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Should We Call Great Women Artists By Their First Names?

Maybe. It depends entirely on the scholarship, and the artist. And then there's research: "The same artist with different names can be confusing even if the change happens just once, as in maiden name (the term itself is rife with problematic patriarchy) to married name. It’s a historical hitch in tracking a person, but also a literary one. Just...

A Japanese Composer, A Burkina Faso Storyteller, And A Congolese Rapper Make Opera

Composer Keiko Fujiie, who moved to Burkina Faso and built a house where the musicians can practice without annoying their neighbors, hopes to tour the country and debunk the idea of opera as an elite art form: ""I didn't come to introduce European opera here - to the contrary - I needed to study their music, and little by...

When An Actor Agrees To Take A Subject’s Secrets To The Grave

Actor Diego Boneta could only play famously secretive musician Luis Miguel for Netflix after studying the musician for years - and hiring both an acting and a vocal coach to help him sound, and seem, more like Miguel. But he needed something else: Time with Miguel himself. Boneta says, "He shared some things that he asked me to not...

Librarian Ruth Freitag, Who Helped Isaac Asimov And Carl Sagan With Research, 96

Freitag, "a reference librarian at the Library of Congress for nearly a half-century, was unknown to the general public. But she was, in more ways than one, a librarian to the stars. Known for her encyclopedic knowledge of resources in science and technology, Ms. Freitag was sought out by the leading interpreters of the galaxy. She developed a particular...

This Year’s Kennedy Center Honors Are A Breath Of Fresh Air

The five honorees said that the six-month delay, and the loss of so many performance opportunities and spaces during the pandemic, made this weeklong celebration even more important. Midori: "This is a blessing, but this is also encouragement, and a motivation for me to be able to continue to connect with others, and to collaborate and to anticipate a...

How Jane Rogers Took On Britain’s Very Male Literary Establishment In The 80s

Rogers: "When I started work on Mr Wroe’s Virgins I was 35. I was wildly ambitious, and had a chip on my shoulder. Faber had published my first three novels and all had found critical favour. But I was broke and my sales were poor, and I was spiky about the literary world." - The Guardian (UK)

Please Stop The Streaming Wars

It may be time to just quit everything. "My eyeballs are considering taking themselves off the market entirely. They’re sick of being courted, coaxed and, frankly, pressured into choosing this streaming service over that one, trying to keep up with all the glitzy platforms while not ignoring the quieter but equally worthy requests coming from those who may not...

How Colonial Williamsburg Is Producing Progressive Theatre

The truth is, enslaved people formed the majority of the town's population at the time depicted at the site. New interpreters and an urgency to depict something closer to the truth of the history pervades the actors and administrators now. And so: "The instruction has gone out lately to all of Colonial Williamsburg’s dozens of actor-interpreters that the city’s...

And Now Tattoos Will Be Sold As NFTs

But the owners won't need to get tatted in real life. "In this new marketplace, customers will be buying the exclusive rights to the design of the tattoo, rather than the tattoo itself. 'I’m selling you an idea, instead of just hours of my life,' said Campbell, who has been blurring the line between tattoo and fine arts for years,...

Movie Theatres Are Begging Audiences To Return

Apparently, 70 percent of the moviegoing public - which is, let's note, far higher than the percentage of fully vaccinated people in the U.S. - feel comfortable going to reopened movie theatres now. This week, "before the studios showed off trailers for their upcoming slate of movies, Schwarzenegger led the audience in a chant: 'We are back. We...

An Israeli Airstrike Has Destroyed Gaza’s Largest Bookstore

"The beloved Samir Mansour Bookshop was destroyed on Tuesday by an Israeli airstrike. The shop, which was established in 2008, had thousands of books, including the largest collection of English literature in Gaza, and was also part of a publishing house that focused on Palestinian writers." Israel claimed the strike's purpose was to destroy Hamas tunnels. - LitHub

Italy Wins EuroVision

Congrats to Italy's Måneskin. But yikes to the UK (which, technically, is no longer in Europe anyway?). "The UK's James Newman came last, getting zero points from both the jury and the public. - BBC

What Might Opera Look Like In A Post-Pandemic World?

Let the Long Beach Opera show you. "Guests have the choice of watching this production “tailgate-style” or from inside their automobiles. The action occurs throughout a parking structure with multiple screens projected live on big screens." Safe, and very Southern California as well. - Los Angeles Times

Show Our Arts Orgs The Money, Please

U.S. arts organizations are still waiting for that cultural institution money to flow. "Business owners are wary of the promise after weeks of delay and confusion over the initiative, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which many had cheered as a lifeline. Each day applicants vent their frustrations on an online forum, regularly polling one another on whether any applications have yet been...

How A Book Gets Adapted For A Movie

It's not always obvious or a direct line. Start with a good story. Characters that lift off the page. And then it gets complicated. - LitHub

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