did, in fact, document their history carefully, according to a procedure which was followed more-or-less faithfully from the first century BCE onward. That’s not to say that the result was either comprehensive or impartial. - Aeon
“While nothing that he writes is of much interest, Nazir himself is shaping up to be an oddly appealing character. He’s a cultural chancer.” (And wow, Commonwealth Prize jury, what were you doing?) - Slate
“The brain initiates voluntary action unconsciously: our conscious sense that we have decided to act is actually the result of this brain activity.” It’s possible that our only choice is in deciding not to do something. - 3 Quarks
Some companies have embraced outright celebration; a few are pointedly grappling with what they see as troubling issues in the country’s history and present. Many are highlighting the huge body of American choreographic work, both ballet and modern/contemporary. - Dance Magazine
“The Kossuth radio station and M1, Hungary’s main public television channel, had halted transmission by Tuesday afternoon, with the latter showing the message: ‘Public media should not lie. We are sorry for doing it for so long.’” For the time being, Kossuth is rebroadcasting public radio’s classical-music channel. - The Guardian
“Since the (Sam Bankman-Fried/FTX) scandal, the movement’s organizations have shied away from the limelight and become extremely concerned with PR. For several years, their growth has been severely curtailed. But they survived. And the new AI money has given EA a chance to come back larger than ever before.” - New York Magazine
Dar al Funoon, located in the starchitect-heavy Saadiyat Island cultural district — alongside the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (also by Gehry), the Zayed National Museum (Foster + Partners), the Louvre Abu Dhabi (Jean Nouvel) and others — will contain a 2,000-seat performance hall, a 3,500-seat open-air amphitheatre, a 400-seat theatre and a 250-seat jazz venue. - Dezeen
“The tents are the new home of the Gaza branch of Palestine’s national conservatory, dedicated to teaching classical, popular and traditional music. The institution, founded in 1993, once enjoyed well-equipped offices in Gaza City, three pianos and storerooms full of instruments and musical scores.” - The Guardian
And, for balance, this report also includes on-the-record favorable comments from one high-level staffer who worked with Sharif at Arena — Reggie D. White. who followed Sharif to DC from the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. - DC Theater Arts
“Ending months of speculation, the New Museum said today that it has selected Massimiliano Gioni, its artistic director, to be its next director. Gioni has been with the New York standby since 2006, and will take the helm in August. Its previous leader, Lisa Phillips, announced her retirement last September.” - Artnet
