ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Stories

Goodreads Bug Erases Book Ratings

It’s unknown how many books are affected by the bug. The number of ratings per book lost seem, without any further information, to be random. Authors took to Twitter with their worries, because for authors, the loss of reviews and ratings is in no way a simple error or a minor issue, as the platform is a powerful tool...

Planned Film About Jacinda Ardern And Christchurch Mosque Massacre Draws Huge Backlash In New Zealand

The just-announced project They Are Us, to be written and directed by New Zealander Andrew Niccol (writer and co-producer of The Truman Show, writer-director of, among others, Gattaca and Good Kill) and starring Rose Byrne, focuses on the aftermath of the 2019 mass shooting and the national campaign led by Prime Minister Ardern to ban assault rifles in the...

Do You Know About Virtual YouTube?

A virtual YouTube is a channel that follows an animated or virtual character instead of a real-life person. These virtual YouTubers (VTubers for short) first became popular in Japan in the mid-2010s, and now have spread around the world. - Slate

As Marin Alsop Leaves The Baltimore Symphony, Why Aren’t There More Maestras At Top US Orchestras?

"When she took the position in 2007, she was the first female music director of a top-tier American orchestra. She was, it seemed certain then, the avatar of a new generation of women on important podiums. … But when she departs this summer, the field will go back to the way it was before she came: 25 major orchestras...

Conductor Grant Llewellyn, Late Of North Carolina Symphony, Makes His Way Back From A Stroke

Last summer, back home in Wales after completing his 16-year term in Raleigh, he suffered what turned out to be a three-day stroke that severely impaired the use of his right arm and leg. After a month's hospitalization and six months of physical therapy, though he can't hold a baton, he is back working with the Orchestre national de...

By The Numbers: Who Are The Bosses At US Ballet Companies And What Are They Paid?

" that the position of Artistic Director is held by far more men than women, while the position of Executive Director is much more equitably distributed. However, in both Artistic and Executive Director roles, men are compensated at a higher rate than their female counterparts." (One prominent detail: Peter Martins earned way more than anyone else — though one...

Scottish Government Gives Multi-Million Rescue Package To Edinburgh Festivals

"The Edinburgh festivals have been offered millions of pounds in emergency funding in the face of widespread fears they may never fully recover from the severe impacts of the COVID pandemic. The Fringe, international and book festivals, which help make up the world’s largest annual arts season, have been forced to very significantly curtail this August’s events, the second...

Kim Jong-Un Is On The Warpath Against K-Pop

The Dear Respected Leader has "called it a 'vicious cancer' corrupting young North Koreans' 'attire, hairstyles, speeches, behaviors.' His state media has warned that if left unchecked, it would make North Korea 'crumble like a damp wall.' After winning fans around the world, South Korean pop culture has entered the final frontier: North Korea, where its growing influence has...

Two Unknown Artemisia Gentileschi Paintings Have Turned Up In The Wreckage Of A Beirut Museum

Art historian Gregory Buchakjian did his Master's thesis at the Sorbonne on the art collection of the Sursock Palace, where he identified two unattributed canvases as the work of the 17th-century Italian painter. With the decades-long turmoil in the Lebanese capital, Buchakjian and the rest of the world forgot about those two paintings — until the catastrophic explosion in...

Britain Now Has Its First All-Black-Female Shakespeare Troupe

Says actor Gabrielle Brooks, one of four co-founders of the Mawa Theatre Company, "Shakespeare remains a staple of British theatre. He's still the most produced playwright in the world and I think if we want to tackle diversity, representation and inclusion, then why not start with the Bard himself? … If we can, as black British women, embed ourselves...

Should Humans Have Empathy For AI Machines?

Empathy, of course, is a two-way street, and we humans don’t exhibit a whole lot more of it for bots than bots do for us. Numerous studies have found that when people are placed in a situation where they can cooperate with a benevolent A.I., they are less likely to do so than if the bot were an actual...

How Toronto’s Royal Conservatory Of Music Survived The Shutdown

With now over 60,000 students having taken online practical and theoretical exams, it became a sink-or-swim moment testing RCM’s ability to keep anxious students engaged and motivated. -Ludwig Van

UK Politicians Are Increasingly Fighting The Culture Wars

As in the US, UK politicians are wading in to debates about statues, history, and the culture that defines the country. - The Guardian

Beating The Pandemic: Science Sure, But The Arts Had A Big Role

Provincial governments and public-health authorities have, understandably, been focused on science getting us out of this – but, less understandably, they’ve neglected allowing (never mind encouraging) artists to explore the possibilities of how outside-the-box creativity could make this pandemic (or future ones) less isolating and more livable. - The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Federal “Save Our Stages” Aid Is Tied Up And Not Getting To The Arts

This stunning state of affairs stands in bold contrast to the initial PPP and the more recent restaurant relief funds, which were on their way to businesses within days. - Variety

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');