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How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves

Historical photos from San Francisco's Chinatown show the differences between the way Chinese Americans were portrayed in the media during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the dignity and humanity with which they decided to present themselves. - Hyperallergic

Film Canisters, 3000 Of Them, With Hidden Secrets And Portraits Of Musicians

The images "are the stuff of history: a rare window into the late 1960s, when one of the country’s first rock ballrooms, the legendary Boston Tea Party, helped launch" hundreds of bands, including the Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix. - Boston Globe

The Met Museum Chooses A Mexico City Architect To Design The New Modern And Contemporary Wing

Frida Escobedo "is a surprising choice for such a major assignment, given that she is relatively young, has mostly designed temporary structures and is not a household name. But she said she felt undaunted and excited by the task." - The New York Times

Theatre Had A Racial Reckoning And A Pandemic Reckoning, And Yet

"The 'We See You, White American Theatre' movement demanded an end to unpaid internships ... and more recently, employers across the Bay Area started saying that they can’t hire enough workers to fill open positions." But somehow it's not ending exploitative unpaid internships." - San Francisco Chronicle

Composer Unsuk Chin On Her New Violin Concerto

That is, the one she was determined not to write. Chin says that between her first and second violin concertos, she moved beyond abstractions - "my musical thinking changed a little bit because I became interested in musical personalities." - The New York Times

What If We Gave Specific Oscars For Portraying Real People?

Adding an Oscar for best adapted performance would acknowledge that "impersonating a famous person employs a completely different skill set than fleshing out a new character, and it frequently involves a generous assist from the makeup-and-hairstyling department." - NPR

Music Copyright Laws In Britain Must Change With The Times

The issue in lawsuits: "Determining whether an artist has copied another songwriter is based on two tests. Firstly, whether they are likely to have heard the song before writing their piece, and secondly whether they have substantially lifted a section of it." - The Guardian (UK)

A Close Reading Of That SNL Amazon Sketch And What It Reveals About Our Reality

"The show’s fake commercial for Amazon Go illustrated the disparity that white and Black consumers might experience in a store promoting freedom but mired by surveillance." - The Atlantic

The Ukrainian Bass-Baritone Singing At The Met For More Than Just The Opera

Vladyslav Buialskyi has become a symbol at the Met, but for the 24-year-old in the young artists program, daily life has become "a huge nightmare. ... You wake up each day hoping it’s not real, but it’s still happening." - The New York Times

Two Years Into The Coronavirus, We Can’t Stop Thinking Or Reading About The Black Death

"Contemporary Americans are relatively inexperienced with infectious disease compared with our ancestors; in search of explanations, many have reached for what seems closest at hand in popular culture and popular history, where the plague has always loomed large." - Slate

A Russian-Owned Art Auction House In London Faces A Boycott

Phillips donated £5.8m to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, and its CEO condemned the Russian invasion. But "those calling for the company to be shunned argue that only a boycott will force its Russian business figures ... to put pressure on the Kremlin." - The Guardian (UK)

Trinity Church Conductor Put On Leave During Sexual Misconduct Investigation

Julian Wachner, the high-profile director of music at Trinity Wall Street, "one of New York’s wealthiest and most powerful churches," has been placed on leave after accusations of a 2014 sexual assault surfaced on social media. - The New York Times

The Idea Of A Museum Is At A Crisis Point

Museums may say they're change agents, "but in doubling down on sheer acquisition at the same time, they risk committing themselves to a future that never comes to pass." - The Nation

William Hurt, Oscar Winner For Kiss Of The Spider Woman,71

The actor was also famous for Body Heat and The Big Chill. - Variety

Mark Rylance And His Path To Screen Stardom

Stage success was steady and gradual - and then, "somewhere around his 50th birthday, this eccentric, perennial amiable performer became a unlikely favourite of Steven Spielberg." Then an Oscar. Now whatever he really wants. - Irish Times

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