Australia's state capitals had some strict lockdowns, with Melbourne the world's most severe. Performing arts groups are still reporting attendance remaining stubbornly below 2019 levels. (Except in Western Australia, which locked out the rest of the country instead of locking down. Tickets in Perth are selling like gangbusters.) - The Guardian
In time, instrumentalists, chamber groups, dance companies, orchestras, theatre troupes, opera companies—even comedians, magicians, and other offbeat entertainers (literally tens of thousands of performers)—would owe part of their livelihoods to Community Concerts. - Nightingale Sonata
"This will adapt the book industry to the digital era by restoring an equilibrium between large e-commerce platforms, which offer virtually free delivery for books," said a government statement "The €3 delivery fee is not dissuasive for book buyers and the €35 threshold will favour grouped orders." - Euronews
In the last year, he has gone from a relative unknown to a bona fide art phenomenon. His surrealist-style paintings were acquired by deep-pocketed collectors like Tommy Mottola and Jessica Goldman Srebnick during Art Basel Miami Beach. - The New York Times
When the lockdowns started, Lillian DiPiazza was a principal at what was then Pennsylvania Ballet. She spent the next two years going back and forth between there and the Paris Opera Ballet, where she's just gotten a permanent contract — at the lowest rank but likely to climb quickly. - Pointe Magazine
Will a new generation of warehouse robots that can grasp goods almost as well as human hands make work better or easier for the people doing these jobs? Or will the technological evolution eliminate the need for these workers and their jobs? - Vox
The Antwerp-based collective FC Bergman bringsto BAM a work titled 300 el x 50 el x 30 el (the dimensions of Noah's Ark as described in scripture), "an ambitious hybrid of theater, installation and live video, with an elaborate set that recreated a rural settlement onstage." - The New York Times
“That was the problem. Using music, rather than having it be its own experience … What kind of music am I going to use to set a mood for the day? What am I going to use to enjoy my walk? I started not really liking what that meant.” - The Guardian
In a request for more funding to pursue the case, the district attorney for Santa Fe County stated that "we will be potentially charging between one and four people with criminal charges ... includ(ing) some variation of our homicide statute." - CBS News
"It's still unclear exactly what markets in the region will be affected, but it's likely to include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Kuwait — all of which are notorious for censoring movies over even the slightest hint of LGBTQ themes or content." - Variety
Thompson, co-founder of the North Adams, Mass. museum, who stepped down as director in 2020 after 32 years, was charged with motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation for a 2018 collision with a motorcyclist who died at the scene and was found to have been drunk. - New England Public Media
The Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk and creator of the recent TV miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven didn't reveal the nature of the injury, which happened a month ago, but wrote that "this has been a challenging, frightening time ... and now I understand the road back will be long." - Variety
The three musicians, who were dismissed from the Naples Philharmonic as of June 30 and have filed suit against the orchestra's parent organization, claim a religious exemption from the Philharmonic's vaccination requirement. - Naples (Fla.) Daily News
The 180 unionized members of the museum's 350-strong workforce walked out after two years of negotiations failed to yield agreement on a contract. The museum is remaining open with its usual visiting hours. - The Philadelphia Inquirer
The museum instituted the biennial award in 1996 to honor "outstanding achievement in contemporary art." Asked why the prize is being discontinued, Guggenheim chief curator Naomi Beckwith said, basically, that it's no longer necessary. - ARTnews
