While Bolivia’s cultural minister says “”A criminal proceeding will be initiated to obtain the sanction that corresponds to those who have dared to discredit our most holy virgin of the Socavon and to whom intends to destroy the patrimonialism and intangibility of the Oruro Carnival,” the artist is quick to point out that she created the image exactly because of the drinking, carousing, and disrespect of women at the carnical.
There Are Plenty Of Great Roles For Women, So They Should ‘Get Their Mitts Off Male Actors’ Parts!’ Says The Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish on the current trend in London of prominent actresses playing the male leads in great classic plays: “Redress the balance? Fine. Let in some fresh air? Great. But the entrenchment of this tendency may also be stifling and oppressive.” It’s also, argues Cavendish, lazy: “Why bother finding new-minted female correlatives to Willy Loman or Jimmy Porter when you can just boot out the bloke, stick a woman in his place and defy anyone to raise an eyebrow?”
How Monet Became The Jeff Koons Of His Day: Impressionism As Financial Asset
Well, okay, Monet did all his own painting. But by his final years, he had become the world’s most expensive living artist – and his work was already viewed by some as a solid investment. Art historian Ross King recounts how American wealth, social aspiration, and showmanship (art auctions as theatrical events!) made Water Lilies more valuable than bullion.
Chattanooga Symphony And Opera Extends Music Director Kayoko Dan’s Contract
“Ms. Dan joined the CSO as its first female, and youngest, conductor in September 2011.” This extension, for five years, runs through May 2022.
One Oxford Degree Program Provides A Stream Of UK And World Leaders (And Maybe That’s A Problem)
“In the new age of populism, of revolts against elites and “professional politicians”, Oxford’s courses in Philosophy Politics and Economics no longer fits into public life as smoothly as it once did. With corporate capitalism misfiring, mainstream politicians blundering, and much of the traditional media seemingly bewildered by the upheavals, PPE, the supplier of supposedly highly trained talent to all three fields, has lost its unquestioned authority. More than that, it has become easier to doubt whether a single university course, and its graduates, should have such influence in the first place. To its proliferating critics, PPE is not a solution to Britain’s problems; it is a cause of them.”
A Brief History Of In-Flight Movies (Which Once Seemed Totally Awesome)
“There was a time when in-flight entertainment was better than anything you could actually bring onto a plane.” (And that time goes back, believe it or not, back to the 1920s.) “That time has long passed, and some airlines are looking to get rid of seat-back screens, in favor of letting you use whatever screen you have with you … But, nonetheless, it got [Ernie Smith] thinking – about the technology that allows you to entertain yourself on a plane.”
The Hero Monk Who Saves Ancient Manuscripts From ISIS
The “badass librarians of Timbuktu” aren’t the only ones rescuing irreplaceable old documents from violent destruction. “Soft-spoken, dressed in flowing black robes, [Father Columba Stewart] has spent the past 13 years roaming from the Balkans to the Middle East in an effort to save Christian and Islamic manuscripts threatened by wars, theft, weather – and, lately, the Islamic State.”
India’s Film Censor Board Bans Movie For Being ‘Lady Oriented’
From the Central Board of Film Certification’s letter denying permission to screen Lipstick Under My Burkha in India: “The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. There are contanious [sic] sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society.” Naturally, director Alankrita Shrivastava had some choice words about the decision, as did the Twitterverse.
Dance For Seniors Is Catching On All Over Britain
“Across the UK, enthusiastic, determined, focused individuals are fighting hard for a new kind of dance provision – one that doesn’t simply enable access for older dancers, but aims to challenge, reinterpret and promote the ageing body.”
Thirty Years After He Died, Andy Warhol Still Has The Measure Of American Culture
“How much responsibility does Warhol bear for our culture’s shift from substance to flash, human interest to spectacle? How much responsibility does a mirror bear for whatever beauty or ugliness it beholds? Warhol loved both the heights and depths of American culture, and reflected it back at us through his work, which remains resonant to this day.”
Why Technology Is Making Us Feel Less Secure
“The more technology multiplies, the more it amplifies instability. Things already don’t quite do what they claim. The fixes just make things worse. And so, ordinary devices aren’t likely to feel more workable and functional as technology marches forward. If anything, they are likely to become even less so. Technology is becoming a force that surrounds humans—but not necessarily in the service of human ends. Technology’s role has begun to shift, from serving human users to pushing them out of the way so that the technologized world can service its own ends.”
The Emerging Oscar Powerhouse That Does Nothing Specific, But Also Everything
FilmNation is behind “Arrival” and a Judd Apatow movie that sold for $12 million at Sundance. “The two movies thrust FilmNation into the limelight and pose a tantalizing question: can a company unaffiliated with any conglomerate become a powerhouse in the challenging climate of the 21st-century entertainment industry?”
Classical Music At The Movies (AKA, The Oscars’ Nominated Scores)
Shocker: What should win Best Score and what is going to win Best Score aren’t remotely the same.
Philosophers Debate How To Respond To The 21st Century’s Rise In Violence
With a nod to Hannah Arendt for her phrase “dark times,” the New York Times online column “The Stone” recaps the columns of 11 contributors who have addressed the issue over the past year.
Arts Council England Will Spend £2.7 Million Implementing “Quality” Standards For Arts
Arts Council England is “pressing ahead with the system despite serious concerns raised following a pilot project last year to test such a system among 150 NPOs. An independent review of the pilot found that arts organisations wanted a more flexible system that would align with their individual artistic objectives, and ACE’s announcement that the system was going to be rolled out provoked anger and disbelief on social media. Using the system will be mandatory for around 300 of ACE’s largest NPOs, and a further 600 will be encouraged to use it.”
Here’s Why Standard Measures Of Arts Experiences Are A Bad Idea
“Setting aside the insurmountable logistical challenges that will face some of the organisations having to conduct the fieldwork for the Quality Metrics scheme, there are two fatal flaws with the research framework that will render the findings meaningless.”
Isabelle Huppert Has Become A Style Icon
In the States, until recently she’s been familiar mostly to art-cinema fans. But with this year’s Hollywood awards season, her cool, ambiguous, insouciant je-ne-sais-quoi has caught the fancy of the fashion press. Says Simon Doonan, “She has what the French used to call chien.” Ruth La Perla explores the mystique with the actress herself.
The Art Of Money: The Secret History Of The Images On Currency
Jennifer Schuessler talks to Mark Tomasko, a collector who doesn’t just study the artwork on old and new bills – he tracks the originals down.
Gathering And Streaming All The Best TV Drama That Isn’t In English
“The result of 4,000 hours of TV consumption [by the founder] is Walter Presents, an online streaming service that began in Britain in January 2016. And now, when Americans have access to more TV from around the world, [Walter] Iuzzolino is bringing Walter Presents to the United States. The service will debut in March with a catalog of 34 shows, or about 300 hours of TV, and at least two new shows will be added each month.”
Lessons From The NYT Firing Of Charles Isherwood By An Organizational Psychologist
“But first, it’s important to highlight the one thing we can’t learn: What really got him fired. … That said, there are plenty of important takeaways from the narrative about Isherwood’s firing.” Liane Davey offers four of them – and they may seem obvious, but people forget them all the time.
The Painful Truth About Isamu Noguchi’s Design For Martha Graham
Sarah Kaufman is not kidding about the “painful” part: as former and current Graham Dance Company performers tell her, dancing on those things hurts.
New Yorker Cartoonist James Stevenson, 87
“Mr. Stevenson did not restrict himself to drawing cartoons at the magazine; he was one of the rare people there who wrote and illustrated articles, including Talk of the Town pieces. And, away from The New Yorker, he was the author or illustrator of more than 100 children’s books, as well as novels and an illustrated biography of Frank Modell, a fellow New Yorker cartoonist, who died last year.”
Visa Issues Put South Korean Dance Company’s U.S. Tour In Jeopardy
Bereishit – a fast-rising young company that fuses modern dance, hip-hop, and martial arts – has already had to cancel its first date on the tour, Feb. 28 in Minneapolis; March performances in Pittsburgh and San Diego are in doubt. (South Korea isn’t on anyone’s travel-ban list, right?)
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.23.17
Music and Design
Why do we talk about “seeing” bands or orchestral groups? How did album jackets and photography of musicians … become important parts of music’s aura? Is a rock video a betrayal of what music is really about? … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-02-23
The stories we weave are incomplete…
It’s Black History Month again, and though I haven’t blogged about it, it’s been on my mind. I’ve thought of it when I’ve gone to the Kennedy Center, and seen that their most visible gift shop this month features Chinese New Year. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-02-23
What’s Going On in Opera?
The news that Darren Keith Woods was summarily fired after a sixteen-year extraordinarily successful career as General Director of Fort Worth Opera added to some odd news from Vienna a short time ago seems inexplicable. … read more
AJBlog: OperaSleuth Published 2017-02-23
Portland Jazz Festival: Hearing The Home Folks
In addition to presenting big national names, an appealing aspect of the PDX Portland Jazz Festival is that it taps into the deep reservoir of talent in the Pacific Northwest. Two cases … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-02-23
Officials Fear 25 Million Books May Be Missing From UK Public Libraries
Librarians are calling for a national audit to reveal the true extent of the problem, with the news coming as the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (Cilip) sent an open letter to chancellor Philip Hammond calling on him to increase funding for the sector, to protect it from irreparable decline as part of his strategy for economic growth.