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There’s One Region Where The Clubhouse App Isn’t Fading Away (It’s Being Used For Artsy Stuff)

The audio-based social media app has been dissed by First Worlders as a glorified telephone and outflanked by Twitter and Facebook adding audio. But in South Asia, groups are gathering on Clubhouse to do things like chanting a classic Sanskrit hymn and reciting Urdu verse. - Rest of World

The “Freedom Libraries” Of The Jim Crow South

Starting in the "Freedom Summer" of 1964, impromptu libraries (the majority in Mississippi) using donated materials opened up at homes and churches, providing places where Black patrons could read and browse, things they weren't allowed to do in public libraries. - JSTOR Daily

Do We Really Need Art To Be Relevant? Should It Be? Maybe Not.

"By making the mistake, no matter how well-intentioned, of chaining works of art to politics or demanding that they address issues of social justice, we have 'failed to account for their free-standing value.'" - The New York Times

Tamara Rojo, Now Headed To San Francisco, Genuinely Transformed English National Ballet

To put it succinctly, she's responsible for "turning ENB from a respected but unexciting touring company into a news-making organisation." - The Guardian

Here’s Just How Lord Elgin Got Those Marbles Out Of Greece And Into England

It was an even uglier, more dishonest project than some of us had realized. (At least Elgin was heavily criticized for it at the time, even within Britain.) - Smithsonian Magazine

Director Kirill Serebrennikov, Who’d Been Banned From Leaving Russia, Suddenly Turns Up In Germany

For four years, ever since his conviction in a case many think was trumped-up, he's been directing theater in Europe via teleconference. Last week he arrived in Hamburg to finish work in person on his staging of Chekhov's Black Monk. (But will Russia let him come home?) - Deutsche Welle

Three Major Rock Festivals Cancelled Within 24 Hours Down Under

The Grapevine Gathering in the Hunter Valley wine region and Unity Forever on the coast southeast of Melbourne have been called off, as have the touring punk festival Full Tilt's dates in Adelaide and Brisbane. Promoters have begged the federal government for a COVID cancellation insurance plan. - The Guardian

Met Museum, Having Difficulty Finding Guards To Staff Galleries, Increases Pay

Until last month, guards starting at the Met had been paid $15.51 an hour, just above the $15 minimum wage for fast food workers in New York state. Now guards are paid a starting wage of $16.50. - The New York Times

San Francisco Ballet Looks To Europe For Its New Artistic Director

Tamara Rojo will be the first woman and only the fifth director to lead the troupe, the oldest professional ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933. Her appointment comes after a yearlong search for a successor to Tomasson, who has led San Francisco Ballet for 37 years. - The New York Times

Why Thomas Dausgaard Abruptly Quit The Seattle Symphony?

Dausgaard, 58, had seemed a good fit for his position, which he had held just since fall 2019. But he was separated from the acclaimed orchestra for much of 2020 and 2021 because of pandemic-related travel restrictions. - The New York Times

A History Of Tackiness

Tackiness, it would seem, has always been in the eye of the beholder—a disapproving audience, real or imagined, clicking their proverbial tongues. They usually judge from the other side of some perceived divide, whether cultural, socioeconomic, or generational. - BookForum

Slippery Slope? Artists Are Boycotting This Year’s Sydney Festival Over Its Funders

If an arts organisation accepts money from a donor, there is always a price to pay. It’s a question of how high the price is. - The Conversation

How A Major Gift Turned Into A Shiny New Gallery For Indigenous Art In And Unlikely Australian Town

Against the promise of his holdings of Aboriginal art, Gantner urged Shepparton to build a standalone gallery and for it to become a not-for-profit company independent of the council. Councils are “not natural operators of major arts facilities”, he says. - The Art Newspaper

In South India, Weddings Are Becoming Great Big Dance-A-Ramas

In the state of Kerala, the actual ceremony may be brief and subdued, but the celebrations often include professional choreographers directing a mix of relatives and professional dancers in routines that range from traditional local forms to Bollywood, Sufi, and even Mexican styles. - The New York Times

Australian Arts Facing Labor Shortages

There is growing evidence of worker shortages for live shows. It’s clear there is a gap left by workers who left the arts during 2020/2021 lockdowns, resulting in a reduced pool of staff to call on when someone falls ill. - ArtsHub

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