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W. G. Sebald Said He Stayed True To His Subjects In Big Things and Invented Only Details. That Was A Lie.

It was the details, many of them none too plausible, that were true; the larger outline of the stories and characters were what was made up. - The Atlantic

John Killacky: Arts As A Safe Space For Unsafe Ideas

It is a series of meditations on the social role of art, the sometimes dysfunctional structures of the cultural sector, and the effect that unexpected, horrific loss – and the necessity of moving past it – can have on a person, a community, and the art created in response. - ArtsFuse

It’s Taken Decades, But The Yurok Language Of California Is Coming Back

This indigenous tongue of northern California was severely endangered by the early 1900s, and efforts to revive it didn't begin until the 1970s (and didn't really take off until the '90s). Now there are high school and college classes in Yurok. - The Guardian

The Unprecedented Life Of Paul McCartney

He has navigated a life with little precedent, one in which a few home-town friends played a pivotal role in the rise of rock and roll, the invention of the teen-ager, youth culture, and the sixties. - The New Yorker

She Has MS. She’s Continuing Her Career As A Ballet Dancer

Abby Phillips Maginity of Ballet Arizona was diagnosed while she was rehearsing for her first principal role — and just as the pandemic was getting serious. The first months stuck at home were hard, but, in treatment, with support from the company, she's back at work. - Pointe Magazine

James Bond’s Jazz Roots

Ian Fleming, who introduced the Bond character in his novel Casino Royale, back in 1953, was a devoted jazz fan. His tastes were a bit old-fashioned, but he was hardly the only British writer to prefer traditional jazz even in the face of bebop and other modernist movements. - Ted Gioia

Here’s The First Woman To Be Named Music Director Of A Major Italian Opera House

Oksana Lyniv, the 43-year-old Ukrainian who this summer became the first female conductor at Bayreuth and who last year finished a term leading the orchestra and opera of Graz (Austria's second city), takes over at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in January. - OperaWire

The Difference Between Random And Chaos

Randomness, like cards or dice, is unpredictable because we just don’t have the right information. Chaos is somewhere between random and predictable. A hallmark of chaotic systems is predictability in the short term that breaks down quickly over time, as in river rapids or ecosystems. - The Conversation

Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Utopian Ideal For A 21st-Century Museum

"I keep returning to an unrealized project of the late philosopher, public intellectual, and curator Édouard Glissant, who consistently told me that what matters is the production of reality." - Artnet

The Horrific Contest In “Squid Game” Reflects A Real-Life Crisis In South Korea

"The wildly popular dystopian drama pits the heavily indebted against each other … for an unimaginably large cash prize. But (the) desperate situation is real – (there's) a large and growing number of ordinary South Koreans who find themselves choked by debt." - The Guardian

One Of The World’s Most Notorious Art Forgers Is Releasing His Own NFT Collection

"Fittingly, the artist (Wolfgang Beltracchi) — infamous for his uncanny ability to mimic the work of others — is making 4,608 versions of Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, in a variety of different artistic styles." Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Pop Art … - Artnet

Hollywood Has A New Champion Boss-From-Hell: Sharon Waxman Of TheWrap

Move over, Scott Rudin. As one former staffer put it, "I don't say this lightly. Sharon Waxman is one of the most awful people that I have known in my life." - The Daily Beast

Is Releasing A Movie Only In Theaters Elitist And Unfair?

"How is it that a quintessentially democratic cultural activity — buying a ticket and some popcorn and finding a seat in the dark — has been reclassified as a snobbish, specialized fetish?" A.O. Scott has an answer to that question. - The New York Times

More Than Half Of British Theatres Have Gone Back To In-Person-Only Performances

"Research has found that 56% of publicly subsidised theatres that had at least one online performance during the first 18 months of the pandemic have none scheduled for the autumn season." - The Guardian

Progress: Italy’s Arts Venues Allowed To Open At Full Capacity

"After months of struggling with an income from 50% houses the Council of Ministers has decided that theatres, cinemas, and cultural venues in the white zones (and currently all of Italy is in that category), can augment their capacity to 100%." - Gramilano (Milan)

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