"A team using techniques more commonly used to track wildlife estimates that 68 percent of chivalric and heroic works produced in medieval Europe survive today. For individual manuscripts, or handwritten copies of literary works, that figure drops to 9 percent." - Smithsonian Magazine
“There’s a lot of structural change underway and nobody knows where this is going. I think there’s a strong desire from all the actors to rethink how these institutions should run.” - Artnet
Scholar Silvia Ferrara suggests that — since we don't have a Rosetta Cord giving us a text side-by-side in Inca knots and Spanish letters — we take an approach something like the way Amy Adams's linguist character in Arrival deciphered the aliens' squid-ink emissions. - Literary Hub
So is a country’s level of media literacy anything more than a measure of the wealth and the education of its population? How can we tell if a country’s disinformation curriculum is the reason its population is relatively protected against online falsehoods? - The New York Times
In the wake of the stolen presidential election and Lukashenko's vicious crackdown on the subsequent demonstrations, the underground troupe decided to go into exile. Now they're in London to stage a production that premiered two years ago in Minsk and is now more timely than ever. - The Independent (UK)
"Almost on the hour, we’re hearing about cultural boycotts, departures of curators and directors, and the shuttering of institutions. The moral convictions behind these choices cannot be doubted. Yet I feel compelled to caution about cutting ties too rashly, and with no clear pathway back to normalcy." - Artnet
As translator, scholar, and critic, he played a major role in showing Americans that Greece has a thriving modern culture alongside its ancient history. He was C.P. Cavafy's leading champion, and his translations of poets George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis helped earn them Nobel Prizes. - The New York Times
"The simple premise is that if you make a generational commitment — and about 25 to 30 years is a generational commitment — to flooding the market with exceedingly talented people from diverse backgrounds — in this case women — then you will make a change." - Variety
Looking in particular at the High Line, the 606 in Chicago, and Buffalo Bayou Park in Houston — all of which turned urban industrial detritus into expensively landscaped attractions — Kevin Loughran argues that these privately funded spaces divert city resources from parks in poor areas and enrich real-estate developers. - Bloomberg CityLab
In Paris, Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, and elsewhere, ballet troupes have been helping their fleeing colleagues: finding them housing, letting them join class, and, if budgets permit, hiring them. The Mayor of Paris even gave the stranded Kiev City Ballet a residency at the Châtelet Theatre. - The New York Times
Sanders, who created the weekly show It's Been a Minute, is the fourth host of color in the past year to leave NPR for commercial media. He's joining Vox Media, owner of New York magazine, where he'll host a new weekly podcast for the magazine's culture vertical, Vulture. - Bloomberg
"Akron police have arrested a man accused of breaking into the Akron Art Museum and starting a small trash fire Sunday. ... Executive Director Jon Fiume says there was no harm to the museum's collection, and the only real damage was to a small window." - WKSU (Akron/Kent, OH)
"A new production of the musical Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley leads the Olivier Award nominations with 11. It's followed by a adaptation of best-selling novel Life of Pi and a revival of Anything Goes, with nine each." - BBC
The Sacklers would also lose their naming rights at museums and other entities that have received their financial contributions a win for activists who have long accused the Sacklers of using philanthropy to “artwash” their complicity in the opioid crisis. - Hyperallergic
A spokeswoman for the Smithsonian, Linda St. Thomas, said most of the 39 pieces would be returned. But she said it was not clear exactly how many of the bronzes were linked to the 1897 raid and that it was possible some pieces in the museum’s collection had different ownership histories. - Washington Post
