Stories

The Met Gala Was A Failed Opportunity To Make The Case For Art

“Fashion is art” was meant to encourage attendees to think about how every human body is a canvas, and about how making an item of clothing—the precision that goes into selecting textiles, creating shapes, and combining colors—requires the same kind of artistry deployed by the painters and sculptors featured throughout the museum. - The Atlantic

What This Year’s Tony Nominations Say About International Theatre

While it’s too early to tell which of the nominated shows will go on to have an international life, we can find some hints of the possibilities with a look at the title pages of their Playbills. - Jaques

At Last, Berlin’s Pergamon Museum Has A (Partial) Reopening Date

“Traditionally one of the German capital’s top tourist attractions, (the Pergamon) will reopen next year after the first part of a painstaking restoration effort. ... The Pergamon Museum has been closed altogether since October 2023. The part of the building containing the Pergamon Altar has been closed for far longer, since 2014.” - AP

María Nieves Rego, Co-Creator Of Worldwide Hit “Tango Argentino,” Has Died At 91

“With her dance partner and onetime husband, Juan Carlos Copes” — described as the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of tango — “(she) formed a duo that, despite their often-painful personal relationship, helped spark a tango revival in Argentina that spread worldwide.” - The New York Times

L.A.’s Holocaust Museum To Reopen As Part Of New Cultural Center

“The Holocaust Museum LA, the first survivor-founded and oldest Holocaust museum in the United States, will reopen after a 10-month closure as part of the new Goldrich Cultural Center — a $70-million campus expansion set to debut June 14 in Pan Pacific Park (near downtown).” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)

Having Canceled Most Of Its Concerts, San Antonio Philharmonic Schedules A Couple Of New Ones

In mid-February, the precarious orchestra called off the remainder of this season and lost its music director. In what may be a surprising development, the SA Phil has just announced two performances of a program of Moncayo, Ravel and Tchaikovsky, scheduled for the last weekend of this month. - Texas Public Radio

A Visit To Russia’s Exhibition At The Venice Biennale

“There weren’t any paintings or sculptures in Russia’s pale green building, which dates to before the Revolution. Instead, … the Toloka Ensemble, a folk group, sat below a bulbous flower arrangement and sang traditional songs to a cluster of reporters eager to witness the country’s controversial comeback at the Biennale.” - The New York Times

Publishers And Authors Sue Meta And Mark Zuckerberg (Personally) For AI-Related Copyright Infringement

Five large publishing houses, along with Scott Turow representing authors as a class, allege in their filing that Zuckerberg himself “personally authorized and actively encouraged the infringement” of copyrights by Meta, which used countless books and articles to train Llama, its AI language system. - AP

James Murdoch Is Looking To Buy New York Magazine And Its Podcasts

“Media investor James Murdoch is in advanced talks to buy Vox Media’s New York magazine and podcast division, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal, which is through Murdoch’s Lupa Systems investment company, isn’t yet final, and could still fall apart, they said.” - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

A Visit To Africa’s Largest Contemporary Dance Festival

“Founded in 1997, the African Dance Biennial has spent three decades rotating across African cities — most recently Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023 — with the aim of raising the visibility of choreographic work on the continent. The three-day event, which closed Sunday, was held at the École des Sables … in Toubab Dialao, Senegal.” - AP

Trends In Biennale Artists And Their Work

The most-visible type is an artist who digs into the history of colonialism, surfaces some charged document or symbol, and highlights it by doing something poetic with it. The tone is more reflective than truly didactic. Often, the art is channeling the look of an exhibit in a science or history museum. - Artnet

Conductor Fired From Venice’s Opera House Speaks Out

Beatrice Venezi’s appointment as music director of Teatro La Fenice was greeted with an avalanche of criticism that she was unqualified, hired only because she’s a protégée of Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. Now Venezi says, “The (political) Right needed my clean face; they used me and then threw me away.” - Moto Perpetuo

Media’s “Find Us” Problem

Broadcast once provided a predictable, repeated structure built into daily life. As the “tune-in” habit has eroded, we haven’t been deliberate enough in designing something to take its place. - Greater Public

What We Lose When “The Late Show” Goes Away

 The cancellation of Colbert’s show right before a deal that needed government approval has given his exit an additional resonance. - The New York Times

Study: Relocating New Orleans Needs To Start Now Because Of Climate Change

The process of relocating people from New Orleans should start immediately, as the city has reached a “point of no return” that will see it surrounded by the ocean within decades due to the climate crisis, a stark new study has concluded. - The Guardian

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss