The plan is "to bring a more modern look to Notre-Dame before its planned reopening in 2024, including the installation of contemporary artworks and new lighting effects. Opponents say the changes will debase the 850-year-old cathedral and disturb the harmony of its Gothic design." - The New York Times
The culture that connected people of my generation was popular television and music. I noticed when I traveled that bookstores were as crammed with seasonal novelties as shoe stores; and used bookstores — this has been one of the saddest developments of my lifetime — had mostly disappeared. - Liberties Journal
In a higher education system financed mostly by tuition dollars, the customer is king. Colleges and universities have become full-service lifestyle stations, competing for students. But why is everyone is somehow finding their best selves in really nice gyms, dormitories, and dining halls? - Liberties Journal
Not only is the Canadian copyright crisis now called “the Canadian flu” in international book publishing circles but—for those who love silver linings—it’s believed to be working as a vaccination-by-example to help ward off similarly disastrous legislation in markets far from Canadian shores. - Publishing Perspectives
The decision, which came after more than a yearlong review by the museum, was reportedly mutual and made “in order to allow the Met to further its core mission,” according to a joint statement issued by the Sackler family and the institution. - Artnet
"A dead mall, while eerie and odd, is strangely difficult to interpret. Tempting to see it as an Ozymandias-like portent of the collapse of capitalism, but it's surely not, or not quite. … How are these castles to consumerism crumbling while the system they represented lives on?" - Slate
"In opera, the external is the internal." 2. "In opera, all speech is dream speech, whether it wants to be or not." 3. "Opera transforms pain into pleasure." Composer Matthew Aucoin, whose Eurydice just finished its run at the Met, explains. - Literary Hub
For the last 12 months (November 2020-October 2021), orchestra ticket revenue is down 67%. This is on par with results for the larger performing arts sector in the U.S. for the same period. - SMU Data Arts
Bijayini Satpathy spent 25 years performing and teaching at Nrityagram, the famous dancers' village near Bangalore, before deciding to become a touring solo artist. She has pared back the ornate jewelry worn in Odissi style and changed the viewpoint from which key dances are performed. - Dance Magazine
Scientists have known for many years that Vikings — a name given to the Norse by the English they raided — built a village at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around the turn of the millennium. But a study published in Nature is the first to pinpoint the date of the Norse occupation. - NBC News
There's been plenty of coverage of the built heritage of the Uyghurs that has been razed in recent years, but intangibles — literature, traditional music and dance, meshrep gatherings for poetry and storytelling — have been either banned or edited into hollow performances for tourists. - The Guardian
The Critics Choice Awards has long been something of an also-ran. The 2020 show drew just 1.2 million viewers, about half the audience of that year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards and a fraction of the Globes’ 18 million-plus viewers. - Los Angeles Times
Twenty years after a previous generation of Taliban took over the country and looted and smashed its way through the collection, the new government, which took power in August, has reopened the museum, providing security officers and even encouraging visits. - AP
After a 3½-year judicial investigation in Paris, and in accordance with the prosecutor's recommendation, the case brought against Besson by actress Sand van Roy has been dismissed for lack of evidence. - Variety
Time was, that was a low-stakes category for obscure indie directors. Ten years ago, HBO was the only major competitor. Now several legacy media institutions, most notably The New York Times and The New Yorker, are livening up the field and actively pursuing the statuette. - The Hollywood Reporter
