"(They are a) miracle that brings in throngs, as many as 3,000 or maybe more, of people out on a Saturday night" — in Miami Beach, no less — "to sit on aluminum chairs or picnic blankets and listen to music that is centuries old." - MSN (The Miami Herald)
As one director of a presenting venue puts it, "It's like, we're driving straight up (to) the cliff ... but we're swerving and bumping and jogging, and there's still a cliff there. We know it's coming, but we have no idea when we're gonna get there." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
So far, of 56 US institutions surveyed, 16 museums are in the process of returning Benin Court artworks, and five more would do so if requested. Added to similar efforts in other countries, there are now more repatriation requests than Nigerian officials can promptly process. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Maria Alyokhina had been under house arrest for months, but when, in April, Putin announced that she was to be sent back to a penal colony, she improvised an escape that involved a disguise as a food delivery worker, crossing Belarus incognito, and smuggled travel documents. - The New York Times
UNESCO's confirmed count stands at 127, while President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that the number is nearly 200. Much of that destruction was clearly deliberate; "Targeted attacks on museums" said Zelensky, "this wouldn't cross even a terrorist's mind. But this is the army that's waging war on us." - Artnet
Attendance and revenue at movie theaters in the EU and UK are up from 2020 and 2021, yes, but they're still well below half of what they were before the pandemic. - The Hollywood Reporter
Just a day after incredulity and scorn over £400 ticket prices (double those of Hamilton) hit social media and then news outlets, seats in the stalls are now listed at £175 ($216), with seats that had been £350 ($432) and £300 ($371) now £150 ($185) and £125 ($154). - The Guardian
This is not a radical rethinking of copyright. It is regression as a meme, a fart in the wind, an empty and cynical gesture meant for a future fundraising email. All because Disney is the latest punching bag for a Republican party. - The Verge
Setting aside the fact that this may be one of the most depressing sentences that anyone has ever written about art, if “branding” does make up a 50% share of what it takes to become “a world-conquering artist”, it makes sense that NFTs are conquering a very similar space. - The Guardian
Ukraine’s folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra has qualified for the final. But the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises Eurovision, ruled that no Russian act would be able to participate this year, after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. - The Conversation
Carlin is a venerated figure in his chosen field who unites performers as disparate as Joe Rogan and Jim Gaffigan, but he’s also someone whose influence transcends comedy. - The New York Times
This "post-book blues" thing is a side-effect that doesn't seem to get mentioned much, if at all. It's not an in-person relationship as such, but it is one forged in a unique, unwritten contract with the reader or listener. - BBC
While liberals lost their way doing “Orange Man Bad” comedy during the Trump administration, a new ecosystem emerged of right-wing comedians—on podcasts, YouTube, and, yes, Fox News—that’s been growing increasingly popular. - Fast Company
The figure of Christ the Redeemer that reigns over Rio de Janeiro is 98 feet tall (not including the pedestal or the mountain it sits atop). This new statue, Christ the Protector, is in Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul, a small city closer to Montevideo than to São Paulo. - Artnet
“It’s still a way to erase identity,” said Corine Wegener, on why culture continues to be a major target in contemporary warfare. Some 200 cultural sites in Ukraine have already been reported to have been targeted in the war with Russia. ARTnews
