ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Stories

A Need For Diversity In Ballet Hair

For Black artists, hair extends beyond aesthetic or presentation. It is a reflection of the self, an unassailable marker of cultural identity and all of the stereotypes and misconceptions that come from racialized status. - Pointe

Why Warsaw Is Becoming A Creative Hub

“The costs of living, creating and doing business are much lower than in Western Europe." As a result, a creative flowering has begun, with designers, architects and restaurateurs creating new spins on Polish traditions. - The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Inspired Performances (Versus Phoning It In)

If your contribution to a project is not absolutely essential and if you are not especially motivated, you can coast and let others carry the load.  But if too many people are “loafing,” it can become infectious and the team (or in this case, the ensemble) suffers. - Nightingale Sonata

How “The Godfather” Changed The Movie Business 50 Years Ago

It earned $100 million faster than any film before it. And having cost less than $7 million to make, it was so profitable that the L.A. Times reported the stock price of Gulf & Western, the huge conglomerate that owned Paramount, more than quadrupled from 77 cents a share to $3.30 a share. - NPR

How Larry Gagosian Built An Artworld Empire With Russian Oligarchs

One art world source dubbed Gagosian “the official art dealer to the Russian oligarchy,” adding that “the Bond villains he consorts with are dangerous, repulsive and devalue art by their very presence.” - New York Post

Publishing Is Experiencing A Quiet Crisis

"Many are leaving publishing entirely, going to places they can be better compensated and work normal hours. The pandemic has put extra stress on already breaking structures. ... It has also allowed a lot of people to step back and reassess their priorities." - Shaken & Stirred

How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves

Historical photos from San Francisco's Chinatown show the differences between the way Chinese Americans were portrayed in the media during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the dignity and humanity with which they decided to present themselves. - Hyperallergic

Film Canisters, 3000 Of Them, With Hidden Secrets And Portraits Of Musicians

The images "are the stuff of history: a rare window into the late 1960s, when one of the country’s first rock ballrooms, the legendary Boston Tea Party, helped launch" hundreds of bands, including the Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix. - Boston Globe

The Met Museum Chooses A Mexico City Architect To Design The New Modern And Contemporary Wing

Frida Escobedo "is a surprising choice for such a major assignment, given that she is relatively young, has mostly designed temporary structures and is not a household name. But she said she felt undaunted and excited by the task." - The New York Times

Theatre Had A Racial Reckoning And A Pandemic Reckoning, And Yet

"The 'We See You, White American Theatre' movement demanded an end to unpaid internships ... and more recently, employers across the Bay Area started saying that they can’t hire enough workers to fill open positions." But somehow it's not ending exploitative unpaid internships." - San Francisco Chronicle

Composer Unsuk Chin On Her New Violin Concerto

That is, the one she was determined not to write. Chin says that between her first and second violin concertos, she moved beyond abstractions - "my musical thinking changed a little bit because I became interested in musical personalities." - The New York Times

What If We Gave Specific Oscars For Portraying Real People?

Adding an Oscar for best adapted performance would acknowledge that "impersonating a famous person employs a completely different skill set than fleshing out a new character, and it frequently involves a generous assist from the makeup-and-hairstyling department." - NPR

Music Copyright Laws In Britain Must Change With The Times

The issue in lawsuits: "Determining whether an artist has copied another songwriter is based on two tests. Firstly, whether they are likely to have heard the song before writing their piece, and secondly whether they have substantially lifted a section of it." - The Guardian (UK)

A Close Reading Of That SNL Amazon Sketch And What It Reveals About Our Reality

"The show’s fake commercial for Amazon Go illustrated the disparity that white and Black consumers might experience in a store promoting freedom but mired by surveillance." - The Atlantic

The Ukrainian Bass-Baritone Singing At The Met For More Than Just The Opera

Vladyslav Buialskyi has become a symbol at the Met, but for the 24-year-old in the young artists program, daily life has become "a huge nightmare. ... You wake up each day hoping it’s not real, but it’s still happening." - The New York Times

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');