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Good Things Happen When A Variety Of Black Viewpoints Can Be Seen On Broadway

"In the last few weeks, I've seen … Trouble in Mind, Caroline, or Change and Clyde's. Individually, their plots and period settings offer great insight into how far we've really come. But taken together, they reveal a full range of aesthetic and racial possibilities." - The New York Times

The Rare Fabric That Was Coveted 200 Years Ago That No One Now Knows How To Make

Made via an elaborate, 16-step process with a rare cotton that only grew along the banks of the holy Meghna river, the cloth was considered one of the great treasures of the age. It had a truly global patronage, stretching back thousands of years. - BBC

Latin American Telenovelas Are Old Hat. The New Hotness Is Turkish Dizis

In many countries these days, including Spanish-speaking ones, the Turkish serial dramas are replacing telenovelas on TV schedules. The popularity of dizis has now made Turkey a larger exporter of television programming than any country but the U.S. - PRI

How Orchestras Are Trying To Diversify Audiences

Orchestras are approaching these audiences through multilingual websites, artist and repertoire choices, and outreach activities, connecting more firmly with the communities they touch. - Strings

Creating Choreography For Animated Characters

Sherrie Silver, who usually works with film stars and models, talks with a reporter about how she created, and then communicated to animators, the dance moves for Sing 2. - Variety

How Merce Cunningham Upended Concert Dance’s Conventions: Technology, Philosophy And Randomness

"This video from the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis explores six aspects to Cunningham's 70-year career, from dance maker, collaborator and chance taker, to innovator, film producer and teacher, to put his influence and legacy in context." - Aeon

Once Threatened, This One-Million-Pound Artwork Is Being Rehomed

Elyn Zimmerman's rock-and-water installation Marabar was erected in 1984 in the courtyard of the National Geographic Society — which now has other plans for that space. Then American University came to the rescue. - The New York Times

When Someone Hears Music That Isn’t There

Here's an explainer about Musical Ear Syndrome — which isn't a form of tinnitus or of audio hallucinations caused by a psychiatric condition. In fact, MES is pretty common. - Ludwig Van

99 Finds: The Most Exciting Art And Artifact Discoveries Of 2021

Sorted into categories such as "Missing masterpieces", "Ancient art", "Prehistoric peoples", African-American and indigenous North American history, and "Royal treasures", here are nearly a hundred pieces of (mostly) good news. - Smithsonian Magazine

Saudi Government Wants To Make Its Country The Arab World’s New Filmmaking Capital

With Egypt's once-dominant industry stagnating under the Sisi dictatorship, the government led by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is dropping lots of money to fill that void, building soundstages and film schools, launching a star-studded movie festival, and even directly funding productions. - The New York Times

Belgium’s High Court Overrules Government’s Shutdown Of Cultural Venues

The Council of State, the country's top administrative court, found insufficient justification for prime minister Alexander De Croo's COVID-related order closing theaters, concert halls, and cinemas while leaving restaurants, bars, and Christmas markets open. - Variety

Let’s Look At The Toxic Damage Of Bullshit

The mass production of warm sounding words with minimal interest in real material outcomes is signifying bullshit (SB). It is nearly ubiquitous. - 3 Quarks Daily

TV Newsrooms Are Jumping To Streaming In 2022

As the nation’s big media companies look to woo new viewers trying to pick their way through a dizzying number of streaming outlets, news divisions are signing up for the battle. - Variety

We’re Addicted To Stories With Trauma. But Are We Lazy?

The prevalence of the trauma plot cannot come as a surprise at a time when the notion of trauma has proved all-engulfing. Its customary clinical incarnation, P.T.S.D., is the fourth most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder in America, and one with a vast remit. - The New Yorker

Recontextualizing Messiahs In Confronting Racism

How these two Canadian companies chose to respond to our contemporary context of anti-racist calls when interpreting Messiah provides an opportunity to have a conversation about how performers and audiences of western classical music can engage more fully in anti-colonial and anti-racist work. - The Conversation

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