RMIT University in Melbourne let the employment contract with its faculty/staff union expire last year and refuses to start negotiations until 2023. To get management to the table, the union has threatened a no-off-hours-work action which includes boycotting the biggest student recruitment event; management calls that illegal. - The Age (Melbourne)
The calculations that determined the figure (currently US$79 billion), described as the Colosseum's "value as a social asset," included both the estimated €1.4 billion which the monument and its visitors contribute to Italy's economy each year and the intangible value of such "an iconic, historical and cultural site." - Artnet
Today, they comprise the third largest sector of the U.S. economy: well over 1.5 million nonprofits employ roughly 12.5 million people as of 2017, the latest year for which comprehensive data is available, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. - The Baffler
This process transformed improbable rumors into seemingly solid facts, backed by evidence from different sources and accepted by political and religious leaders. - Lapham's Quarterly
The Putin regime has dealt Russian culture a crushing blow, just as the Russian state has done to its artists, musicians, and writers so many times before. People in the arts are forced to sing patriotic songs or emigrate. The regime has in effect “canceled” culture in my country. - The Atlantic
"Known as K11 Ecoast, the forthcoming complex" — to be built by Hong Kong real estate mogul and art collector Adrian Cheng — "is located in Prince Bay in Shenzhen's Nanshan district and covers more than 2.4 million square feet, the equivalent of 50 football fields." - Artnet
The six artists in Kherson wanted to tell the truth about life under Russian occupation - and to continue making art. "The results, which they have named Residency in Occupation, offer a harrowing insight into the horrors endured by millions of Ukrainians living under the Russian invasion." - The Guardian (UK)
Sure, the players might ride truncated broomsticks, and some of the images will look familiar, but the game played in 40 countries with 600 teams is now called quadball. The impetus was the Harry Potter author's anti-trans stances, but the move will also help with trademark issues. - NPR
She should be - but she's spoken out against the Chinese government. Still, Western film companies could do something. "Yan’s campaign, and the muted response, highlights how an apparent censorship decision in China can quietly ripple through the art-house film world." - The New York Times
Knowledge (including arts administration) workers might improve the world when they work from home. Why? Knowledge workers say they use their phones to make calls, plan events, and read - and reply to - emails ... while driving. - Fast Company
The pandemic "significantly damaged San Diego’s arts and culture organizations last year, costing them more than $77 million in revenue and donations, shrinking their economic impact by 47 percent and prompting nearly 700 layoffs and lost freelance contracts." And that's better than 2020. - San Diego Union-Tribune
"'The circle of people who have to act like they’re in a spy movie is getting bigger and bigger,' says Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation." And state or national governments may decide to act. - Wired
The U.S. Copyright office, contrary to the approach taken in Europe, has declined to add an ancillary copyright for publishers to protect them from use of their content by aggregators. - MediaPost
211 large-scale cultural infrastructure projects were completed in 2021 - $11.2 billion – the highest annual volume and value of completed projects since 2016 (and by some margin). Last year only 104 projects were completed with a value of $5.7 billion. - AEA
Plantation workers there earn twenty or thirty dollars a month; as artists, they make much more. The collective has brought in more than a hundred thousand dollars since its creation, and it has had shows in cities including Berlin, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Tokyo, New York, Copenhagen, and Jeddah. - The New Yorker
