"The Edinburgh festivals have been offered millions of pounds in emergency funding in the face of widespread fears they may never fully recover from the severe impacts of the COVID pandemic. The Fringe, international and book festivals, which help make up the world’s largest annual arts season, have been forced to very significantly curtail this August’s events, the second...
The Dear Respected Leader has "called it a 'vicious cancer' corrupting young North Koreans' 'attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors.' His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea 'crumble like a damp wall.' After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has...
Provincial governments and public-health authorities have, understandably, been focused on science getting us out of this – but, less understandably, they’ve neglected allowing (never mind encouraging) artists to explore the possibilities of how outside-the-box creativity could make this pandemic (or future ones) less isolating and more livable. - The Globe and Mail (Canada)
This stunning state of affairs stands in bold contrast to the initial PPP and the more recent restaurant relief funds, which were on their way to businesses within days. - Variety
The capital of the United Arab Emirates, whose government wants to diversify its economy away from oil and catch up with Dubai as the UAE's major draw for foreign visitors, is adding $6 billion over five years to its budget for the cultural sector. While some of the funding will support media, music, and cultural heritage, much of it...
"According to the results, the wearing of masks cuts the spread of aerosol droplets by 99 per cent, with those transmitted also travelling much more slowly. Professor of biophotonics at , Laurence Lovat, says: 'Andrew Lloyd Webber is right. If theatre-goers wear appropriate masks and follow other rules already in place, theatres become safe places to go to.'" -...
"As the June 22 primary draws near, we rounded up the top six contenders" — in alphabetical order, Eric Adams, Kathryn Garcia, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley, and Andrew Yang — "and summarized their priorities for the sector if elected." - Hyperallergic
"Just over a month ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that as part of NYC's post-pandemic recovery, the city will be investing $25 million in … a new recovery program aimed at hiring over 1,500 artists to create works throughout the five boroughs this summer and beyond. Today, he finally revealed more info about exactly how this program will...
The science author and historian Sarah Dry withdrew as a trustee of the Science Museum Group in March after she was asked to support the government’s position on contested heritage. Meanwhile, the re-appointment of the Bangladeshi-British academic Aminul Hoque as trustee at Royal Museums Greenwich was vetoed by the government earlier this year, prompting Charles Dunstone, the chair of...
Residents were caught by surprise on Thursday when a cruise liner sailed into the lagoon city for the first time since the pandemic began, despite prime minister Mario Draghi’s government declaring that the ships would be banned from the historic centre. The 92,000 tonne ship MSC Orchestra collected 650 passengers before leaving for Bari, in southern Italy, on Saturday....
"Tickets are keys to experiences. These keys have a finite life and finite utility. That’s because the majority of rights issuers want to maintain control of the ticket and access to the experience until the experience is complete. NFTs, by contrast, are (and are portrayed as) owned assets. This is groundbreaking for digital content, offering a way to both...
"From natural disasters to cast mishaps, from visa snafus to failing voices, the team at Spoleto Festival USA has been there, done that and has the war stories to prove it. And here you thought those beads of sweat on their foreheads were from Charleston humidity." - The Post and Courier (Charleston)
Carolina A. Miranda: "Let's retire the outmoded idea that the most important factor in a city's cultural landscape is the presence of some white knight bearing a checkbook and grandiose ideas about turning bulldozed Los Angeles neighborhoods into the Champs-Élysées (as Broad once described his vision for Bunker Hill). In fact, a moneyed philanthropist can wreak havoc on public...
"Sinkholes are appearing in its small streets, and nearly half its 1,700 bridges are rickety and need repairs, frequently requiring trams to cross at a snail’s pace. As a huge project to shore up the canal walls gets underway, the city is beginning to look like one gigantic construction site." The New York Times
