ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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Smithsonian Kicks Off Major New Project On America’s Racial History

"'Our Shared Future: Reckoning with our Racial Past' (is) an ambitious multiyear program … that will tap into the vast expertise of the Smithsonian to examine the history and legacy of race through conversations, community events and digital content." - The Washington Post

Almost 5000 COVID Infections Linked To Cornwall Festival

Health officials said 4,700 people who have tested positive for coronavirus confirmed they had attended the festival in Newquay or had connections to it. About three-quarters of them are aged 16-21 and about 800 live in the county. - Irish Times

UNESCO Calls For Preservation Of Afghanistan’s Heritage, But Who Will Actually Protect It?

As an executive of the Institute for Art and Law tweeted: "It would be for other states, or international bodies like the United Nations, to seek enforcement." Uh-huh … - The Art Newspaper

Texas Performance Venues In A Tight Spot Over Vaccine Passports

In June, Gov. Abbott signed a law making it illegal for most businesses to require proof of vaccination from customers. But a growing number of performers are refusing to play venues that don't require audience members to provide such proof. - The Dallas Morning News

Satellite Imagery Reveals Azerbaijan’s Destruction Of Armenian Sites

It's not good: "A surge in construction by Azerbaijan, especially of roads, has led to either partial or full destruction of several cemeteries and cathedrals in the area of Shushi, a town with significant cultural importance to Armenians." - Hyperallergic

Western Cultural Institutions Must Support Afghan Artists

"The threats of violence are such that most of the Afghan artists and cultural workers I contacted while reporting this story — both in and out of the country — declined to be interviewed on the grounds that it could endanger their own lives, or those of their families and friends." - Los Angeles Times

The ‘Netflix Of Italian Culture’ Is Coming (And A Lot of It Will Be Free)

Operating along the lines of France TV's Culturebox, the streaming service ITsART.tv offers concerts, theater, dance, opera, virtual museum tours, cinema, and documentaries. It's already online in Italy and Britain and will debut in the rest of Europe and the US in coming months. - Variety

Disney Adds AI: Are You Ready To Speak With Your Favorite Fantasy Character?

How long before Disney replaces the humans who portray characters in its parks with machines? Today, impressive robot stuntman; tomorrow, creepy robot Cinderella signing autographs outside the castle. - The New York Times

How International Students Are Propping Up Higher Education

International students the product of a system that has blurred the lines between immigration and education in an unofficial, ad hoc arrangement meant to appeal to potential immigrants while avoiding any responsibility for their settlement. - The Walrus

DC’s Arts Council Shifts $5.3 Million From Large To Small Institutions

"The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities has dramatically reshaped the way it supports Washington's arts community by directing significant increases to the city's small and midsize arts organizations and making steep cuts to almost two dozen major institutions." - The Washington Post

Fears Of Calamity For Culture In Afghanistan As Taliban Take Control

When it controlled the country before 2001, the hardline Islamist group was infamous for banning music, TV, film, and most visual art — not to mention the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas. The Taliban say they've moderated since then, but many are doubtful — and scared. - The Week

Posthumous Art: The Ethics Of Releasing Works By Dead Creators

"They may be unfinished, never meant for wide release, or completed by someone else. That work is then attributed to the deceased, but should it be? Philosophers Sondra Bacharach and Deborah Tollefsen explore that question, and the answer is a resounding: it's complicated." - JSTOR Daily

The Great Cultures Of Africa During Europe’s Dark Ages

Suffice it to say that while Europe was experiencing its Dark Ages – a period of intellectual, cultural, and economic regression from about the 6th to 13th centuries – Africa was experiencing great civilization. - Amentii

Why Do So Many People Get Master’s Degrees These Days, And Are They Worth The Thousands They Cost?

Not only is the master's degree the quintessential example of a bureaucratic credential — drably functional and frequently deeply pointless — but much of its growth has been in fields that are themselves explicitly bureaucratic," writes William Deresiewicz. And then there are MFAs … - New York Magazine

Time To Re-Question The Idea Of Cultural Appropriation?

The very concept of “cultural appropriation” is misbegotten. As I’ve previously argued, it wrongly casts cultural practices as something like corporate intellectual property, an issue of ownership. - The New York Times

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