Artists have stepped up in a huge way at this dark time in Australian history by volunteering their talents and resources to support communities and firefighters. They have demonstrated artists and arts practice can contribute to our society with passion, ingenuity, and imagination. – The Conversation
The Very Complicated Culture Of Reviewing Books
The consequence of identifying so closely with the literary community is that critics often don’t feel that they’re part of the reviewing apparatus. They feel like they’re subject to it. This has two consequences. First, they live in a certain fear of it, because the kind of reception that their future books will have might be contingent on their relationship with the person they are reviewing. Second, there’s a lot of insistence that the book reviewing world is going through some challenges, but there’s very little consensus about who is responsible for making changes. – American Scholar
Choreographer Gregory Maqoma Turns Traditional South African Movement Into Contemporary Western Concert Dance
“‘He has coherently brought classical African dance into conversation with all that is contemporary,’ said [South African dance scholar] Jay Pather, … long-established practices of Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho people, ‘rituals and codes that are highly complex and have been passed on in highly sophisticated ways.’ Mr. Maqoma, who is of Xhosa descent, doesn’t deconstruct these rituals and codes. He uses them to tell contemporary stories.” – The New York Times
Bird Killers – Our Glass Buildings
All told, glass buildings are responsible for up to one billion bird deaths in the United States each year. At a time when two-thirds of North American birds are in danger of extinction from climate change, it’s no exaggeration to say that glass architecture is a threat to life on Earth. Yet buildings sheathed in smooth glass walls continue to go up, not because they are cheaper to construct or better from an architectural standpoint, but because they embody modern luxury. – The New Republic
Public Library Systems Are Beginning To Lend Musical Instruments
From some of North America’s largest cities to a roving truck in rural California, instrument-lending programs are proving so popular that the biggest challenge is meeting demand. Reporter Julia Hotz writes about the programs in Brooklyn, Toronto and Philadelphia. – Next City
Intimacy Coordinators Are Making Sex Scenes Sexier As Well As Safer
On stages and film/video sets alike, the practitioners of this new profession help actors feel secure physically and emotionally — which, naturally, help the actors do their jobs better. What’s more, the intimacy pros are able to choreograph and describe the movements to be done better than directors can. Writer Lizzie Feidelson reports on how exactly they work. – The New York Times Magazine
Holographic Artists? Yes, And There’s More
Pop-star holograms are exploding out of a chemical reaction between three elements that have been influencing human decision-making for thousands of years: supply, demand, and survival instinct. – Artnet
New Music Education Prize Awards $1.75 Million
Dan Lewis: “My vision is to ensure opportunities to learn, perform and create music are available to all young people. Ideally, this would be happening in every school, but that isn’t the case, especially in low-income and historically marginalized communities.” – The New York Times
Bollywood’s Female Stars Speak Out In Support Of Protesters As Male Stars Keep Mum
“Unlike Hollywood, where actors and filmmakers have [frequently] spoken out against governments, A-listers in Bollywood — the world’s second-best paying film industry — have largely remained apolitical public personas. … Now, as protests spread across India over a controversial new citizenship law and attacks on students, Bollywood women are breaking with that pattern even as the biggest male actors … stay quiet.” – OZY
Why Do The ‘Star Wars’ Films Keep Bombing In The World’s Second-Biggest Movie Market?
“One after another, Star Wars movies have flopped in China, defying efforts to bring one of the most successful franchises in history into a market that has printed money for the heroes, monsters and robots of other films. … Avengers: Endgame made more in its 2019 opening weekend in China than all the Star Wars premieres combined.” Why? You could think of it as an accident of history. – The New York Times
Baltimore Symphony Can Switch Out Of Survival Mode Thanks To New Cash Gifts
“The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra announced Tuesday that it has been promised pivotal gifts totaling $7.25 million that officials say will allow the beleaguered organization to pay its outstanding bills, balance its budget this season for the first time in a decade — and start implementing a plan to stabilize its finances.” – The Baltimore Sun
Why Shouldn’t We Get To Choose How We Die? (And In What Style)
Many people no longer hold the kind of religious views according to which our time of death is not allowed to be of our choosing. There are an increasing number of countries where physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is permitted in a medical context. But why think that the right to choose our ending is given legitimacy only, if at all, on health grounds? Why don’t we have the right to end our lives not just when we want to but to also do so in style? – Aeon
Dance Protests In France Over When Dancers Can Collect Their Pensions
On Saturday, officials announced that the government would withdraw, at least temporarily, a plan that would have raised the full-benefit retirement age, now 62 for many workers, to 64 for all professions. The Paris Opera Ballet’s dancers currently stop working at 42, then receive monthly payments equal to 45 to 48 percent of their top salaries. – The New York Times
Failures of imagination
As I watched Dolemite Is My Name on Netflix the other day, I realized that I never anticipated living to see the end of movies as a public and collective viewing experience. Yet it’s well on the way to happening. This led me to ask: what other things did I fail to envision taking place in my lifetime? – Terry Teachout