“It may seem counterintuitive, but sometimes burying excavated ancient art and architecture is the best way to keep it safe from environmental and human threats,” writes Alexandria Sivak on the Getty Foundation’s website. - Smithsonian
The 20-foot-tall memorial, titled ALERT and planned for the South Kensington campus of Imperial College, London, is a stack of rectangular volumes intended by Gormley to represent a person squatting. Well, that's not what comes to mind for most folks when they see it. - ARTnews
“Moral grandstanding” and “virtue signaling” are slurs. They are variations on the charge of being “woke”, “politically correct,” etc., going at least as far back as Tom Wolfe’s 1970 essay on “radical chic.” These are all ad hominems, attacking the person, not the argument or cause. - 3 Quarks Daily
The Bavarian town has, in fact, two opera houses: Richard Wagner's famous custom-built theater and the Margravial Opera House, an opulent 18th-century venue seating 600. For two weeks every summer, it's home to Bayreuth Baroque, whose director is the countertenor Max Emanuel Cenčić. - Bachtrack
This idea is surprisingly popular among philosophers and even some scientists. Assume that in the far future, civilisations hugely more technically advanced than ours will be interested in running “ancestor simulations” of the sentient beings in their distant galactic past. - The Guardian
"The label, called La Boîte à Pépites (the jewel box), will record compositions that have rarely, if ever, been heard before, yet deserve 'a good position in the standard musical repertoire'." To make the music available to more musicians, a publishing division will open next year. - The Observer (UK)
On Friday, after the casting of a white U.S. actor in the role of a prominent Latin American political figure had drawn widespread condemnation online (including some very pointed criticism from actor John Leguizamo), one of the film’s producers came forth with an explanation. - Los Angeles Times
"The Telugu-language Indian action spectacular RRR, or Rise, Roar, Revolt, ... (is) the rare Indian hit to catch on with American viewers outside the Indian diaspora, thanks to the unusual decision to relaunch the film weeks after it had already played across the country." - The New York Times
Roughly a third of respondents indicated they were thinking about leaving the sector, and 4 in 10 respondents said they were considering a change in job or location within the next year. Younger respondents were more likely to be considering leaving the sector. - Crosscut
"Performers are split on how to respond to turbulent times in a way that entertains audiences. After the BBC's cancellation of (a) long-running satirical panel show, the public appetite for political comedy is in question." Several comics say they're now simply too angry about politics to be funny. - The Guardian
Over the last five years, sales in the category are down 32% by units sold and 43% by revenue. Some authors and titles, especially romances and mysteries, have moved to trade paperbacks; a bigger issue is the rise of very cheap self-published ebooks in a highly price-sensitive category. - Publishers Weekly
"(His) lovingly crafted narratives on subjects ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to Presidents John Adams and Harry Truman made him among the most popular and influential historians of his time." - AP
The male members of the Ukrainian Freedom Ballet, which is currently performing in the Edinburgh Fringe, had to get special permission from their government to go on this tour, since every male of age in the country is required to remain and fight against the invading Russian military. - BBC
Institutions in Ukraine hadn't been prepared to pack up and evacuate their collections, certainly not on a large scale. But (as Putin himself has made clear), this is a war on Ukraine's existence as a nation and culture, and the country's visual heritage is at severe risk. - The New York Times
The measures included "will ensure pay transparency, a safe working environment, late-night safety, and anti-harassment and discrimination policies. ... In the months ahead, we'll be reaching out to venues and promoters across the country and seeking to work with them to make the Charter the industry standard." - Yahoo! (Press Association UK)
